2023 International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation: Notice of Intent to Apply Guide


Note: The NOI stage webinars have already taken place. Contact NFRF-FNFR@chairs-chaires.gc.ca for access to the recordings and slides.

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This guide is intended to be used in conjunction with the information provided in the 2023 International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Competition Overview and Review Process guides.

Your NOI must be received by the funding agency (New Frontiers in Research Fund) 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 NOI 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 notice of intent to apply (NOI)

  • Read the 2023 International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Competition Overview to ensure your project fits this funding opportunity.
  • See the eligibility section to ensure you are eligible to apply as a co-PI or co-applicant. Participants who do not meet the eligibility criteria, including by participating on more than one application as a co-PI, may have their status changed or be removed from the application. If none of the co-PIs is eligible to receive funds from NFRF, the application will be withdrawn from the competition.
  • If you are the NFRF-eligible co-PI, consult the research administrator at your institution’s research grants office about internal deadlines. The research administrator at your institution is responsible for submitting your NOI by 8:00 p.m. (eastern) on the deadline date. Late NOIs will not be accepted. An NOI cannot be changed after the research administrator has submitted it.

Completing the NOI

You must complete the NOI using the Convergence Portal. The portal is supported only on the latest versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox. If you do not have a profile on the Convergence Portal, you will be prompted to create one the first time you access it. If you have a Research Portal account, you can use the same username and password to log into the Convergence Portal. If you are not sure that you have already created a Convergence Portal account, please contact NFRF staff.

Follow the instructions provided in the Convergence Portal to complete the NOI. The information needed to complete the NOI is outlined below. All sections of the NOI 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 NOI is submitted to the research administrator. All co-PIs have full access to all sections of the NOI. Co-applicants will be able to see all sections of the NOI but will not have edit access. Only the NFRF-eligible co-PI can finalize and submit the NOI.

Required information

The following information is required to complete a NOI:

Completed profiles for research team members

Applications to this call must be submitted by a team of at least three co-principal investigators and any number of co-applicants. Each project team must have representation from a minimum of three countries among the co-PIs and be eligible to receive funds from at least two Consortium Partners. Additional team members (co-PIs, co-applicants and/or collaborators) can be added at this stage or at the full application stage. Each team member must include the following in their profile:

  1. Eligibility profile

    Information about their participation in any other International Joint Initiative application, their consent for the application to be shared with other Consortium Partners, as well as affiliations and the eligibility of their institution.

  2. Equity, diversity and inclusion

    In setting up their profile, each participant must complete the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) self-identification form. The agencies collect self-identification data to monitor the equity of their programs and strengthen EDI in the research enterprise. The questions are framed from the Canadian perspective and may not be applicable to all participants. You may select “Prefer not to answer” for any or all questions.

    The self-identification information is collected as part of your user profile when you register in the Convergence Portal. It is not part of your application and is not accessible to, or shared with, external reviewers and/or multidisciplinary/multisectoral review panel members. Access to the information is also restricted to most agency staff; the information is only used in aggregate following competitions.

  3. Fields of research

    The fields of research here relate to the individual’s area of expertise and do not need to be directly related to the project. They should select a minimum of two fields of research (maximum of five), of which at least one must be a primary area of research.

  4. Keywords

    Individuals should list between two and 10 keywords that best describe their main areas of research.

NOI content

  1. Application title

    Provide a short, descriptive title that can be used for publication purposes. You can use common abbreviations (e.g., DNA), but avoid uncommon or discipline-specific abbreviations, as well as company and trade names.

  2. Language of the application

    Indicate whether the NOI and full application will be written in English or French (Canada’s official languages). This information helps reviewer recruitment efforts. Note that you may change this between the stages.

  3. Indigenous research

    Indicate whether the project involves Indigenous research.

  4. Keywords

    List between five and 10 keywords to describe the proposed research.

  5. Up to five fields of research

    Select the fields of research from the Canadian Research and Development Classification (CRDC) codes that relate to the proposed research. You must include at least two disciplines as primary fields of research (as defined by a group-level classification based on the CRDC codes).

  6. Key risks

    Indicate to which key risks the research related. At least two risks must be selected.  

  7. Consortium Partners – Supplement/Joint Initiative

    Indicate from which Consortium Partners you are seeking funding support for this project. At least one co-PI must be eligible to receive funds from each of the selected partners.

  8. Summary of the proposal (maximum 2,500 characters)

    Include the objectives of the proposed project and a summary of the approach. Indicate which of the representative key risks the proposal addresses and how the anticipated changes and impacts will contribute to participatory, contextually and culturally appropriate mitigation and adaptation responses to climate change.

    If your application is successful, this summary may be used for promotional purposes outside the research community to inform the government, media and members of the public who request information about research funded by this call.

  9. Collaborators

    List the collaborators on the project. Collaborators do not need to create an account in the Portal.

  10. Socio-economic objectives

    Select the socio-economic objective from the CRDC codes that relate to the potential outcomes of the research. This selection is for information purposes only and will not be used in the review process.

  11. Suggested reviewers (minimum of five) and reviewer exclusions (if applicable)

    Suggest reviewers to be contacted to review the proposal at the full application stage. Teams are encouraged to suggest a diverse cross-section of potential reviewers―international, established and early career researchers, members of underrepresented groups, from academic and non-academic institutions―with appropriate expertise to review and comment on the proposal. These individuals must not be in a conflict of interest with any member of the team as defined by the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy of the Federal Research Funding Organizations.

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

  12. Supporting documents

    Each of these documents is uploaded as a separate attachment following the instructions for attachments.

    1. Budget table

      Use the budget table provided in the Supporting Documents section. Enter the total funding amount (in the appropriate currency) being requested from each Consortium Partner for each year of the project.

    2. Supplementary information for Consortium Partners (if applicable)

      If funds are being requested from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Germany), the Research Council of Norway (RCN) and/or the National Research Foundation (South Africa), CVs must be uploaded for the team member(s) eligible to receive funds from those organizations. Sufficient information must be provided for the Consortium Partner to determine the applicant’s eligibility based on the criteria described in the Consortium Partner section of the competition overview.

Submitting the NOI

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

Review the NOI to ensure that it is complete.

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

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 NOI will not be returned to you.

Submitting the NOI as the research administrator

When you receive a NOI 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
  • the proposed research project meets the eligibility requirements.

Contact information

If you have questions:

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