FWO - Large-scale research infrastructure 2025

Research

Funding organisation:

Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen

What?

FWO launched the new call for Large-scale research infrastructure. Research infrastructure comprises all facilities and sources that promote the performance of cross-border and strategic basic research across all scientific disciplines. Besides scientific infrastructure, this includes collections, natural habitats, corpora, databases (including digital opening up), and connection to data platforms.

The regulations for large-scale research infrastructures have been adapted since the previous calls.

From call 2025 onwards, a pre-registration will be introduced to explore collaboration opportunities.

A new set of regulations is in place. The main changes to the regulations concern:

• Co-supervisors must make a real, financially assessable contribution to the application through their research group or institution, otherwise they will be added as users. A maximum of 50 percent of the co-financing may consist of the co-supervisors' personnel costs.

• The supervisor-spokesperson must submit a scientific report to the FWO:
  1) For ongoing research infrastructures: the supervisor-spokesperson must submit a scientific report to the FWO two and a half years after the official start date of the agreement, indicating the progress status of the research and the project work still to be carried out together with a list of scientific publications, if any;
  2) For fully completed research infrastructures: the supervisor-spokesperson must submit a final report on the scientific activities to the FWO no later than six months after the expiry of the agreement, together with a list of publications related to the project, and the logbook (in electronic form). 

In the context of the launch of this call, an information session will be organised on 24 April 2025, 10:00 - 14:00, including examples of projects and a demonstration of the application platform. This information session will take place at the FWO offices in 1000 Brussels, HOEK 38, Leuvenseweg. Here you can find the programme and the link to register.

Project period: 4 years, renewable with a maximum of two years.
More information about the Acceptable costs and the Funding percentage can be found on the FWO website.

Who?

Eligible organisations:
A research group or research groups at a Flemish university, at higher education institutions in charge of scientific research, and a strategic research center (IMEC, VIB, Flanders Make, VITO, …):
A partnership agreement between the above bodies or a partnership agreement between at least one of the aforementioned bodies and one or more third parties.

Application?

• Submission of applications through the FWO e-portal
• deadline pre-registration: June 30, 2025 (only information on the title of the application (‘tab general’, summary, consortium partners (without financing), keywords, disciplines, suggestions for referees and forbidden referees))
• internal deadline is identical for all Flemish Universities: September 11, 2025. Please make sure that both budget issues and the consortium composition are settled.
• Deadline submission of final project proposal by UHasselt (OBI): September 18, 2025 at 5 PM
• Announcement of results: End of March 2026

Regulations?

Guidelines on funding and co-financing of large-scale research infrastructure

FWO Regulations on Large-Scale Research Infrastructure
   

More information?

For specific questions, you can contact the FWO via infrastructuur@fwo.be.

Please contact research@uhasselt.be if you want to apply.
  

Deadline

18.09.2025

Contact Hasselt University?

E-mail ilse.das@uhasselt.be

Tel. +3211268098