2026 International Joint Initiative for Research Harnessing Disruptive Technologies to Address Global Challenges: Letter of Intent to Apply Guide


Note: Applicants and research administrators are encouraged to attend one of the webinars to learn how to complete the letter of intent to apply (LOI) and about the overall international initiative application process. Webinars are recorded and made available after the session.

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This guide is intended to be used in conjunction with the information provided in the 2026 International Joint Initiative for Research Harnessing Disruptive Technologies to Address Global Challenges competition overview and review process guides.

Your LOI must be received by the funding agency (New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) by 8:00 p.m. (eastern) on the deadline date. Your institution may have earlier internal deadlines. Check with your research administrator regarding internal deadlines. The research administrator at the institution of the co-principal investigator (co-PI) eligible to receive funding from NFRF is responsible for submitting the LOI to the agency.

All team members, including the co-PIs and/or co-applicants, should inform the research administrator at their institution, if applicable, of their involvement in the application.

Before completing a letter of intent

You must have submitted a notice of intent to apply (NOI) by the deadline to be eligible to create and submit an LOI.

Completing the letter of intent

You must complete the LOI using the Convergence Portal. The portal is supported only on the latest versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox. The portal may appear to function in other browsers, but technical problems can occur, such as information being improperly captured in the system without the user being aware. Use of an unsupported browser is strongly discouraged.

Follow the instructions provided in the Convergence Portal to complete the LOI. The information needed to complete the LOI is outlined below. All sections must be completed in the Convergence Portal and submitted via the research administrator at the NFRF-eligible co-PI’s institution.

The co-PIs and co-applicants, if applicable, must each complete their own profile before the LOI is submitted to the research administrator. All co-PIs have full access to all sections of the LOI. Co-applicants will be able to see all sections of the LOI, but will not have edit access. Only the NFRF-eligible co-PI can finalize and submit the LOI.

It is the responsibility of the co-PIs to verify the page lengths and formatting of any uploaded attachments. Should a submitted application contain one or more attachments that do not comply with the page length or formatting standard, the application may be withdrawn from the competition, or the extra material may be removed from the application prior to review.

All attachments must adhere to the following requirements:

  1. Any acronyms and abbreviations must be explained.
  2. Pages must be 8 ½" x 11" (216 mm x 279 mm).
  3. Text must be single-spaced, with no more than six lines of type per inch.
  4. All text must be in black, using the 11 pt Arial font; condensed fonts will not be accepted.
  5. Margins must be set at a minimum of ¾" (1.87 cm).
  6. In multipage attachments, pages must be numbered sequentially.
  7. The application identification number (i.e., NFRFx-xxxx-xxxxx) must appear at the top of each page of the attachment.
  8. No personally identifying information should be included in the headers and/or footers (e.g., name, PIN, institution, etc.).
  9. The name of the document must appear at the top (e.g., Literature References).
  10. Tables, graphics and charts can be included. They must comply with the above text formatting requirements (e.g., minimum font size) and fit within the page limits of the relevant document.

Required information

The following information is required to complete an LOI:

Profiles for any additional members of the research team

Complete profiles include (see the notice of intent [NOI] guide for more detail):

  1. a completed eligibility profile
  2. fields of research and keywords
  3. equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) self-identification

After co-PIs and co-applicants have completed their profile, they will be listed on the Participants screen with a status of “Complete.” While a participant’s status may show as “Accepted” in the List of Invitations, a status of “Pending eligibility” in the Participants screen indicates they have not completed their profile.

Letter of intent content

This includes all information in the NOI (updated as necessary), as well as the following:

  1. Any changes to the list of collaborators (additions or deletions)
  2. Reviewer exclusions (if applicable) 

    The team can suggest individuals who should not be considered to review the proposal. 

  3. Equity, diversity and inclusion in research design (EDI-RD)

    Indicate whether EDI considerations are appropriate for the project and whether and how they have been integrated into the proposed research. If the team believes no EDI considerations are applicable to the research design, provide a rationale for this. These fields must be completed before your application can be submitted.

  4. Proposed budget

    Fill in the table with the total funding amounts requested each year from the relevant funding organizations in the appropriate currencies. Ensure the amounts requested are less than the maximum allowable amounts noted in the funding organization annexes.

  5. Supporting documents

    Each of these documents must be uploaded as a separate attachment, following the instructions for attachments.

    1. Research proposal (including diagrams and illustrations: maximum 10 pages if written in English; maximum 12 pages if written in French).

      The research proposal should address the points below. The allocation of space and the order are not prescribed. The use of headings is highly encouraged.

      1. Disruptive technology
        • Explain how the technology involved meets the competition definition of disruptive technology, and how it is central to the project.
      2. Interdisciplinarity
        • Describe the interdisciplinary nature of the proposed approach.
        • Explain who will bring the different disciplinary perspectives to the project, and how these perspectives will be integrated.
      3. Feasibility
        • Provide a brief overview of the work plan, including the methodological approach.
        • Indicate how EDI in research design considerations impacted the methodological approach.
        • Describe the plan for engagement with stakeholders and end users.
      4. Anticipated impact / global challenge
        • Outline the Sustainable Development Goal(s) the proposed work addresses.
        • Describe the anticipated impact of the proposed work, and the significance of this change, including short-term benefits and impacts that may occur after the project lifecycle.
        • Describe the likelihood that the impact will be realized and provide an explanation.
    2. References (maximum five pages if written in English; maximum six pages if written in French)

      Applicants are strongly encouraged to include only the main references required to support the proposal.

    3. Supplementary information for funding organizations (if applicable)

      FAPESP (Brazil), the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the International Development Research Centre, the Taiwan National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), Research Ireland and the Swiss National Science Foundation (Switzerland) require additional documents for determining applicant eligibility, such as CVs, be uploaded at the LOI stage for any new team members. See each organization’s funding annex for details on what is required and the correct format.

Submitting a letter of intent

Only the NFRF-eligible co-PI is able to submit the LOI.

Review the LOI to ensure it is complete.

From the Finalize Application section in the Convergence Portal, follow the prompts to submit the LOI.

After accepting the terms and conditions, the status of your submission will change to Received by Administrator. If you want to make any changes at this point, you may request that your research administrator return the application to you.

Once your research administrator has approved and submitted your application, the application status will change to Received by Agency. No changes can be made at that point, and the LOI will not be returned to you.

Submitting a letter of intent as the research administrator

When you receive an LOI submitted by a NFRF-eligible co-PI at your institution, you will be asked to approve the application and submit it. Before being able to submit the application, the research administrator, on behalf of the institution, will be required to confirm that the:

  • NFRF-eligible participants meet the eligibility requirements; and
  • proposed research project meets the eligibility requirements.

Contact information

If you have questions:

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