European Biodiversity Partnership (Biodiversa+) - cofund partnership

FWO participation and funding under this call cover both the fundamental research (FO) and Strategic Basic Research (SBO) funding channels, meaning that projects may be funded through either FWO channel. It must be strongly emphasised that the choice of funding channel depends on the type of research project to be conducted (i.e. fundamental/exploratory research versus research strongly geared towards future economic or societal valorisation potential). Failure to comply with the specific requirements of the selected funding channel may render an application ineligible. 

Please note that this is assessed individually: European and/or international partners within the same consortium may choose their type of research freely. From the FWO’s perspective, only the nature of the subproject undertaken by the Flemish partner applying to the FWO for funding is relevant. 

The relevant regulations apply to the fundamental research funding channel. For the SBO funding channel, the SBO regulations must be taken into account. SBO projects have a primary economic and/or societal purpose, and valorisation is an essential and mandatory component.

Research proposals must be submitted by consortia of European and international researchers to the Biodiversa call secretariat via the ‘EPSS submission platform’, in accordance with the applicable procedures and eligibility criteria set out in the call documents referred to above. A ‘partner search tool’ is also available to help identify suitable consortium partners. Examples of the pre-proposal and full-proposal templates are likewise available on the BiodivFuture call page.

Where several Flemish institutions within the same consortium apply for FWO funding, only one joint form containing all information on the Flemish parties concerned must be submitted, in line with the procedure for regular projects. This must always be done by the principal investigator or principal investigator acting as spokesperson through their personal e-portal account. 

The submission deadline is the same as the call deadline for pre-proposals. Applicants are strongly advised to contact the FWO administration no later than one week before submission so that eligibility can be verified.

Within an international consortium, the FWO will support at least three Flemish projects, with a maximum amount of €250,000 (including overheads) available per project for a period of 36 months. The FWO budget rules are also explained in the ‘Funding Organisation Rules’ document (see p. 12 onwards). 

In addition to national and regional resources, co-funded partnerships under the Horizon Europe Framework Programme receive co-funding from the European Commission. Following international peer review, this may result in additional support at the funding-decision stage on the basis of the final ranking, enabling further projects to be funded, including projects from Flanders.

Key points and departures from the FWO’s regular participation framework to be taken into account:

• FWO and BELSPO funding cannot be applied for simultaneously within the same consortium, even if the applications concern different research institutions.

• Participation in European co-funded partnerships does not affect participation in ‘regular’ or ‘national’ FWO projects and is therefore not counted towards the maximum number of projects that may be applied for or held concurrently. However, an applicant may participate in no more than two different projects/consortia per call, provided that they address different topics. In this Biodiversa+ context, an applicant may also act as ‘Project Partner Coordinator’ only once.

• Different overhead arrangements apply to the fundamental research and SBO funding channels, as explained in the ‘Funding Organisation Rules’ document (see p. 12 onwards).

• SBO projects aimed at developing a spin-off are not eligible in this context. This option may therefore not be described in the FWO pre-registration.

• A user committee or ‘advisory committee’ is not mandatory for an SBO project in this context.

• Projects may run for a maximum of 36 months and must be budgeted accordingly. Automatic extensions are not permitted under this participation framework. Consequently, Article 28 of the fundamental FWO Research Projects Regulations and Article 14 of the SBO Projects Regulations are expressly excluded.

• Researchers must hold an eligible appointment covering the full duration of the project. For FO projects, the emeritus provisions in Article 10(§7) do not apply in this context. In other words, (future) emeritus professors are not eligible.

• Research teams applying to the FWO for funding may, if they wish, involve stakeholders (e.g. nature conservation organisations, interest groups, municipal or city authorities, and public and/or private organisations focusing on biodiversity) in a research project, including in non-routine tasks. Applicants must, however, take account of the state-aid rules. Please contact the FWO for further information if required.

Researchers are strongly advised to contact the FWO before submission regarding the eligibility criteria. This will help avoid the Flemish researcher or researchers, and the consortium as a whole, being declared ineligible.