The fifth joint call of the National Science Foundation of Iran (INSF) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) is announced with the aim of supporting up to ten research projects in the following areas.

Priority Areas are as follows:

1. Traditional Medicine and Medicinal Plants: 

• Evidence-based integration and standardization of traditional Chinese & traditional Persian medicine for major diseases
• Sustainable medicinal plants: eco-cultivation, biodiversity, and resilience
• The Application of Digital and AI Tools in the Classification, Analysis, and Clinical Research of Traditional Medicine and Medicinal Plants

2. Energy:

• Renewable Energy
• High-Efficiency Utilization of Conventional Energy
• Energy-Related Materials
• Storage Technologies
• The Application of Artificial Intelligence in the Energy Field

Faculty members of universities and educational and research institutions can participate in this call. Iranian researchers must complete the commitment form and the joint English proposal form in cooperation with their Chinese colleagues and register it in the Kuiper system of the National Science Foundation of Iran. In this system, in addition to uploading the joint English proposal form, the Persian online form must be completed in stages, and the required documents, which include the applicant's resume and up-to-date certificate in addition to the joint proposal form, must be uploaded.
 

Call Start: July 18, 2025
Research Project Submission Deadline: September 1, 2025
Announcement of Final Results: From December 25, 2025
Research Projects Start: January 2026
 

The maximum support for each joint research project for an Iranian researcher is 40 billion rials for a maximum period of three years.

Researchers can visit the Kaiper system and apply through the Applicants/Researchers section: https://rtms.insf.org/