Notification of application for NSFC programs 2026
The NSFC has initiated program application 2026. Details of requirements are as follows:
1. Classification of programs
The program types of 2026?concentrated reception include General Program, Young Scientists Fund(Category C), Regional Science Fund,?Key Program,?Young Scientists Fund(Category B),?Young Scientists Fund(Category A)?(including its continuation of funded projects),?Innovative Research Groups,Excellent Research?Group,?Key International (Regional) Joint Research Program,?Research Fund for International Scientists,?Collaborative Innovation Research Team Program, National Major Scientific Research Instrument Development Program(free topics), some specific Joint Funds,?some specific Major Research Plan Program?and some specific?Tianyuan Fund for Mathematics.
※Project guides will be published separately for those program types which are?not?within the scope of concentrated reception listed above.
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2. Funding amount and duration
For more information, please refer to the link of 2026?NSFC Guide to Programs at?https://www.nsfc.gov.cn/p1/2931/3971/3972/qy2026.html
3. Procedure of application
Online application
Applicants shall fill out application forms of all program types online in Chinese(excluding Research Fund for International Scientists) and upload relevant supplementary documents via the application system (?https://grants.nsfc.gov.cn/pmpweb/login?). In accordance with program types, applicant shall make correct choice of the?“funding category”,?“subclass introduction”?and?“annotation”. Some program’s annotation should be written strictly in accordance with the NSFC Guide.
※?For applicants who have no application account, please send your name, academic title, email address, mobile phone number, Valid ID(passport) Number?and the school or institution you belong to [email protected] by?Feb.?26, 2026?to open account.
Paperless submission
In the stage of submission, applicants shall only submit reviewed application forms online, without submitting any hard copies.
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4. Requirements on application
A. The Young Scientists Fund(Category A)?establishes a dedicated track for applicants under 35 years of age (born on or after January 1, 1991) and under 38 years of age (born on or after January 1, 1988). This track will undergo separate review and provide long-term, stable support. Applicants in this category may apply without formal employment in China but must sign a letter of intent with CUHK-Shenzhen. If the project is approved, the applicant must formally commence work at the CUHK-Shenzhen by the end of November 2026. Failure to do so will result in termination of the grant by NSFC.
B. Adjustments to Project Limitation Rules: ① The total number of key projects applied for as an applicant and currently undertaken as a principal investigator is limited to one. Projects whose funding period expires in the application year are excluded from this count. ② The total number of International (regional) Cooperative Research Programs applied for as an applicant and currently undertaken as a principal investigator is limited to one. Projects whose funding period expires in the application year are excluded from this count. ③ The total number of projects applied for (including applicants and key participants) and currently undertaken (including principal investigators and key participants) under all types of joint funds is limited to 2. Projects whose funding expires in the year of application are excluded from this count. Applications for Pilot Enterprise Innovation Development Joint Fund projects, Private Enterprise Innovation Development Joint Fund projects, Joint Fund Major Special Projects, and “Ye Qisun” Science Fund projects are excluded from the total count of applied-for and undertaken projects during the application phase but are included after formal acceptance of the application. For the above joint funds, researchers may apply for (including applicants and key participants) or be responsible for (including principal investigators and key participants) a maximum of one project under the same joint fund name. Projects whose funding period expires in the year of application are excluded from the statistical scope.
C. Abount general Projects and Young Scientists Fund(Category C): The main body of the application form has been revised, restructuring its framework. The adjusted main body comprises three sections: Project Justification, Research Content, and Research Foundation. The Project Justification section should clearly articulate the rationale for undertaking this research and its value. The Research Content section imposes no predetermined outline restrictions; applicants may draft it autonomously based on their research approach and the inherent logic of their work. The Research Foundation section primarily showcases accumulated prior work. Both types of main text should be concise, with a recommended length not exceeding 30 pages. The application form template is provided in Annex 7.
D. Enhanced support for scientific instrumentation: The Interdisciplinary Science Department has introduced a new code ‘Scientific Instruments (T05)’, with its scope expanded to include the National Major Scientific Instrument Development Programme (open application). The Youth A and Youth B programmes administered by the Interdisciplinary Science Division now feature dedicated tracks for scientific instruments.
E. About Young Scientists Fund(Category A): Only one project may be undertaken concurrently under national science and technology talent programs of the same level. Each applicant may submit only one application per year. During the support period of any Youth Science Fund Project (Category B) or any corresponding national science and technology talent program, applicants are ineligible to apply for Youth Science Fund Project (Category A). However, applications may be submitted in the year following the completion of the support period.
F. About Young Scientists Fund(Category B): Only one project at the same level may be undertaken under national science and technology talent programs. Each applicant may submit only one application per year and may not apply for projects at a lower level.
G. About participants
?Students shall not be listed as main participants in application form. Applicant only need to fill in the total number of students in the table of total headcount.
?Resumes of main participants will be collected online in the same way as applicant, which is, the applicant shall invite main participants to fill in their resume online through the application system, when completion, applicant shall upload the PDF version of the main participants' resumes which automatically generated by the system(please do?not upload the resume generated in 2025).
H. About resume
??Applicants?and main participants shall list all authors' signatures according to the real situation at the time of publication and shall not change the order of authors when filling in papers and other research results.
