The FNRS Board of Directors of April the 24^th 2023 decided that ERC Proof of Concept project proposals which have been awarded a Seal of Excellence and have been submitted with a university of the French-speaking Community of Belgium as Host Institution are likely to be funded by our agency. Principal Investigators are therefore invited to submit an application to the Secretary General (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in CC) and to the Director of the Research Administration department (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) of the FNRS. The following must be attached to the application:

1. The proposal, as it was submitted via the Electronic Submission Service, including the electronic acknowledgement of receipt (a complete PDF file generated by the submission system including the electronic acknowledgement of receipt digitally sealed by the European Commission). 

2. The Evaluation Report.

The application must be complete to be considered by the Board of Directors.

The number of funded projects will be limited and will depend on the available budget.

Questions: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The F.R.S.-FNRS and the Fonds de recherche du Québec have developed a Bilateral Research Programme with the aim of creating leverage for scientific excellence and leading researchers from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and Quebec to develop innovative joint research projects. After calls in 2016 and 2018, the F.R.S.-FNRS and the FRQ are preparing to launch a new call, in two stages, in the summer of 2021:

Provisional schedule:

• Opening 1st stage: August 2, 2021
• Closing 1st stage: September 28, 2021
• Scientific Committee 1st stage: mid-November 2021
• Opening of the 2nd stage (by invitation): December 2021
• Closing of the 2nd stage: mid-February 2022
• Remote international peer review: April 2022
• Scientific Committee: May 2022
• Announcement of results: end of June-beginning of July 2022
• Start of funding: September 2022

Terms and conditions of the upcoming call:

• Rules for the 2021 call.
• PINT-BILAT-P regulations
• Submission of the FRQ electronic portfolio application by the Quebec Principal Investigator (only one form per team)
• Submission of an administrative application by the promoter of the Walloon Federation-Brussels on the e-space platform. The deadline for the registration and submission of this application is 5 working days after the closing of the call, i.e. October 5, 2021 at 2:00 PM. As part of this submission, it is requested to attach the pre-proposal file, as filed on the FRQS e-Portfolio.

Budget: 
The F.R.S.-FNRS and the FRQ should fund 6 joint research projects in the upcoming call.

Amount of the grant:
F.R.S.-FNRS: up to a maximum of € 75,000 per year over 3 years
FRQ: up to a maximum of $CA 100,000 per year over 3 years 

Call open on April 6, 2023, of the

FUNDING FOR PROJECTS IN HUMAN AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

with potential societal impacts 

FNRS WelCHANGE is a new funding programme for research projects

• carried out by a main promoter in Human and Social Sciences,
• with potential societal impacts. 

The objective of this FNRS initiative is to enable the development of projects in strategic societal themes, such as major transitions, as well as the emergence of interdisciplinary approaches.

These projects, which may be single or multi-university, must be led by a main promoter in HSS, in possible collaboration with co-promoters in SVS or SEN.

In practice, the FNRS WelCHANGE PROGRAMME offers financial support over 4 years, including operating costs, personnel costs, and small equipment.

The call will open on 6 April 2023.

The relevant documents are available via the following link.

For any question related to the scope of this new programme: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

For any technical question related to the submission of an application: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

The Art Research Fund (FRArt) enables funding of art research projects art conducted by artists-researchers individually or collectively, outside the scope of doctoral research and outside of any artistic production funding. These projects are validated by one or several Higher Schools of Art (ESA).

Funding instrument:

• FRArt research project (PDR-FRArt)

Under a PDR-FRArt, the eligible costs are of 3 types: personnel, operating and equipment.

The PDR-FRArt has a duration from 9 to 24 months and makes it possible to request funding of maximum € 50,000.-.

Tax status of the PDR-FRArt Grant: the FRArt Grant may benefit from a tax exemption since the project that will be funded will have been assessed on the basis of merit and rewards exceptional merit. This tax exemption is the responsibility of the authors.

Rules & Guides

The Board of Directors of the FNRS has decided to continue under Horizon Europe the support given to the preparation of proposals submitted to the European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, in favour of researchers from the universities of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

The FNRS Horizon Europe incentive applies to the instruments covered by the National Contact Point NCP-FNRS:

• Pillar I - European Research Council (ERC): ERC Starting Grant, ERC Consolidator Grant, ERC Advanced Grant, ERC Synergy Grant, as principal investigator,
• Pillar I - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA): MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship, MSCA Doctoral Network, MSCA Staff Exchange;
• Pillar I - research infrastructures: Research and Innovation Actions (RIA), Innovation Action (IA), Coordination and Support Action (CSA);
• Pillar II - Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society cluster: RIA, IA, CSA;
• part "Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area": RIA, IA, CSA.

Applications must be submitted via e-space, within two months after the closure of the Horizon Europe call (this deadline is adapted for ERC and MSCA FP).

The detailed conditions are specified in a regulation.