Funding Opportunity Title:
NFRF Exploration
Program Link: https://sshrc-crsh.canada.ca/funding-financement/nfrf-fnfr/exploration/2026/competition-concours-eng.aspx
Sponsor:
New Frontiers in Research Fund
Value:
Up to $125,000 per year (including indirect costs) for up to two years
Description:
The goal of the Exploration stream is to inspire high-risk, high-reward and interdisciplinary research.
Exploration grants support research that pushes boundaries into exciting new areas. Researchers are encouraged to think “outside of the box,” undertake research that would defy current paradigms, and bring disciplines together in unexpected ways and from bold, innovative perspectives. With the Exploration stream, there is recognition that innovation often carries risk; proposals for high-risk research projects that have the potential to deliver game-changing impacts are strongly encouraged.
Exploration stream grants support projects that:
· bring disciplines together beyond traditional disciplinary or common interdisciplinary approaches;
· propose to explore something new, which might fail; and
· have the potential for significant impact.
Exploration grants support research with a range of impacts—economic, scientific, artistic, cultural, social, technological, environmental or health-related. This list is not exhaustive; other types of impacts are also recognized. Diversity of perspectives is important, and the fund encourages research proposals led from any discipline, from those in the social sciences and humanities, to health, the natural sciences and engineering.
To better promote ground-breaking and interdisciplinary research, the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) has a mandate to explore innovative merit review processes, and the flexibility for competition parameters and processes to evolve from one competition to the next.
1. Deadline:
10:00 AM October 9, 2026
1. Deadline Description:
Deadline to submit signed RPIF to ORE
1. Additional info:
ORE internal signature deadline for RPIFs. Applicants please email Nandini Maharaj your signed (applicant and department head) RPIF + a pdf of your application. OSE applicants please contact UBC-O’s Office of Research Services for internal deadlines
2. Deadline:
8:30 AM October 13, 2026
2. Deadline Description:
Deadline to submit RPIF to ORS
2. Additional info:
Please email signed (applicant, department head, and ADR) RPIF along with a pdf of your application to ORS (ors@ors.ubc.ca). You may continue to work on the narrative sections of the application until the deadline to hit “Submit” online. However, please note that budget totals must not be changed from the submitted RPIF.
3. Deadline:
Monday, October 19, 2026, 12:00 p.m. PT
3. Deadline Description:
E-submit in your SSHRC Portfolio
3. Additional info:
To do this, complete and attach all the forms as described in the program instructions. Also, ensure that all Co-Applicants and Collaborators have electronically accepted and verified their invitation to participate in the application. Then “Verify” and correct any reported errors until the resultant Verification Report indicates successful verification. Then click “Submit” to submit your application to UBC ORS for institutional approval.
4. Deadline:
October 20, 2026, 8:00 p.m. (eastern)
4. Deadline Description:
Full application deadline
4. Additional info:
Sponsor deadline (8 p.m. eastern).
Contact:
Nandini Maharaj nandini.maharaj@ubc.ca