National Natural Science Foundation of China and National Science Foundation of Iran in 2024
Guide to cooperative research projects and bilateral seminar projects
- Project Description
(1) Funding field and application code.
- Cooperative research projects.
(1) Energy: renewable energy, efficient utilization of conventional energy, and energy storage technologies (high-efficiency utilization of revolutionary energy, energy storage technologies) (please select subordinate application codes B08, B09, E02, E04 or E06 for application code 1).
(2) Environment: water and solid waste treatment (please select subordinate application codes B06 and E10 for application code 1).
(3) Regenerative medicine: bioengineering or biomaterials relevant to regenerative medicine (please select subordinate application codes B05, C10 and H28 for application code 1).
Applications that fail to fill in the specified application code 1 as required will not be accepted.
- Bilateral seminar project.
Including holding international (regional) academic conferences in China (conferences in China) and going abroad (borders) to participate in bilateral (multi-border) academic conferences (conferences abroad). The funding areas include:
(1) Climate change.
(2) Artificial intelligence and big data in engineering and industries.
(3) Advanced materials and manufacturing.
(2) the scale of funding.
About 10 cooperative research projects will be funded and about 6 bilateral seminar projects will be funded.
- Intensity and content of funding.
- The intensity of Chinese funding for cooperative research projects is no more than 2 million yuan/item (direct cost), including research funds and international cooperation and exchange expenses. INSF provides corresponding funding for Iraqi scientists.
- The intensity of Chinese funding for bilateral seminar projects shall not exceed 150,000 yuan/item.
For the conference projects in China, NSFC subsidizes the conference expenses required by the Chinese side to hold the conference, and the accommodation, meals and inter-city transportation expenses of the participants from China and Iran. INSF subsidizes the international travel expenses of Iraqi participants.
For overseas conference projects, NSFC subsidizes the international travel expenses of Chinese participants. INSF subsidizes the conference expenses required by the Iraqi side to hold the conference, and the accommodation, meals and inter-city transportation expenses of the participants of China and Iraq.
(4) the funding period.
The funding period of the cooperative research project is 3 years, and the research period in the application should be filled in from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2027.
The implementation period of the bilateral seminar project is one week, and the research period in the application should be filled in from January 1, 2025 to February 28, 2026.
- Applicant’s conditions
According to the Measures for the Administration of International (Regional) Cooperative Research Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Measures for the Administration of International (Regional) Cooperative Exchange Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the application for this project must meet the following conditions:
(1) to apply for a cooperative research project, the applicant should have a senior professional and technical position (title), and as the project leader, he is undertaking or undertaking projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China for three years or more.
To apply for an academic conference project, the Chinese applicant must be the project leader or main participant of the research projects (except cooperation and exchange projects) of the National Natural Science Foundation for more than three years (including) after December 31, 2024.
As Chinese applicants, the main participants in the research project must have senior professional and technical positions (titles) or doctoral degrees, or be recommended by two scientific and technical personnel with senior professional and technical positions (titles) in the same research field, and be approved by the person in charge of the research project.
(2) The Iraqi partner shall meet the qualification requirements of INSF for domestic applicants and submit an application to INSF as required. Unilateral project application will not be accepted.
(3) The number of domestic cooperative research units in cooperative research projects shall not exceed 2.
(4) the two parties have a good foundation for cooperation, and the project application should reflect strong cooperation and complementary advantages.
(5) For more information about the applicant’s conditions, please refer to the 2024 National Natural Science Foundation Project Guide.
- Provisions on application for restricted items
(1) Cooperative research projects.
International (regional) cooperative research projects of NSFC include inter-organizational international (regional) cooperative research projects and key international (regional) cooperative research projects. The Sino-Iranian cooperative research project belongs to the inter-organizational international (regional) cooperative research project, and the applicant shall abide by the following restrictions when applying:
- Applicants can only apply for one international (regional) cooperative research project in the same year.
- The person in charge who is undertaking an international (regional) cooperative research project may not apply for this project as an applicant.
- As the applicant to apply for and as the person in charge to undertake this project, it is not included in the scope of the total number of projects applied for and undertaken by senior professional and technical positions (titles).
- Other restrictions on the number of applications in the 2024 National Natural Science Foundation Project Guide.
(2) Academic conference projects.
- The Sino-Iranian academic conference project is an international (regional) cooperation and exchange project, which is not restricted by the stipulation that the total number of projects applied and undertaken by senior professional and technical personnel is limited to two.
- Not subject to the restriction that “the applicant can only apply for one project of the same type in the same year”.
- The total number of NSFC-INSF (China-Iran) cooperation and exchange projects applied by the applicant and undertaken by the project leader is limited to one.
- Other restrictions on the number of applications in the 2024 National Natural Science Foundation Project Guide.
- Application instructions
(1) Matters needing attention of the applicant.
- Before completing the application, the applicant shall carefully read the relevant contents in this project guide and the 2024 National Natural Science Foundation Project Guide, and the project application that does not meet the project guide and relevant requirements will not be accepted.
