Applying for a biennial grant :: Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake

Thank you to everyone who submitted an expression of interest to our 2026 round of biennial grants. The round is now closed. We are currently reviewing the applications we received and will contact everyone who applied with an outcome as soon as we can. Successful applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal in July.

Every 2 years, NHC Toka Tū Ake invites researchers and practitioners to submit proposals for biennial grants. This year we invite proposals that align with our updated research strategy [PDF, 2.9 MB] and Research Investment Priorities Statement 2025 [PDF, 2 MB]. Be sure to read these important documents before applying.

We have provided over $12.5 million in funding for more than 300 projects through the biennial grants round since they began in 1989. For the 2022 round, approximately $1 million in funding was allocated to 13 projects, and in 2024, approximately $1.1 million was awarded to 15 projects. This round we expect to award approximately $1.2 million across projects of up to $100,000 excl. GST per project.

Key dates for the 2026 round

Round opens on 1 May 2025  
EOI submission by midday Thursday 29 May 2025  
Assessment of EOIs through June 2025  
EOI outcomes in the first week of July 2025  
Full proposals due mid-day Thursday 14 August 2025  
Final funding decisions by mid-October 2025  
Contracting between October and November 2025  
Contracts begin January 2026

How to apply

Applications for expressions of interest are now closed. Successful applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal in July.

Read more about the full process, eligibility, and how to apply in the documents below.

Or download all the above documents as a zip file: Applying for biennials zip file [ZIP, 2.4 MB]

Assessment Panel

Dr Natalie Balfour (Chair), Natural Hazards Commission
Dr Lauren Vinnell, Joint Centre for Disaster Research at Massey University
Dr Rebecca Kiddle, Te Manawahoukura at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
Gabrielle Hine, PhD, Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment
Jenni Tipler, CMEngNZ CPEng, Resilient Buildings at Wellington City Council
Dr Alex Shegay, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at University of Auckland
Prof. Jonathan Proctor, School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University
Lucy Kaiser, GNS Science
Prof. John Hopkins, University of Canterbury

Please note, you should not approach panel members directly regarding the funding round. If you have any questions regarding assessment, contact us at research@naturalhazards.govt.nz.

Support and more information

If you have any questions, please email us at research@naturalhazards.govt.nz. Let us know if you'd like to be added to our research email distribution list to keep up-to-date with our funding news.

Information webinar - 7 May 2025

Watch the recording of the information session we ran on 7 May 2025. We’ve published the questions from the Q & A below.

Biennial Grants Funding Round information session

Biennial grants Q and As

The following questions were received via email or raised during the information session. If you have further questions, not featured here, please send them to us via email research@naturalhazards.govt.nz. We'll add any more questions we receive here in the interests of fairness.

What percentage of EOIs progress to full proposals, and what percentage of proposals are funded?

Every funding round has different percentages but, as an indication, our 2024 Biennial funding round saw about 75 expressions of interest, 30 of which progressed to full proposal, and 15 of those were selected to be funded.

One key difference from the previous funding round is that, in 2024, we had a general pool with an early career track, and a Māori-focussed research pool. This funding round, we just have one general pool, we’re still encouraging Māori research and early career research through the criteria you’ll see articulated in our guidance documents.

Would NHC consider applications from consultancies rather than research institutes?

Yes, we will consider proposals that are submitted by New Zealand-based researchers, research organisations or legal entities representing New Zealand-based research organisations, which includes consultancies that have a strong research function.

Keep in mind, however, that there are conditions you would have to comply with, including that the research outputs are publicly available.

Can individuals apply for a grant, or does it need to be an organisation?

Yes, a New Zealand-based researcher can apply as an individual.

Regarding the benefit test, are there any reference resources for applicants to evaluate costs of various hazards?

As a starting point, we suggest you read our Resilience Strategy for Natural Hazard Risk Reduction as well as our Research Strategy, both of which cover why we invest in natural hazards research.
There is a body of research into economic and societal costs of natural hazards, and we recommend applicants look into this research as they are putting together their applications.

What research costs can Biennial Grants cover? Are institutional overheads on salaries or capex eligible?

