Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States are pleased to announce that a joint research funding opportunity focused on wildfires in  the wildland-urban interface, led by the Natural Environment Research Council-UK Research and Innovation (NERC-UKRI), is now accepting applications.

This collaborative opportunity seeks to improve understanding of and resilience to wildfire in zones where natural and human environments meet. Innovative research is needed to develop frameworks that better explain current fire behaviour, assess emerging risks and impacts, and guide more effective prevention, mitigation and adaptation strategies.

In Canada, funding for Canadian researchers exploring this issue will be provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), with NSERC leading Canada’s participation. The Canadian funding available for this call is up to $9 million.

This call is open to Canadian university researchers from a broad range of disciplines, including natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities and health. Researchers will work in partnership with academic collaborators from the UK and (optionally) the US.

Please refer to the Enhancing Resilience to Wildfires in the Wildland-Urban Interface call for more information.

Expressions of interest are due to UKRI by Thursday, July 30, 2026, at 11 a.m. EDT (4:00 pm BST).

NSERC will host information sessions on how Canadian researchers can participate in this funding call. The UKRI Natural Environment Research Council will also host an information session where interested Canadian researchers can connect with UK researchers (in English only).

For questions, please contact RP-Initiatives-PR@nserc-crsng.gc.ca.

More information about participating partners:

• UKRI
• UKRI Natural Environment Research Council
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
• The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
• The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
• U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)

• Canada and other G7 nations have resolved to boost global cooperation to prevent, fight and recover from wildfires, including through collaborative research to enhance wildfire resilience, as stated in the Kananaskis Wildfire Charter.