Funding call
Funding Research and Innovation
The New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) invites international, interdisciplinary research teams to submit proposals that harness disruptive technologies to address pressing global challenges, including those aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The 2026 competition supports high-risk, high-reward research that brings together researchers from multiple countries and disciplines to generate innovative, real-world solutions.
Researchers affiliated with institutions under the following SGCI member councils are eligible to participate as co-Principal Investigators (co-PIs) through funding administered by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC): Ghana National Research Fund, National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (Namibia), National Council for Science and Technology (Rwanda), Research Council of Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe)
Eligible researchers must be based at recognised institutions within these countries and meet their respective national councils’ eligibility requirements.
To be eligible, proposals must be led by a team of at least three co-principal investigators, each eligible for funding from at least three different participating funding organisations, and at least one co-principal investigator must be eligible to apply to Canada’s NFRF (the Canadian co-principal investigator also submits via the Convergence Portal).
Projects should be designed for three years, with a possible one-year no-cost extension in some cases.
Funding is coordinated, meaning each funder supports the eligible researcher(s) in its jurisdiction, under its rules.
For the IDRC consortium, the table lists a maximum value for Ghana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe of C$125,000 (with IDRC coordinating the grants) and CAD 250,000 for Rwanda.
Application timeline and key dates:
- Contact list survey deadline: 9 February 2026
- Notice of Intent deadline: 3 March 2026
- Letter of Intent (LOI) portal opens: 9 March 2026
- Letter of Intent deadline: 9 June 2026
- Results: 26 August 2026
- Full applications open: 27 August 2026
- Full application deadline: 3 November 2026
- Funding decisions: March 2027
Researchers are encouraged to begin early consortium building and to consult their national science granting council for country-specific guidance.
Full details of the application are available on the NFRF website here.
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Published on 23 January 2026
Status
open
Deadline
2026
SGCI funded projects
Rwanda’s integrated approach to sustainable agriculture and nutrition
Project Titles & Institution Areas of Research Number of Projects being funded Project Duration Grant Amount In-Kind Distribution Council Collaboration with other councils
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SGCI funded projects
Rwanda’s integrated approach to sustainable agriculture and nutrition
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