Joint call for Canada-France research proposals on artificial intelligence (AI)

Canada’s three federal research funding agencies – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), in collaboration with IVADO, are pleased to announce the upcoming launch of a joint call for Canada-France research proposals on artificial intelligence (AI).

Canada’s granting agencies are partnering with the French National Research Agency (ANR) to support collaborative multi- and interdisciplinary research projects in the areas of generative AI and the safety of embedded AI. A portion of available funding will be reserved for proposals addressing preparedness for and/or response to pandemics and infectious health emergencies through AI-based approaches to surveillance, predictive modeling, and genomics, and for proposals related to cancer.

ANR will be managing the peer-review process for this initiative. Through a lead agency model, the French Scientific Coordinator will submit a single collaborative proposal on behalf of the Canada-France research team to ANR (the lead agency), which will undergo a peer-review process by ANR.

While this is a multi-agency effort, NSERC is the designated agency coordinating the Canadian activities related to the call on behalf of the Canadian funding organizations, regardless of the research focus or whether it is in the natural sciences and engineering, social sciences and humanities, or health fields.  Applicants from Canada may participate as a Principal Applicant on only one proposal, but may be a co-applicant or collaborator on multiple proposals.  Please refer to the France-Canada (NSERC) Annex on the ANR website for the eligibility requirements for applicants from Canada. Researchers from colleges who meet NSERC’s eligibility requirements may participate as co-applicants or collaborators.

Important: As per ANR requirements for their Generic Call for Proposals (AAPG 2025), the French Scientific coordinator must register their intention to submit an application on ANR’s submission website before 5pm CET on October 15th, 2024.  The Principal Applicant from Canada and other members of their team must be clearly identified in the registration form.  This registration step by the French Scientific Coordinator is a mandatory step to submit a full proposal later.  Additional information is available on the ANR website.  

Note: Members of the Canadian team listed at the registration stage to ANR do not need to remain the same at the full application stage.

Full collaborative research proposals will not be due to be submitted by the French Scientific Coordinator to ANR until March 2025.  In parallel, researchers in Canada will need to submit a simplified application to NSERC in March 2025. Complete details about this Funding Opportunity will be published on the NSERC website in Fall 2024.

If you have any questions, please contact: RP-Initiatives-PR@nserc-crsng.gc.ca.