Please refer to the Proposal budgets section of our General Funding Guidance document, which provides a detailed explanation of what we do and do not cover.

Be aware that we are only able to pay up to 30% of salary and salary related costs toward institutional overheads in this funding round.

Our funding can be used to cover limited capital costs in exceptional circumstances. While capital equipment is the responsibility of the applicant’s organisation, exceptional requests for our funding for capital equipment should be explained and justified in the budget. Materials and apparatus purchased with research grant monies should be used exclusively for activities related to the funded project during its duration unless the impact of its use for other purposes is immaterial to the progress and quality of the project.

Is conference travel and attendance subject to separate applications and conditions, as indicated by NHC’s budget template?

Yes. Research proposal budgets should not include conference attendance or conference travel. However, note if a researcher is presenting a paper or leading a workshop on the topic funded by us, we will accept requests for discretionary consideration of providing conference support. Relevant forms can be found on our documents and templates page.

Are risks to offshore infrastructure, such as platforms, cables, future infrastructure such as windfarms, in scope?

While important, research into natural hazard related risks to infrastructure is tangential to our core interest which is residential housing. Offshore infrastructure is not within the scope of NHCover, our insurance scheme that provides cover to residential dwellings and some land in the event of natural hazard events. We are interested in land-based infrastructure that connect and provide services to the home.

We recommend applicants familiarise themselves with our NHCover insurance scheme, to be able to articulate how their research projects pass our ‘benefits test’. Find out more about NHCover here.

What are NHC’s access and dissemination requirements for grant outputs?

Our research is funded through a public levy, and therefore it is important that research outputs are publicly accessible. Moreover, research is most useful when its outputs are used to inform decision-making. Researchers must make every endeavour to publicly disseminate the results of research facilitated by this grant, be it data collection or analysis. We expect open-access publishing with complying journals. We expect researchers to consider this in their original proposal budget and include related publication expenses in their budget costs.

We publish and distribute the project outputs and findings, and any other information relating to the project, without charge, in the form most appropriate for the project (including our website, internal networks and direct communications). There is an obligation by the researcher and/or host organisation to provide us with a copy of all documentation including reports, conference presentations, guidance and any other papers at the time it is completed or due.

We encourage you to read the funding guidance and research agreement template to understand our expectations fully.

Are disbursement-only applications assessed in the same pool as those requesting researcher time? If so, do they tend to perform equally well?

Disbursement-only applications are acceptable, but the applicant will need to state where the other funding for researcher time is coming from, because obviously the disbursements are to do some research so there would be researcher time required. So, we expect this would be a co-funding arrangement and we would expect an explanation of who else is contributing to the programme and covering the time needed to do the research. This will be more obvious in the second stage when you put forward a full budget, but it is something you should also consider in the EOI stage.

Note, if that co-funding was withdrawn, per the funding agreement, we would reserve the right to withdraw our funding.

Disbursement-only applications will be assessed in the same pool and under the same conditions as all other proposals.

We don’t have a breakdown of how they have performed, but it would depend on whether the strength of each individual proposal.

What's the difference between the ‘representative’ and ‘administrative’ contact roles listed in the Terms and Conditions? Can the same person be listed for both?

The administrative contact manages the day-to-day operations of the grant, like budgeting and preparing the application. The Representative contact is the official who legally authorises the application on behalf of the institution. Usually someone who can sign research contracts on behalf of the organisation or similar. If applicable, the same person can be listed for both.

Can a PI or University submit more than one EOI in the same round?

Yes. Applicants can submit multiple EOIs and be named as Principal Investigator or Associate Investigator on multiple applications. A Biennial can also have more than one PI or AI if appropriate, however the should be only one PI as a point of contact who is declared as the “Applicant” on the Smarty Grants form.

We are unlikely to award more than one Biennial to the same PI, however we have previously awarded multiple Biennials to the same organisation (with different PIs). We encourage all applicants to work closely with their organisation's Research Office to ensure applications are well supported and coordinated.

Are external assessors involved in both the EOI and Full Proposal assessment process?

