The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) are continuing their long-standing collaboration by launching a call for proposals for outstanding joint research projects in the research field of “Intelligent Numerical Mathematics” (topics falling under the responsibility of the elected DFG review board mathematics – Fachkollegium 3.31).

This initiative aims to bring together relevant and competitive researchers from Germany and China to design and carry out collaborative research projects. Funds to be used on the Chinese side must be requested from the NSFC; funds to be used on the German side must be requested from the DFG. Special attention is given to the integrated character of proposed projects, from the concept to the work plan. Funding is only available for projects that involve a convincing collaboration between the German and Chinese partners and for which the anticipated research benefit is clearly outlined. It is expected that each partner contributes substantially to the common project. Projects should be integrated but do not have to be symmetrical in terms of funds applied for. However, work packages are expected to be delivered with a reasonably equal distribution between the partners and schedules should be well coordinated. Source codes and data used and generated within these projects should be open according to usual scientific standards.

All proposals will be reviewed by both organisations separately. The results of the review process will be shared between the agencies. Proposals and reviews will not be shared.

The collaborative projects selected will receive research funding for a period of up to three years. Please note that at the DFG, there are no separate funds available for these efforts; proposals must succeed on the strengths of their intellectual merit and teams.

Scientific Scope

In recent years, the combination of numerical methods and learning-based approaches has gained an ever-increasing interest as a research field within Numerical Mathematics and Scientific Computing. The suggested topic “Intelligent Numerical Mathematics” (iNum) will foster the development of the two emerging fields of learning-based numerics and numerically efficient learning methods. Here, both fields are viewed as research topics within Numerical Mathematics and Scientific Computing. This viewpoint is supported by a fast-growing number of publications and presentations at conferences across Applied Mathematics and Computational Science and Engineering (CSE).

By using learning-based numerics, the range of tractable problems as well as the efficiency and robustness of numerical methods can be tremendously enhanced, for example, by: 

• learning of numerical parameters such as relaxation parameters, adaptivity criteria or regularisation weights;
• learned components in model reduction or multi-scale methods;
• generation of good initial guesses or preconditioners for iterative solvers;
• decisions between different options such as parallelisation strategies or different types of solvers for (non-)linear systems of equations;
• load balancing based on learned performance models. 

Here, challenges are expected in terms of stability requirements, convergence or, more general, quality guarantees. In the field of numerically efficient learning methods, new or improved numerical algorithms are used to tune state-of-the-art learning methods. Increased computational efficiency and parallel scalability as well as numerical robustness of modern learning algorithms can be expected as scientific output. For example, improvements in the training phase are expected by:

• enhanced optimisation methods;
• sparsification, regularisation and error control;
• parallel numerical methods with improved scalability and reduced communication.

Learning methods challenge the traditional numerical approaches in many of the aforementioned aspects and pose new questions for research in Numerical Mathematics and Scientific Computing.

Eligibility

The principal investigators on each side must be eligible to apply to their respective funding agency. The eligibility for the applicants in Germany to submit a proposal follows the regulations for the DFG “Sachbeihilfe/Research Grants” funding programme (DFG form 50.01(interner Link)). For members of non-university institutions with permanent positions, this includes the duty to cooperate (“Kooperationspflicht”) with a partner at a German university (DFG form 55.01(interner Link)). Applicants in China must meet the eligibility requirements of the NSFC. Projects with clear links to research with military applications or involving military research institutions are not eligible.

Proposal Preparation and Submission

Applicants for a bilateral collaborative project within this call must submit their joint proposal to their national funding organisation. Chinese principal investigators (PIs) submit their documents to the NSFC, German PIs to the DFG. All documents must be written in English. Please note that the documents submitted to the DFG and the NSFC must not differ with regard to the scientific content of the proposal or with regard to the applicants involved. The proposal must include a description of the full proposed research programme and research team, and describe the total resources for the joint project (i. e. the funds requested for both the Chinese and German groups).

Proposals arriving late and/or those not fulfilling the national requirements will not be considered. No legal entitlement can be derived from the submission of a project description.

