Timeline and deadlines:
3 March 2026 Deadline to submit a required Notice of intent to apply (NOI)
9 March 2026 Convergence Portal opens for Letters of intent to apply (LOI)
9 June 2026 Deadline to submit a LOI
27 August 2026 Convergence Portal opens for full applications
3 November 2026 Deadline to submit full application
March 2027 Notice of funding decisions
Maximum amount of funding that can be applied for by the Nordic partners of a project proposal: up to 17,1 MNOK.
The intention is to fund Nordic participation in 12 research projects under this call.
Research harnessing disruptive technologies to address global challenges requires an interdisciplinary approach involving expertise across disciplines, including the natural sciences, engineering, health sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Working across sectors, including academia, government, not-for-profit organizations, community organizations, and private industry, can help ensure implementation and impact.
This call aims to harness the potential of disruptive technology to offer novel solutions to global challenges and accelerate progress towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The projects are required to address at least one of the seventeen SDGs.
In this call, Disruptive Technology is defined as “an innovation whose application replaces or radically alters systems, processes and/or behaviours to have transformative economic or societal impacts. The impact may be localized or far-reaching. Disruptive technology may include cutting-edge and novel innovations, or the application of an existing innovation in a new context, bringing about substantial change or paradigm shifts.”
Funding and administration
This call is announced as a collaboration between NordForsk, the Dutch Research Council, International Development Research Centre in Canada, New Frontiers in Research Fund in Canada, Research Ireland, Sao Paulo Research Foundation in Brazil, Swiss National Science Foundation, and UK Research and Innovation.
The Nordic participation is managed by NordForsk in partnership with the Research Council of Norway, the Research Council of Finland, the Swedish Research Council, the Independent Research Fund Denmark, Innovation Fund Denmark and Rannís – Iceland who are co-financing the call.
Eligibility
Each project team must be international and eligible to receive funds from at least three participating funding organizations, one of which must be Canadian. Projects that apply for funding from NordForsk must include research partners from at least two different Nordic countries. Nordic countries are defined here as Åland Islands, Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. One of the Nordic team members must have the role of Co-Principal Investigator in the international project team.
Webinars
NordForsk will host a second webinar on 22 January at 10:00am-10:45am CET for researchers from the Nordic countries interested in the call. The webinar will include a Q&A session. Sign up for the webinar.
NFRF will also host an information webinar on 3 February at 9:30am-11:30am EST. The webinar is aimed at all international researchers interested in the call. More information on NFRF's website.
Contact list
If you would like to connect with other researchers interested in this call, we invite you to join NFRF’s contact list. Complete this survey before February 9, 2026.
