A selection based on excellence
The image of excellence associated with the Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.–FNRS) results, on the one hand, from its policy of encouraging scientific excellence and, on the other hand, from the rigorous procedures established to select the best researchers as well as the best projects for funding.
Since the implementation of the reform of its evaluation procedures in 2010, the Fund has acquired an internationally recognized expertise in peer-reviewing. The Fund’s evaluation procedures comply with international standards and are based on the fundamental principles of excellence, transparency, confidentiality, and research ethics.
Every year, the Fund organises various calls for proposals covering all the scientific domains (Life and Health Sciences, Exact and Natural Sciences, and Human and Social Sciences). Most of them are based on a bottom-up approach: researchers are invited to submit their research proposal with no imposed thematic orientation. Within the framework of the specialized associated Funds, other calls use a more top-down approach and are focused on more specific research topics related to societal needs or explicit prospects for potential innovation.
The Fund sets up evaluation procedures aimed at identifying the best proposals among those submitted, using established criteria (known by the applicants) for each type of funding instrument. The evaluation is usually carried out in two steps. First, the proposals are evaluated remotely by international experts (except for doctoral applications) who then submit their review via the Fund’s online platform e-space. Then, the scientific commissions or juries meet at the Fund’s headquarters in Brussels and rank the submitted funding applications based on the collected remote evaluations. Finally, the Board of trustees of the Fund makes the final granting decisions based on the ranking of the scientific commissions or the juries and taking into account budget constraints. For the sake of transparency, the evaluation reports are sent to the applicants at the end of the process (anonymously, with the final grade given by the commission).
Identification and recruitment of remote experts
The “Analysis, Evaluation and Foresight” unit of the Fund identifies and recruits remote experts. The goal is to make sure each funding application is reviewed by an adequate number (neither too low, nor too high) of legitimate experts. Their legitimacy to review a funding application is assessed, on the one hand, by their scientific experience and expertise and, on the other hand, by their ability to evaluate a proposal objectively and fairly (verification of the absence of conflicts of interest).
To reach its goals, the “Analysis, Evaluation and Foresight” unit has been building a database of over 19.000 experts from all over the world since 2010. The Fund is eager to continuously enrich this database so as to cover a large spectrum of research topics as well as encourage the selection of specialists able to assess the various projects submitted. In addition, this allows the Fund to ensure a certain turnover among the experts of the first stage. Reviewers also receive support through the various steps related to their registration on the e-space platform and the evaluation of proposals for the Fund.
Since 2010, the Fund’s administration has been striving to improve its evaluation procedures, taking into consideration the comments made by the members of the scientific commissions, the remote reviewers and their own observations and analyses of the procedure in force. Regardless of gender, their satisfaction with the evaluation procedure of the Fund is reflected in the following key figures [1]:
- 94.7% feel that they have all the information necessary (regarding the various funding instruments for example) to perform their reviews.
- 90.6% state that they are (completely) satisfied with the online platform (e-space) and no expert has said that they were not satisfied (at all) with the support by the staff of the Fund.
- 93.4% would recommend other potential experts to apply to become an FNRS expert themselves.
Once an evaluation process for a specific call for proposals is over, analysis reports (https://www.frs-fnrs.be/fr/le-fnrs/analyses-etudes) are produced to ensure the calls run smoothly and that the evaluation procedures are unbiased.
[1] These results are based on an anonymous survey launched on 8th December 2020 to assess the satisfaction of experts who performed at least one remote evaluation for the Fund during the last two major calls for proposals organised in 2020 (i.e. Grants and Fellowships 2020 and Credits and Projects 2020). (For more information: https://www.frs-fnrs.be/fr/ca-s-est-passe-en-2021/1702-enquete-2020-aupres-des-experts-a-distance-du-fnrs)
Call for experts
The Fund is always looking for motivated experts willing to take part in its various evaluation procedures and pays particular attention to gender balance in the selection of reviewers. As part of its gender policy, the Fund is particularly looking for female experts to enrich its database. Many evaluations conducted for the Fund are remunerated.
Are you a researcher with scientific expertise? Do you want to dedicate time to the evaluation of funding applications for the Fund? We invite you to create an account on e-space, our online platform. Once you have registered, please follow the steps below:
- click “SUBMIT AN APPLICATION OR CREATE AN EXPERT PROFILE” on the menu at the top of the home page of the platform;
- click “EXPERT REGISTRATION”, then “Continue”;
- on the next page, click “1. REGISTRATION FORM », then follow the instructions on the screen to enter all your data.
It is very important that you carefully and comprehensively fill in the form since the Fund will potentially contact you to review funding applications based on the encoded information.
Should you have any questions regarding your registration as expert, do not hesitate to contact the “Analysis, Evaluation and Foresight” unit of the Fund at their e-mail address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
DORA
Since January of 2022, the Fund is a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which is a set of recommendations promoting best practices in the assessment of scholarly research (https://sfdora.org/). For funding agencies like the Fund for Scientific Research, this means putting more emphasis on the scientific content of a paper rather than publication metrics or the reputation of the journal (and Impact Factor) in which it was published.
As such, since the 2022 Grants and Fellowships call, applicants to a Postdoctoral Researcher fellowship and Research Associate fellowship can attach to their application the 5 publications they deem most representative of their career. In previous years, they could only be listed and justified in the scientific part of the application file.
Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (ARRA)
As a signatory of the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (ARRA) since June 2023, the F.R.S.-FNRS is actively committed to advancing evaluation practices. In line with the commitments made, the FNRS adopted, at its Board of Trustees meeting on April 9, 2025, an Action Plan that sets out concrete measures over a five-year period to align with the ten core commitments of the ARRA.
