Research Admin Offices:

• ROADS

Opportunity Type:

• Request for Proposal

Value:

Up to $100,000 per year for the Canadian academic team for three years.

Disciplines:

• DeGroote School of Business
• Faculty of Engineering
• Faculty of Humanities
• Faculty of Science
• Faculty of Social Sciences

Sponsors:

• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

Deadlines:

Additional Dates:

• Notify ROADS of Intent to Apply - December 1, 2025
• Draft of LOI due to ROADS - February 5, 2026
• Final LOI due to ROADS - February 19, 2026
• LOI due to NSERC - March 5, 2026
• Full Application (by invitation only) - September 17, 2026

Description:

The Belmont Forum is a partnership of funding organizations, international science councils and regional consortia committed to advancing transdisciplinary science. Guided by the Belmont Challenge, the Belmont Forum aims to support international transdisciplinary research that generates knowledge for understanding, adapting to and mitigating global environmental change. As a mechanism to support international collaboration, the Belmont Forum issues collaborative research actions (CRAs) that mobilize funding partners around shared research priorities.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is participating in the Belmont Forum Collaborative Research Action (CRA) “Towards the ocean we want: biodiversity and ecosystem sustainability for nature and human well-being” (Ocean 2), along with other Belmont Forum partners. This CRA aims at coordinating actions and projects through a transdisciplinary approach, fostering co-creation, co-design, and co-implementation of innovative solutions to address global environmental challenges related to the ocean, its biodiversity, from genes to ecosystems. The CRA will fund multinational research teams based on a two-step competition.

NSERC will provide funding through an Alliance-type grant to eligible Canadian researchers in the natural sciences and engineering to support their participation in the funded research projects. For more information about the competition and application process, visit the Belmont Forum website.

This CRA is administered by France’s Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR).

Additional Program Information:

• Biodiversity conservation and nature-based solutions
• Ocean-biodiversity-climate integration
• Nature futures, ocean governance, and ethics for sustainability

Eligibility:

If you are a Canadian university researcher eligible to receive NSERC funding, you may apply independently or as a team. If you apply as a team, your co-applicants must also be academic researchers from Canadian universities who meet NSERC’s eligibility requirements. To be the principal applicant, you must be working in a research area supported by NSERC, and you must meet the eligibility requirements at the time of application. Researchers from colleges who meet NSERC’s eligibility requirements may participate as co-applicants.

Application/Nomination Process:

1. Registration stage
   1. The Research Consortium Lead must submit a Registration form through the BFGo portal before 20:00 UTC on March 5, 2026
   2. The Canadian principal applicant must submit an LOI to NSERC on behalf of the Canadian team through the NSERC online system before 8:00 pm (ET) on March 5, 2026.

2. Full proposal stage (by invitation only)
   2. Full proposals must be submitted by the Research Consortium Lead through the BFGo portal before 20:00 UTC on September 17, 2026
   3. The Canadian principal applicant must submit a simplified application to NSERC on behalf of the Canadian team through the NSERC online system before 8:00 p.m. ET on September 17, 2026. 

Resources:

Additional details.

Contact:

For more information on how to apply, please notify Christine Cluney, Senior Advisor, ROADS.