UPDATED: Impacts of COVID-19 on the New Frontiers in Research Fund

Due to COVID-19, many deadlines are being revised. Please check the New Frontiers in Research Fund website regularly for ongoing updates.

Exploration

Recipients of awards in the 2018 Exploration competition, now midway through their two-year grants, face interruptions to their research due to closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. For early career researchers, a group targeted in the inaugural competition, these interruptions are particularly challenging as researchers launch and develop their careers. The decision has been made, therefore, to allocate top-up funds to 2018 Exploration award recipients, to help ensure continued support for students, fellows and research personnel during the pandemic, and, when research resumes, to complete the project.

The 2019 Exploration competition was finalized as planned. Applicants received Notices of Decision on March 31, 2020, and funds were disbursed shortly thereafter. The posting of the evaluation results for applicants (including ratings by criteria and messages to applicants, where applicable) may be delayed. All NFRF Exploration grants are eligible for a one-year automatic extension. Award holders may request an additional extension up to 12 months, if needed. This is to mitigate any delays in projects due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transformation

While we finalize the review of the competition timeline, the Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline for the 2020 Transformation competition has been extended to July 15, 2020, at 8 p.m. (eastern). This is the deadline for submission to the agency by the research administrators; institutions may have earlier internal deadlines. Dates for future milestones will also be changed. Check the Transformation competition page regularly for updates.

International

Some of the deadlines for the 2020 Horizon Global Platform competition have been extended in response to the European Union’s changes to deadlines. Note that the deadlines shown in the table on the competition page are the dates for submission of registrations to the agency by the research administrators; institutions may have earlier internal deadlines.Check the 2020 Horizon Global Platform competition page regularly for updates.

For more information, contact NFRF-FNFR@chairs-chaires.gc.ca.