Apply for Research Grants

Any person, institution, government, or intergovernmental or non-governmental organization may submit a proposal.

The Science Project Program is the most comprehensive nonproliferation activity conducted by the ISTC. Through this program, the ISTC solicits scientific project proposals from institutes throughout the CIS countries and Georgia and provides funding and logistic support to project teams. Project teams receive written concurrence from the host country on whose territory their research will be conducted, and then develop and execute their project with foreign collaborating organizations. Foreign collaborators ensure the project goals contribute to the state-of-the-art in the field, and that results will find applications in real problems in basic and applied research. 

Areas of Interest (AOI) focus on areas of thematic interest allowing a guided approach to addressing pressing global issues of common concern. Areas of Interest are identified collaboratively in response to members’ needs and priorities and are used to help direct the selection of new projects. Current Areas of Interest focus areas include: 

• - CBRN Security and WMD equipment related dual use including Nanotechnology, Biosafety and Biosecurity, Radioactive Source Risk Mitigation, Nuclear Non-proliferation, Nuclear Security and Safety, Nuclear Forensics, SMR (Advanced Modular Reactors)
• - Export Control on Dual-use Materials and Technologies
• - Water Safety and Security using Earth Observation and remote monitoring
• - Climate Change
• - Seismic Cooperation and Hazard Mitigation Monitoring using Earth Observation (predicting)
• - Critical infrastructure monitoring, crisis management 
• - SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) on STI (Science & Technology Innovation) including training and capacity building  
• - Preparedness and Response for Mass Gatherings and other health threats
• - Cyber Security
• - Civil Protection / Disaster Risk Management
• - Clean / renewable energy & energy efficiency / EXPO
• - Medical Emergency Preparedness & Response for CBRN Incidents

Application Process

         1. Register

In order to prepare an application, you must first register on this Proposal Portal (please see User Manual #1). After you have registered you will be welcomed to your Applications Home page, which is where you will fill out and manage your profile, application form and all information relating to your application(s). The Application guideline  will specify whether and how you need to do so.

          2. Prepare and submit your proposal

ISTC gives you the opportunity to launch new Project Proposals and discuss them with other scientists, collaborators and potential partners. You can also join ongoing discussions on being interested in your themes.

          At the ISTC’s Governing Board meeting (GB75), the SAC policy paper on proposals and seminars was reviewed and approved. A new two- step process for the evaluation proposals that have been openly submitted to ISTC was agreed. The new Proposal Portal website has been developed and implemented. Upcoming project proposal application will be submitted on the new Proposal Portal website and submission process will start on 5th of July 2024. Additionally, the ISTC inform you that following deadlines agreed:

• Step 1: Applicants submit a 3-page summary (due date: 15th October);
• Step 2: Applicants with a “acceptance and request to submit full proposal” notification submit a full proposal (due date: 15th March as before).

ISTC does not accept a Project Proposal as a hard copy (paper) document. But to get the Host Government Concurrence Letter a hard copy document is needed on Step 2. That's why it is possible to generate a MS Word file, which can be printed out. By this way you get the Proposal document in English. If necessary, the Proposal should be translated into other languages – as before.  All the information you will need to fill will be listed in the Application guideline for your chosen call (please see User Manual #2, User Manual # 3).  Be sure to follow these guidelines closely. Proposals not compliant with the criteria and instructions will be returned to the authors for revision. 

         3. Evaluation process

Complete proposals will be submitted to the members of ISTC Scientific Advisory Committee SAC for evaluation. In a Step 1, a summary maximum 3 pages, shall be submitted for evaluation to the SAC. Step 2 is the submission of the full proposal considering the recommendation issued from step 1 SAC summary. These step 2 proposals shall be submitted in accordance with the deadlines. The ISTC Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), conducts an impartial review for scientific-technical merit. The Governing Board approves proposals and considers project funding. A proposal may be approved with funding, approved without funding, recommended for redrafting or rejected.  The applicants are informed in writing of the results of consideration by the Governing Board.

To ask your own questions, please use the FAQ or send an email to portal@istc.int

If you would like any further information, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Executive Memo on the change of procedure/policy on scanned documents (issued on 24 July 2014)

The ISTC Proposal Portal link: : https://www.portal.istc.int

The ISTC Portal Instructions: https://www.portal.istc.int/help/Instructions/ 

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Contact information for host government concurrence and project proposal group in ISTC:

Dana Mubarakova
Grants and Agreements Officer  
tel.: +7 (7172) 999 395 (Ext. 1033)
e-mail: mubarakova@istc.int

Shyngys Zharassov

Project Proposal and Agreement Assistant  
tel.: +7 (7172) 999 395 (Ext. 1007)
e-mail: zharassov@istc.int