2024 Guidelines for Cooperation and Exchange Projects between the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Foundation for Basic Research in French-speaking Belgium
1. Project description
(1) Funding areas.
Mathematics and physics, chemistry, life sciences, earth sciences, engineering and materials sciences, information sciences, management sciences, medicine. Application code 1 must select the corresponding application code according to the research content. It is recommended to select the last level.
(2) Funding intensity.
The Chinese funding intensity is no more than 100,000 yuan per project; the FNRS funding intensity is no more than 15,000 euros per project.
(3) Funding content.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China funds the international travel expenses (economy class air tickets) for Chinese researchers to visit Belgium, as well as accommodation, meals, and inter-city transportation expenses during their stay in Belgium. FNRS is responsible for funding, for example, researchers’ international travel expenses when visiting China, accommodation, meals, and inter-city transportation expenses during their stay in China.
(4) Funding period.
The funding period is 2 years, and the research period in the application should be filled in from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2026.
2. Applicant conditions
(1) The Chinese applicant must be undertaking (host or participant) a National Natural Science Foundation project of three years or above (excluding cooperation and exchange projects) that will be completed after December 31, 2025 (inclusive), and must When applying based on this project, cooperation and exchanges should closely focus on the research content of the current research fund project.
(2) For example, collaborators should meet FNRS’s qualification requirements for foreign applicants.
(3) Applicants from China and Belgium must submit project applications to NSFC and FNRS respectively, and applications submitted unilaterally will not be accepted.
(4) For more detailed descriptions of applicant requirements, please refer to the “2024 National Natural Science Foundation of China Project Guide”.
3. Restricted Application Regulations
(1) This project is an international (regional) cooperation and exchange project and is not subject to the restriction of “the total number of projects applied for and currently undertaken by senior professional and technical positions (titles) personnel is limited to 2”.
(2) Not subject to the restriction that “applicants can only apply for one project of the same type in the same year”.
(3) The total number of NSFC-FNRS (China-Belgium) cooperation and exchange projects that you have applied for as an applicant and are undertaking as a project leader is limited to 1 in total.
(4) Other restrictions on the number of applications in the “2024 National Natural Science Foundation of China Project Guide”.
4. Application requirements
(1) Notes for applicants.
Applications for cooperation and exchange projects are written online. The specific requirements for applicants are as follows:
1. Applicants should carefully read the relevant content in this project guide and the “2024 National Natural Science Foundation of China Project Guide” before filling in the application form. Project applications that do not meet the project guide and relevant requirements will not be accepted.
2. Applicants must log in to the Science Fund Network Information System (https://grants.nsfc.gov.cn/) and fill in the “National Natural Science Foundation of China International (Regional) Cooperation and Exchange Project Application Form” online. Specific steps are as follows:
(1) Select the “Project Director” user group to log in to the system, and click “Online Application” to enter the application interface; click the “New Project Application” button to enter the selection interface of the science department to which the application project belongs, and click “Apply for General Science Department Project” “Enter the project category selection interface.
(2) Click the + sign on the left side of “International (Regional) Cooperation and Exchange Projects” or the “Expand” button on the right side to expand the drop-down menu.
(3) Click the “Fill in Application” button on the right side of “Cooperation and Exchange (Inter-Organization Agreement Project)” to enter the “Cooperation Agreement” selection interface, select “NSFC-FNRS (China-Belgium)” in the drop-down menu, and then follow the system requirements Enter the approval number of the supporting fund project, and after passing the qualification certification, you will enter the specific application form filling interface.
3. Budget preparation requirements. Applicants should carefully read the budget preparation requirements in the application instructions of the “2024 National Natural Science Foundation of China Project Guide” and strictly follow the “National Natural Science Foundation of China Fund Management Measures” and “National Natural Science Foundation of China”. In accordance with the requirements of the “Instructions for Preparation of the Natural Science Foundation Project Fund Budget Table”, the “National Natural Science Foundation Project Fund Budget Table” must be carefully and truthfully prepared.
The project fund budget only includes “international cooperation and exchange fees”, which should be filled in the 4th item “business expenses” of the fund budget table serial number. There are no indirect costs for this project. In the “Budget Statement” column, a detailed budget should be made for the international travel expenses of the visiting personnel, accommodation expenses, food expenses, and inter-city transportation expenses during the exchange year according to the content of the “Project Implementation Plan”.
4. Instructions for filling out the application form. The project names, supporting units and project leaders of both parties in the applications from China and Belgium (the default is the first person in the “Chinese Person Information” column and the “Overseas Cooperation Personnel” column) should be strictly consistent, otherwise the application will not be accepted.
In the “Project Implementation Plan” column, the names of the visiting and visiting personnel, the dates of the visiting and visiting people, and the content of the research work to be carried out should be listed in detail according to the exchange year. Project participants must be the project leader or participant of an ongoing National Natural Science Foundation of China project (excluding cooperation and exchange projects) of three years or more that will be completed after December 31, 2025 (inclusive).
5. Application material requirements. After the applicant completes the writing of the application, he or she can submit the electronic application and attached materials online without submitting a paper application. Attachment materials include:
(1) For example, the personal resumes of applicants and visitors.
(2) Cooperation Agreement ( see attachment for agreement template ). Applicants from China and Belgium must reach an agreement on cooperation content, exchange plans, intellectual property rights and other issues, and sign a cooperation and exchange agreement.
Project applications that do not submit the above attachments as required will not be accepted.
(2) Things to note by the supporting unit.
The host unit shall review the authenticity, completeness and compliance of the application materials submitted by its applicant, as well as the goal relevance, policy consistency and economic rationality of the declared budget. The host unit should submit its electronic application form and attached materials before the specified project application deadline. Please upload your unit’s project application list through the Science Fund Network Information System, no paper version is required.
For matters such as the submission of the unit’s scientific research integrity commitment letter, please refer to the “Notice on 2024 National Natural Science Foundation of China Project Application and Finalization and Other Related Matters” (you only need to upload it once this year).
(3) Acceptance of project applications.
The online application acceptance period for the Chinese information system is from March 15, 2024 to 16:00 on May 30, 2024 ( Beijing time ).
Note: Applicants are required to strictly follow the requirements of this project guide to fill out the application. Project applications that do not meet the above requirements will not be accepted. If you have any questions, please call the project contact person.
5. Notification of approval results
The funding results will be notified through the Science Foundation Network Information System.
6. Project contact person
Chinese contact person: Xu Jin
Tel: +86-10-62325351
Email: xujin@nsfc.gov.cn
Information system technical support (Information Center): +86-10-62317474
For example contact person: Joël Groeneveld
Tel: +32-02-5049270
Email: international@frs-fnrs.be