The programme

General

Supporting and reinforcing scientific excellence is one of the objectives of the Federal Science Policy Office for the Federal Scientific Institutions, and the aim of P4Science. This programme also fosters the research efforts of Sciensano, the War Heritage Institute (WHI) and the National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology (NICC).

To ensure stability in terms of the expertise and scientific capacity of the FSIs, the research priorities featured in the programme calls are defined by the FSIs in a bottom-up approach for a period of minimum 3 years. These research priorities are - mandatorily - aligned with the research strategy of the FSIs.

Management

BELSPO is responsible for the implementation and management of the programme, with a supporting role towards the FSIs, and assisted by a P4Science Programme Committee composed of:

One effective and one substitute representative from each BELSPO-FSI ’poles’ (art, nature, space, documentation) on a rotating basis between FSIs across calls.
One effective and one substitute representative from Sciensano, from the NICC and from the WHI.
Four independent members of the Federal Council for Science Policy, appointed for the duration of the programme.

The Programme Committee has a balanced composition in terms of, among others, scientific disciplines and gender.

The Programme Committee is mandated to advise on:

The long-term priority research and call calendar.
The elaboration of a number of research priorities – which can be repeated if necessary –within the specific calls based on the long-term priority research and call calendar.
The project proposals to be funded, based on and taking into account the peer review evaluation by international experts organised by BELSPO.

Composition of the Programme Committee

Types of research projects

Proposals/projects are prepared based on a toolbox from which the FSIs choose the instruments which best fit their research needs within 4 broad categories:

R&D project: Research and development projects at national, European and/or international level. Short-term, long-term, new, existing, network, bilateral, etc. Planned activities (set of tasks) carried out by one or more partners aimed at achieving a set of coherent research actions and/or developments within a given time frame and budget. Time frame and budget can be set by the applicants, or given by the type of project, or respond to constraints imposed by the federal government or administration.
Synergy development: seed capital for exploration, momentum, launch, design, development, cluster and/or incubation actions. The funding covers the cost of synergy or networking activities instead of research and as such is used to organise events, short-term missions, communication activities, development of virtual networking tools, etc. This also includes seed capital to help the FSIs develop/start-up/trial an expertise/centre of expertise.
Valorisation/Impact: Set of initiatives or actions aimed at promoting the use of knowledge and results, by making scientific insights available and usable for policymakers, society and/or industry.
Capacity/skills development: investments to acquire, expand or enhance, maintain skills needed to achieve the strategic scientific objectives for the sustainable development of the FSIs (activities related to education, training and professional development). Possible phases/steps/levels: [1] acquire skills [2] expand skills [3] achieve proficiency.

International Cooperation

The initiatives and budget of BELSPO’s Federal, Interfederal and International Coordination Service, previously dedicated to international cooperation (INCO initiatives) are now part of the P4Science programme, placed within the toolbox.

Research using the national research infrastructures RV Belgica and the Princess Elisabeth Station

BELSPO manages the national research infrastructures RV Belgica and the Princess Elisabeth Station Antarctica .

The financing of the management and maintenance of these large scientific infrastructures and/or of their components is placed under independent budget lines. For the funding of scientific research using these infrastructures specific calls for proposals will be launched in the frame of the P4Science programme.

Contrary to the general rule within the P4Science programme these specific calls will be open to (networks of) researchers from the entire Belgian research community: universities colleges, FWIs, other public scientific institutions and non-profit research centres. The research priorities within these calls are not thematic and will be bottom-up defined by the researchers.

Centres of excellence/excellence

Collaborations exist between the FWIs through centres of expertise/excellence around trans-disciplinary themes specific to the operation of multiple institutions and international trends within the sector in which they operate. These centres of excellence position themselves as service providers (demand driven), primarily in support of the policies and FWIs that are part of the centre-consortium itself with view of knowledge sharing and economies of scale, secondly to third parties at national and international sector level (academic, industry, NGOs, policy,...) by subscribing to research projects and thirdly to the public through science communication.

In the P4Science programme, the toolbox provides financial support in the ‘Synergy Development’ category for the design/launch/development of a centre of excellence/excellence by the FWIs. Such limited funding covers costs of synergy activities, including meetings, events, communication activities, development of networking tools, ... necessary for the start-up of a centre.

Funding of research linked to a centre can be sought by the FWIs involved within the R&D category of the P4Science programme and/or through other funding initiatives at national, European and/or international level.

The budget for the day-to-day operation of the centres and structural valorisation is not funded within the P4Science programme. An information document [in Dutch and French] containing requirements and evaluation criteria and an application template is available to apply for recognition as an expertise/excellence centre to BELSPO. The evaluation of the application will be done through an advisory committee composed by BELSPO according to the priorities involved and the required expertise.

The condition is that the activities of these centres of expertise/excellence are coherent with the general research strategy of BELSPO and the FWI(s) concerned, the specific research priorities of the FWI(s) concerned and the policy priorities of the Federal Government.

The completed application form should be sent to P4Science@belspo.be