NAFOSTED Basic Research Grant (NCCB)
Supports Vietnamese universities and institutes through fundamental research grants across natural and social sciences.
NAFOSTED's National Competitive and Cooperative Basic Research (NCCB) program is Vietnam's principal mechanism for funding academic basic research, administered by the National Foundation for Science and Technology Development under the Ministry of Science and Technology. The foundation has operated two calls per year since 2009 for natural sciences and engineering, and since 2010 for social sciences and humanities, and has funded approximately 3,500 projects in the natural and engineering sciences and roughly 750 projects in the social sciences and humanities to date. Evaluation is conducted through transparent international-standard peer review, with criteria emphasizing novelty, creativity, and publication potential in citation-indexed journals.
The program targets principal investigators at Vietnamese universities and public research institutes, who apply through NAFOSTED's Online Management System with digital signatures required. Award amounts per project are set by individual cycle call notices and denominated in Vietnamese dong; no fixed per-project ceiling is announced at the program level. Two sub-calls each year (đợt 1 and đợt 2) are the standard cadence; 2026 cycles are expected on the same schedule as prior years pending official notice. All eligible disciplines are covered, with sector and topic selection left to the PI within the basic-research mandate.
For Vietnamese academic researchers, the NCCB grant is the primary domestic source of individual investigator funding analogous to national research council grants in other countries. Competitive selection and the emphasis on international publication make it the gateway to NAFOSTED's bilateral programs with partners such as Japan, Belgium, Germany, and Korea. Winning a NCCB project establishes the track record required for most of NAFOSTED's international co-funding calls.
Basic research in natural sciences and engineering, and in social sciences and humanities, conducted by Vietnamese university and research institute principal investigators through twice-yearly competitive calls.
Sign up free to see the funding breakdown
Sign up free to see the industries in scope
Sign up free to see the full eligibility
Sign up free to see the timeline