- Chinese applicants must log in to the network system of the National Science Foundation of China (http://grants.nsfc.gov.cn) and fill in the Application for International (Regional) Cooperative Research Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (hereinafter referred to as the “Chinese Application”) online.
The specific steps of applying for cooperative research projects are as follows:
(1) Select the “Project Leader” user group to log into the system, and then click “Online Application” to enter the application interface; Click “New Project Application” to enter the selection interface of the science department to which the applied project belongs, and click “Apply for General Science Department Project” to enter the project category selection interface.
(2) Click the+sign on the left or the “Expand” button on the right of “International (Regional) Cooperation and Exchange Projects” to expand the drop-down menu.
(3) Click the “Fill in Application” button on the right side of “Inter-organization Cooperation Research (Inter-organization Cooperation Agreement Project)” to enter the “Please Select Cooperation Agreement” interface, select “NSFC- INSF” in the drop-down menu, then enter the approval number of the fund project to be supported according to the system requirements, and enter the specific Chinese application filling interface after passing the qualification certification.
The specific steps for applying for academic conference projects are as follows:
(1) Select the “Project Leader” user group to log into the system, and then click “Online Application” to enter the application interface;
(2) Click the “New Project Application” button to enter the selection interface of the science department to which the applied project belongs, and click “Apply for the Project of General Science Department” to enter the project category selection interface;
(3) Click the+sign on the left or the “Expand” button on the right of “International (Regional) Cooperation and Exchange Projects” to expand the drop-down menu;
(4) Click the “Fill in the Application” button on the right side of “Holding an International (Regional) Academic Conference in China (Inter-organization Agreement Project)” or “Going abroad to attend a bilateral (multi-side) academic conference (Inter-organization Agreement Project)” to enter the interface of selecting “Cooperation Agreement”;
(5) Select “NSFC-INSF (China-Iraq)” in the drop-down menu, then enter the approval number of the project supported by the research fund according to the system requirements, and enter the specific application filling interface after passing the qualification certification.
- Instructions for filling in the application. The project name (English), the supporting units (Chinese and English) and the project leaders (the first person in the column of “Chinese information” and “overseas cooperative personnel” by default) in the application form of China and Iran should be strictly consistent.
To apply for an academic conference project, the meeting schedule and the information of the participants should be listed. Chinese participants should come from at least three different units in China, and each participant must be the project leader or main participant of the research projects (except cooperation and exchange projects) of the National Natural Science Foundation for more than three years (including) after December 31, 2024.
- Budget compilation requirements. The applicant shall carefully read the contents of the budget compilation requirements in the application notes for the 2024 National Natural Science Foundation Project Guide, and carefully and truthfully compile the National Natural Science Foundation Project Fund Budget Table in strict accordance with the requirements of the Measures for the Management of Fund for Projects Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (Cai Jiao [2021] No.177) and the Instructions for the Compilation of Fund Budget Table for National Natural Science Foundation Projects.
- Requirements of application materials. After the applicant finishes writing the application, he/she will submit the electronic application and the attached materials online without submitting the paper application. Attachment materials include:
(1) To apply for cooperative research projects, the applicant shall jointly write an English application for cooperative research projects with the Iraqi partners (see Annex 1 for the template), upload it and add it to the “Annex” column of the Chinese application and submit it together. The basic contents of the Chinese and English applications must be consistent, and the English name of the project should be exactly the same as that of the English application.
(2) To apply for academic conference project, an English application for academic conference project should be written together with the Iraqi partner (see Annex 2 for the template), uploaded and added to the “Annex” column of the Chinese application and submitted together. The basic contents of the Chinese and English applications must be consistent, and the English name of the project should be exactly the same as that of the English application. At the same time, the project applicant must provide a list of participants from China and Iran, and only one Chinese organizer is required to fill in the Chinese application form when applying for a bilateral academic seminar in Iran.
Project applications that fail to submit the above attachment materials as required will not be accepted.
- Cooperation agreement. After the cooperative research project is approved, the applicant must sign a cooperation agreement with the Iraqi partner (see Annex 3 for the template) to reach an agreement on the cooperation content and intellectual property rights and other issues of common concern.
(2) Receiving the project application.
The online application and receiving period of the network information system of the National Science Foundation is from February 28, 2024 to 16: 00 on April 24, 2024; The Iraqi partner must submit an application to INSF before the deadline specified by INSF.
Note: Applicants are requested to fill in the application in strict accordance with the requirements of this project guide, and remind the scientific management department of the supporting unit to confirm and submit the electronic application form before the online application of the network information system of NSFC is closed. Applications that do not meet the above requirements will not be accepted. If you have any questions, please call the project contact person.
- Notice of Results of Proposed Approval
The funding results will be notified through the network information system of NSFC.
- Project Contact Person
Chinese contact person:
Zhang Le, Zhang Yiwei
Tel: +86-10-6232 8404, 6232 7368
E-mail: zhangle@nsfc.gov.cn, zhangyw@nsfc.gov.cn
Information System Technical Support (Information Center): +86-10-6231 7474
Iraqi contact person:
Dr. Saeid Maddah,
Head of International Affairs
Email: international@insf.org