??Representative papers in the resume should be uploaded as full-text PDF version for public publication; The cover, abstract, table of contents, copyright pages should be uploaded for representative monographs.
I.?“Application Code 1”in application form is reference for deciding NSFC’s accepting department.?“Application Code 2”?is supplementary. For some certain programs, applicant shall choose designated Application Code 1 or 2 in line with the guide. Meanwhile, applicant shall try to select the full code?including the last digit (four digits).
J. For General Program, Young Scientists Fund(Category C), Regional Science Fund,?Key Program,?Young Scientists Fund(Category B),?Young Scientists Fund(Category A) ,?Innovative Research Groups,Excellent Research Group,?Key International (Regional) Joint Research Program,??Collaborative Innovation Research Team Program, National Major Scientific Research Instrument Development Program, some specific Joint Funds,?some specific Major Research Plan Program, the research period is automatically generated by the information system and cannot be altered by the applicant.
K. For specific application restrictions, please refer to?Annex 1-Handbook of 2026 NSFC programs application.
L. For full-time applicants and main participants, we suggest he/she shall be engage in research work for no less than 6 months per year.
M. Collaborative research
??Where participants from other domestic institutions outside our university are involved, their respective organizations shall be deemed collaborating research institutions. Such collaborating institutions must possess independent legal person status. Each project may involve no more than two collaborating research institutions (unless otherwise specified in the guidelines). Applicants must provide a detailed explanation of external funding allocations from collaborating institutions within the Budget Statement section of the application form.
?The overseas researchers as the main participants shall be seen as individual participants and?“Informed Consent Letter”?(please refer?Annex 3?for template) with the signature shall be uploaded to the application system as attachment;
N. Budget
?The management of project funding is divided into overall rationing system and budget system:
For overall rationing system: Young?Scientists?Fund projects (Categories A, B and C) do not?need project budget when applying;
For budget system: Applicant shall only fill in the budget for each item of direct funding in application form(Direct budget items are consolidated into three items: Equipment Expenses, Experimental and Operating Expenses, Allowance)
??No proportion is set for each budget item of direct expenses. The budget shall be completed based on the actual needs of research;
?For each item in the budget statement, applicants shall describe the purpose of expenditure and the basis for measurement.
O. The applicant and main participants shall use the same and only document of identity for application. Those who have received grants as applicants or main participants using other identification shall declare and provide details in the proposal.
P. Any required scientific research reviews, please refer to CUHK(SZ)’s research review process of each committee as attached (Annex 4) and send the required materials and forms to each committee’s email by Feb.26, 2026?for assessment. Certificates of ethical or S&T security review shall be upload to application system.
Email address for each committee:
Institutional Review Board???????????????????????????????????[email protected]
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee?? [email protected]
Institutional Biosafety Committee??????????????????????? [email protected]
??Applicants of CUHK-Shenzhen?affiliated hospital shall firstly obtain relevant certificates of the ethical review of the hospital(signed and sealed) before submitting the ethical review items to the university.
??Where the research content of collaborating?units involves scientific research ethics and technological security, a separate review certificate must be issued and uploaded as an attachment to the application form.
Q. Researchers must fill out the information registration form (Annex 5) if he or she as main participant to participate in NSFC application which led by other domestic institutions. Please send the electronic version to?[email protected]?for registration.
R. When an applicant as a part-time staff member in CUHK(SZ) submits the application, he or she shall truthfully state his or her position in resume, and need to sign a contract with CUHK(SZ) and apply to the school/institution for approval (Please refer?Annex 6?for the application form) before applying for creation the application account. The scanned copy of the signed application form should be sent to tanyihong@cuhk.edu.cn;
S. For further details regarding other considerations and formal review requirements, please refer to Annex 1 and Annex 2.
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5. Deadline
(1) Applicants shall login the application system (?https://grants.nsfc.gov.cn/pmpweb/login?) to fill in application forms and upload required supplementary documents;
(2) Applicants are required to complete self-examination in line with the Schedule of formal review (Annex 2) before March 1, 2026;
(3) Applicants shall submit the self-checked application forms online on March 4, 2026, the colleges/research institutions/ affiliated hospital shall organize the preliminary review and feedback;
(4) Applicants shall submit the revised application forms online by 18:00 on March 8, 2026, the Research Administration Office will re-examine and feedback;
(5) Applicants shall submit application forms( final version) online by 18:00 on March 18, 2026, without submitting any hard copies.
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Contact information
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RAO |
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SSE |
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SDS |
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SME |
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MED |
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HSS |
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SPP |
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SAI |
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IRIM |
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Second Affiliated Hospital |
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CUHK-Shenzhen Hospital |
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Longgang Otorhinolaryngological Hospital |
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Longgang Central Hospital |
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附件1-2026年基金項(xiàng)目申請(qǐng)手冊(cè)Annex 1-Handbook of 2026 NSFC programs application.pdf
附件3-知情同意書(shū)模板(境外參與人員使用)Annex 3-Informed consent letter.docx
附件4-各委員會(huì)科研審查流程及表格 Annex 4-Review process and relevant forms.rar
附件5-香港中文大學(xué)(深圳)人員參與外單位國(guó)自然項(xiàng)目信息登記表Annex 5-Information registration form.xlsx
