European Partnership for FOrests, forestry, and the forest-based sector: REsearch and innovation for a Sustainable Transition

FWO participation and funding under this call cover both the fundamental research funding channel (FO) and the Strategic Basic Research funding channel (SBO), meaning that projects may be eligible for funding under either FWO channel. It is essential to emphasise that the choice of funding channel depends on the type of research project to be carried out (i.e. fundamental/exploratory in nature versus strongly focused on future economic and/or societal valorisation potential in a Flemish context). Failure to comply with the specific requirements of the selected funding channel may result in the proposal being declared ineligible. 

Please note that this is assessed on an individual basis: European and/or international partners within the same consortium may freely choose the type of research they conduct. From the FWO’s perspective, only the ‘nature’ of the subproject of the Flemish partner applying for FWO funding is relevant. 

For the fundamental research funding channel, the relevant regulations apply. For the SBO funding channel, the SBO regulations must be taken into account. The latter concern projects with a primary economic and/or societal objective, for which valorisation is an essential and mandatory component.

Research proposals must be submitted to the FOREST Call Secretariat via the online submission tool, in accordance with the applicable procedures and eligibility criteria set out in the call documents. Applicants may also use the partnering tool to identify relevant consortium partners. Other information documents are likewise available on the FOREST call page.

If several Flemish institutions within the same consortium apply for FWO funding, only one joint form containing all information on the Flemish parties concerned needs to be submitted, in line with the standard project procedure. This must always be done by the PI or principal investigator(-spokesperson) via their personal e-portal. 

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 international consortia, the FWO can fund at least two Flemish subprojects. For each Flemish subproject, a maximum amount of EUR 350,000, including overhead, may be requested for a period of up to 36 months, irrespective of the number of partners applying to the FWO for funding. The FWO budgetary rules are also explained in the Annex IV – Funder Regulations document. 

In addition to national/regional resources, cofund Partnerships under the Horizon Europe Framework Programme receive co-funding from the European Commission. At the funding decision stage, based on the final ranking following international peer review, this may result in additional support and thus enable further projects to be funded, including for Flanders.

Key points and deviations from the standard FWO participation framework to take into account:

• Participation in the European cofund Partnerships does not interfere with participation in ‘regular’ FWO projects and is therefore not taken into account when determining the maximum number of applications or ongoing projects. An important caveat is that researchers may participate in a maximum of two different projects/consortia per call, provided these concern different topics. In the FOREST context, participation as a coordinator is additionally limited to one project.

• Different overhead arrangements apply to the fundamental research and SBO funding channels, as explained in the Annex IV – Funder Regulations document.

• SBO projects aimed at developing a spin-off are not eligible in this context. This possible route 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 regulations governing FWO research projects and Article 14 of the regulations governing SBO projects are explicitly excluded.

• Researchers must hold an eligible appointment covering the entire project duration (e.g. a ZAP appointment at universities; a doctoral degree is always mandatory). This applies to both FO and SBO projects and, more specifically, to the emeritus arrangement (Article 10, § 7), which does not apply in this context. In practice, this means, among other things, that principal investigators(-spokespersons) who acquire emeritus status during the project period are not eligible.

• Research teams applying to the FWO for funding may, if desired, involve stakeholders (e.g. municipal/local authorities, public and/or private organisations focusing on forest research, interest groups, etc.) in a research project, including for non-routine tasks. State aid rules must be taken into account. Please contact the FWO for further information.

Researchers are strongly advised to contact the FWO about the eligibility criteria before submitting their proposal. This is to avoid the Flemish researcher(s) individually, and the consortium as a whole, being declared ineligible.