Private funding

The mission of the FNRS is important; this involves ensuring that the resources made available by patrons and donors are allocated to the most deserving researchers and whose research is the most promising while being in line with the purpose of the sponsorship.

This mission is supported by the “Prizes & Endowments” service which has developed solid expertise in supporting patrons as well as in the identification and implementation of their scientific patronage activities.

The activities linked to these partnerships include the definition of the most appropriate type of support instrument and its scientific scope, the drafting of call regulations and documents, communication to relevant target audiences, the administration of application files and the organization of independent evaluation procedures based on the best standards in force.

Thus, each year, the FNRS administers numerous sponsored instruments with a view to rewarding or supporting excellent researchers. In 2024, 17 calls made it possible to grant 38 awards to researchers at different stages of their career, active throughout Belgium and in all scientific disciplines, for a total amount of €3,173,300.

These scientific sponsorship activities are multifaceted. The geographical area of ​​application of the instruments can be community, national, European or global. Their scientific scope linked to exact and natural sciences, life and health sciences or human and social sciences.

Some calls are annual, others open every two, three, four or five years. Some are co-managed with the FWO, others entirely supported by the FNRS. The amounts vary, between €5,000 and €1,000,000. But all are at the service of the essential vocation of the FNRS: to reward and support fundamental research in all its dimensions.