Yes, we form an Assessment Panel that will evaluate applications at both the EOI and Full Proposal stages. Please refer to the Guidelines for Applicants for details on the assessment process.

Be aware that because we have a broad portfolio of research interests (see our Research Investment Priorities Statement), our assessment panel needs to be broad to reflect that. So, it’s important to write your proposals for an interdisciplinary audience.

What are the main differences between biennial and URP funding?

Biennial funding supports a single defined project or pilot, for up to 2 years, valued up to $100K in total. Early-career researchers are especially strongly encouraged to apply to this fund. Whilst capability development is a benefit, it is not the focus of this funding round.

URP funding is focussed on capability development through a research programme (usually made up of several related projects), for up to 3 years, and up to $450K. It supports experienced researchers who can demonstrate prior capability development, who have delivered benefits from several funded projects and have prior experience supervising students and managing a team.

When is the next URP round? Can I link a Biennial proposal with a URP proposal to capitalise on the wider pool of researchers and capability development?

Our next University Research Programme (URP) Round will open early next calendar year (2026), with successful grants announced mid-2026 and programmes starting in early 2027. Each round is assessed independently by an external assessment panel.

If you’re thinking about lining up your biennial grants with URPs, be aware that this round of Biennial grants will cover the end of the last URP round (ending early 2026) and the start of the 2027 round.

What meets the definition for a research organisation under our eligibility criteria?

As well as universities, crown research institutes, private and not-for-profit research institutes, we would accept proposals from organisations (including consultancies and wānanga) which during the contract period would be focused on or have dedicated resource for a strong research function (in the context of their organisation). Independent researchers are also welcome to apply.

Local authorities are not included in our definition of a research organisation. However, they may be included as partners on Biennial applications led by other organisations.

NHC Toka Tū Ake would consider local authority led proposals through our negotiated research pathway, please see our documents and templates page for the relevant forms.

Does NHC Toka Tū Ake allow Early Career Researchers to extend their ECR window if they have been part-time or taken career breaks?

Yes, we are happy to confirm we allow for career breaks and/or part-time work in our Early Career window.

Are projects concerning ‘wildfires’ eligible to apply for this fund?

Proposals will need to be able to both pass our eligibility requirements. Eligibility involves passing our resilience benefit test, which is directly related to the NHCover we provide. Wildfire is not one of our covered hazards, rather it is covered by private residential insurance for fire. A proposal would have to be related to one of our covered hazards (such as fire-following-event) as well as wildfire alone or make a sufficiently strong case for relevance through the bundling of insurance or similar, in order to pass the resilience benefit test.

Would NHC Toka Tū Ake consider amendments to the proposed Research Funding Agreement (RFA)?

We are willing to consider minor amendments to the RFA, however amendment requests will be considered as part of the EOI eligibility evaluation.

Project-specific amendment requests should be emailed to research@naturalhazards@govt.nz before the close of the EOI period, clearly specifying the Project name and PI an explanation of why these amendments are necessary. These will be considered with the EOI.

If we do not intend to accept an amendment we will not progress the EOI further so please ensure any requested amendments are necessary.

We have had enquiries on some clauses which we are sharing for transparency:

Intellectual Property: All IP existing and new remains with the owners and creators. We are willing to consider amendments to the IP License in clause 3.1.a in extenuating circumstances.

It should be noted that we strongly encourage use of the CARE principles for any mātauranga Māori involved in the project, and so amendments which better uphold those principles are welcome.
It should be noted that we encourage use of the FAIR principles, and so amendments which contradict those principles are unlikely to be welcome. Please keep in mind the purpose of our licence is to ensure the public availability and access of project outputs in the event that a research organisation is no longer willing or able to do so.
We are less willing to entertain requests for reduction of the perpetual nature of the license, but should this be required for the project, please follow the instructions above and we will assess at the EOI submission.
Regarding the cases of a third-party license or commercial arrangements, we are unlikely to accept these amendment requests, however, should a compelling case be made and the project still be able to achieve appropriate outcomes, this may be possible.

Liability cap: We are also willing to consider the addition of a liability cap at three times the funded amount to support organisations in meeting their insurance obligations.

Apply for a biennial grant