New Frontiers in Research Fund
The international initiative supports interdisciplinary research that uses disruptive technologies to address global challenges. Swiss partners can participate. CHF 3 million are being made available by the SNSF for the 2026 call.
The SNSF is a partner organisation of the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF). The programme, which is coordinated by Canada, is backed by many international funding agencies and runs joint calls to support interdisciplinary research projects on topics of international relevance.
We therefore enable Swiss researchers to play an active part and to contribute their expertise within a global network.
2026 call
The call “Harnessing Disruptive Technologies to Address Global Challenges” focuses on projects that harness transformative technologies and accelerate progress on one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Is your work interdisciplinary? Are you keen to involve stakeholders from academia, industry, or broader society at an early stage? If so, then your project may be a good fit for this call. A maximum of 500,000 francs is available per project for Swiss contributions.
The call involves a three-stage procedure: notice of intent (NOI), letter of intent (LOI) and full proposal. The deadline for the submission of the notice of intent has passed; the letter of intent should be submitted by 9 June 2026.
The new limits to SNSF Project Funding regarding the number of proposals and funding amounts do not apply to this call.
Who can participate?
Members of consortia who have already submitted a notice of intent to the NFRF can participate. The Swiss co-applicants must in principle meet the same criteria as for Project Funding to be eligible for SNSF funding.
Participating funding agencies
Dutch Research Council (NWO) – the Netherlands
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) – Canada
New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) – Canada
NordForsk – the Åland Islands, Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden
Research Ireland – Ireland
São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) – Brazil
Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) – Switzerland
National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) – Taiwan
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) – United Kingdom
Swiss submission via mySNF
If you are already part of a consortium that has submitted an NOI and wishes to participate from Switzerland, please also submit your mandatory letter of intent (LOI) via mySNF. The deadline is 5 pm on 9 June 2026.
On mySNF you describe your role and the consortium, and enter the total budget on the Swiss side.
The guide linked below explains what information is required.
For the mandatory letter of intent, it is possible to add new applicants from Switzerland to the consortium or switch them.
Previous calls
In 2023, the SNSF supported four Swiss projects in an NFRF call on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Experience from previous calls shows how valuable international collaboration is to Swiss research.