The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is inviting proposals for joint research partnerships between New Zealand and Chinese research organisations.

Applications for the New Zealand – China Strategic Research Alliance, an annual joint funding programme supported by the Catalyst Strategic Fund, will open on 4 May 2026 through the Pitau portal, MBIE’s investment management system.

The alliance is a bilateral initiative between MBIE and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) and aims to foster the development of research collaborations between New Zealand researchers and their China-based colleagues.

Proposed projects must align with one of the two priority areas - Environmental Technologies or Health and Biomedical Science.

The Health Research Council (HRC) has previously been responsible for administering the portion of this programme that focused on biomedical research. MBIE will be administering the 2026 round onwards.

Please note that applicants to this fund need a login to Pitau, the MBIE Investment Management System - a secure online portal. A Pītau login can be requested through your research office or directly from MBIE. MBIE advises requesting access at least two weeks before you want to submit your proposal.

Detailed information including how to apply can be found on the MBIE website.

If you have any questions about preparing your proposal, please email internationalscience@mbie.govt.nz.

The Health Delivery Research Project Grant is now open for Expression of Interest (EOI) applications.

These grants provide support for health delivery research of varying values and durations (up to a maximum term of 5 years and a maximum value of $1.4 million).

For further information, please read the 2026 Health Delivery Research Project Grant EOI guidelines and the 2026 Health Delivery Investment Signal.