Proposals must be submitted by the Germany-based principal investigator via elan(externer Link), the DFG’s electronic proposal processing system, by 30 October 2025 at the latest. After logging in, please use the template Project Description – Project Proposals (DFG form 53.01(interner Link)) and the link “Proposal for a Research Grant” in the Proposal Forms column (Proposal Submission > New Project > Individual Grants Programme > Proposal for a Research Grant). Please select “China-NSFC-DFG 2025 iNum-Proposals” under “Proposal Data”. In the elan system, only the German budget has to be filled in, since only applicants in Germany can receive funding from the DFG. CVs of the PIs from both sides must be uploaded in elan according to the template Curriculum Vitae (DFG form 53.200(interner Link)). Please note that the reviewers will need the full information on the PIs from Germany as well as from China.

The explanations regarding any possible safety-related aspects (see DFG form 53.01, 4.1.5.1 “Dual Use Research of Concern” and 4.1.5.2 “Risks in international cooperation”) are mandatory and have to be elaborated.

If this is the first time you are submitting a proposal to the DFG, please note that you must register in the elan portal before you can submit your proposal. You must do so by 23 October 2025. You will normally receive confirmation of your registration by the next working day.

The DFG and the NSFC expect a cooperation agreement to be signed by the project partners. Within the cooperation agreement, special attention shall be directed to the extent to which the relevant legal requirements in China are addressed. In view of the Chinese data legislation (e. g. Personal Information Protection Law and Data Security Law), the cooperation partners in China must assess whether project data is to be checked by the relevant authorities. The DFG and the NSFC provide a basis template for a cooperation agreement(Download). To support the preparation of a cooperation agreement, initial legal counselling(externer Link) is provided by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space.

Specific Instructions for Applicants from China

Chinese applicants are kindly requested to conform to all the requirements listed in the Chinese call for proposals that is published on the NSFC website and to submit their documents to the NSFC.

Notification of Results

Please note that funding recommendations from the review processes will be subject to approval by NSFC and DFG decision bodies, taking into account the availability of funds. Funding can only be granted if both organisations arrive at a positive decision.

Applicants will be informed in writing of the results of the review and, where applicable, of the subsequent administrative steps according to the respective national regulations. The selection of the projects will be completed by the end of May 2026. Funding will be provided according to the funding rules (incl. reporting) of the respective funding organisation.

Grant holders are requested, where possible, to synchronise their project components and initiate their grants in a timely manner.

Equity and Diversity

The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness. With regard to the subject-specific focus of this call, the DFG encourages female researchers in particular to submit proposals.

Good Research Practice

According to a resolution of the DFG General Assembly, DFG funding may only be awarded to research institutions that have implemented the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct for Safeguarding Good Research Practice(externer Link) in their own regulations. The management of your institution is responsible for implementing the guidelines in a legally binding manner. In order to avoid delays in the disbursement of funding, please verify implementation within your institution in good time. For information regarding the implementation, please refer to the Research Integrity Portal(externer Link). If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Research Integrity team(externer Link) at the DFG Head Office.

Further Information 

Contact Persons at the DFG Head Office

Programme contact

Dr. Carsten Balleier, Mathematics and Engineering Sciences 2, Tel. +49 228 885-2063, carsten.balleier@dfg.de(externer Link)

Dr. Frank Kiefer, Mathematics and Engineering Sciences 2, Tel. +49 228 885-2567, frank.kiefer@dfg.de(externer Link)

Administrative contact

Silke Seiler, Mathematics and Engineering Sciences 2, Tel. +49 228 885-2751, silke.seiler@dfg.de(externer Link)

Privacy Policy

We, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), take the protection of your personal data and its confidential treatment extremely seriously. Therefore, please refer to the DFG’s Privacy Policy(interner Link). If you intend to transmit personal data of third parties, please make sure to do so only if the necessary legitimation under data protection law exist. Before transmitting data of third parties to the DFG, please forward the DFG’s Data Protection Notice to the individuals affected (data subjects). If there is a legitimate interest not to inform individuals beforehand (e.g. for reasons of secrecy or in case of a nomination or candidate proposal), these individuals should be informed no later than at the time of publication.