The grant, amounting to 50 billion rials (some $28,800) for each research project for at least three years, will be allocated to the following fields, INSF.org reported.

1. Water and Energy:
AI-powered smart irrigation systems for water-scarce and saline environments; Integrated water resource management under drought and climate variability conditions; and Energy-efficient advanced technologies for water treatment and seawater/brackish water desalination.

2. Energy storage and hydrogen technologies:
Renewable energy integration into national grid and distribution networks; Agricultural and medical biotechnology; Genetic improvement of strategic crops for drought, salinity and heat resistance using molecular breeding techniques; Microbial biotechnology for food security: bio-fertilizers, single-cell proteins, and probiotics, biopesticides and biological control; Recombinant drugs and biosimilars: process development, purification, and quality control; and Novel drug delivery systems based on biological origins (nano-carriers, liposomes).

In January, the INSF and the NSFC agreed to cooperate in joint projects in Traditional Medicine and Medicinal Plants: 

1- Evidence-based integration and standardization of traditional Chinese and traditional Persian medicine for major diseases; Sustainable medicinal plants: eco-cultivation, biodiversity, and resilience; and the Application of Digital and AI Tools in the Classification, Analysis, and Clinical Research of Traditional Medicine and Medicinal Plants.

2. Energy: Renewable Energy; High-efficiency Utilization of Conventional Energy; Energy-Related Materials; Storage Technologies; and the Application of Artificial Intelligence in the Energy Field.