Catalyst: Strategic – New Zealand-China Strategic Research Alliance 2022

This Catalyst: Strategic Call for Proposals is for joint research partnerships between New Zealand and the People’s Republic of China. The Strategic Research Alliance (SRA) programme helps to facilitate bilateral science, research and innovation collaborations between New Zealand and Chinese research organisations.

MBIE will fund up to 2 proposals with up to $300,000 over 3 years available to each successful applicant. Proposed research projects must be in 1 of the 2 bilateral priority areas: Food Science and Environmental Science 

This Call for Proposals is a bilateral initiative with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). Applicants’ Chinese counterparts must apply for their own funding through MOST’s parallel Call for Proposals. Please check MOST’s application dates carefully as these may vary from the New Zealand Call.

Please read the investment priorities and assessment criteria in the Call for Proposal carefully. This investment will support joint research projects in the bilateral priority areas, with the overarching objective of developing enduring science and innovation collaboration partnership with world-class Chinese counterparts.

A separate Call and subsequent assessment process will be administered by the Health Research Council (HRC) on behalf of MBIE in the third priority area: Health and Biomedical Science. Please contact the HRC directly regarding this process.

Funding opportunities(external link) — Health Research Council (HRC)

Catalyst: Strategic is one of the 4 funding streams within the Catalyst Fund. The Catalyst Fund supports activities that initiate, develop and foster collaborations building on international science and innovation for New Zealand’s benefit. 

Who can apply

This Call is open to New Zealand research organisations. For the purposes of this investment, a research organisation is defined as an organisation that has internal capability for carrying out research, science or technology, or related activities.

You are welcome to contact MBIE at internationalscience@govt.nz if you have any questions about eligibility or the Call for Proposals more generally. 

The application and assessment process

Download the Catalyst: Strategic Call for Proposals for full details on the application, assessment and contracting process.

You must meet the deadlines for registration and for submitting your proposal, and you must have registered your interest in order to submit a proposal. Late proposals will not be considered except in exceptional circumstances beyond the applicant’s control.

Important dates

• 5 April 2022 - Registrations open
• 17 May 2022 (12pm) - Closing date for registrations
• 31 May 2022 (12pm) - Closing date for proposals
• February 2023 (TBC) - Investment funding decision(s) announced
• March 2023 (TBC) - Contracts expected to begin