SBO (Strategic Basic Research) projects

The SBO (Strategic Basic Research) funding programme aims to turn scientific ideas into innovation. It therefore focuses on innovative research which, if scientifically successful, offers the prospect of subsequent economic or societal applications (in the form of a new generation of products, processes and/or services).

The term “strategic” refers to the problem-driven and application-oriented focus of the programme to address a specific economic and/or societal need or problem. The term “basic research” refers to the need to generate internationally innovative knowledge in order to achieve the intended application, whereby the risk of failure is significantly higher than is usual in applied research. The difference with curiosity-driven (fundamental) research lies in the fact that knowledge generation as such (i.e. the acquisition of new knowledge without any concrete practical application or prospect of use) is not the objective of this funding programme.

The SBO programme has two areas of application: an economic part for projects with a primarily economic objective and a societal part for projects with a societal objective.

If, in case of scientific success, research results are mainly intended to be used by economic actors, the economic programme should be selected. If, on the other hand, mainly social stakeholders are involved, the societal track is the obvious choice.

Successful SBO projects are characterised by a project definition and approach that is developed in dialogue with relevant stakeholders in the value chain. These stakeholders commit to the sustainable implementation of successful outcomes.

• Project period: 4 years. With justification, a shorter project period is possible with proper justification.
• Eligible organizations: research institutions (such as universities, university colleges, strategic research centres)
  • Maximum 20% of the budget may go to non-Flemish research institutions
  • IMEC, VITO, VIB, Flanders Make, VLIZ, Flemish university colleges (“hogescholen”) and Flemish scientific institutions with government funding are must submit the proposal together with at least one other Flemish research organisation
  • A research organisation meeting the definition of a research centre (see EU State Aid Framework for RDI 2022/C 414/01) may join an SBO proposal as research partner.
• Eligible costs:
  • Research personnel, operational costs, equipment, subcontracting (in accordance with ‘cost model’ rules)
  • Maximally € 500,000/ per year including overhead, corresponding to € 425,000 excluding overhead per participating legal entity with a share of at least 15% of the project budget
  • Guideline with regard to the magnitude of the project budget: about € 1.7 M excluding overhead
• Funding rate of the acceptable costs: 100%. In addition to the research funding, the host institution(s) will receive an overhead of 17%.
• Available budget for this call (overhead included): € 45.5 M
• Success rate of call 2025: 19%
• Application procedure
  • Submission via the FWO e-portal
  • Deadline for transfer of the proposal-in-preparation from project supervisor to ”host institution of the supervisor” (=main applicant): September 11, 2026 at 5 PM
  • Deadline for final submission by the host institution: September 25, 2026 at 5 PM. Projects are submitted by the host institutions, not by the promotor. Internal submission deadlines tend to differ. Contact the responsible services at the host institution
  • Announcement of results: end of May 2027

• As a team of researchers, your aim is to conduct innovative research that creates prospects for new economic or societal applications, working closely with potential economic and/or societal stakeholders. To this end, applicants must set up an advisory committee comprising potential economic or societal users (except for projects intending to create a spin-off company, where an advisory committee is optional).
• To conduct this research, you need bench fees, equipment and personnel grants.
• Your research project is carried out under the supervision of a supervisor-spokesperson, eventually collaborating with one or more other co-supervisors from an organisation that meets the definition of a research organisation.
• Domestic and non-Flemish university supervisors and co-supervisors who are applying for a budget must have a ZAP appointment thereby complying with the provisions of Art. 10 of the regulations for fundamental research projects. For non university researchers, an equivalent leadership or functional role combined with a doctoral degree is expected. This refers to positions such as Principal Investigator, Research Director, Senior R&D Fellow, Chief Scientist (non exhaustive list), which fall under Category R4, Leading Researcher, according to the European Framework for Researcher Profiles. If you are in any doubt as to the eligibility of your institution or appointment, please contact the FWO at SBO@fwo.be well in advance.
• Members of the ZAP staff (full and assistant professors) of a Flemish university who are retiring in the year of the submission of the project application or who will retire during the project period, may submit one application (this being the maximum as regulated for all applicants). From the moment of retirement on they have to be replaced as supervisor(-spokesperson) by a member of the ZAP staff who as a co-supervisor at the same main host institution co-submitted the project application and they can from that moment participate in the project as an emeritus mandated by the university, also on a non-salaried basis.
• A researcher may act as supervisor-spokesperson or co-supervisor for a maximum of one SBO project per call.
• The sum of submitted and ongoing SBO projects by one supervisor-spokesperson or co-supervisor must not exceed two. The start date of a newly awarded SBO project will be used as the reference date for calculating this total number of projects. Projects for which no budget is requested by the proposer nor any other representative of its host institution are exempted from this limit.
• The Flemish, national and international university supervisors and co-supervisors must have a ZAP appointment and thus comply with the provisions of Art. 10 of the Fundamental Research Project Regulations. For non-university applicants, an equivalent functional role with a doctoral title is expected, e.g., at the level of Principal Investigator, Research Director, Senior Fellow, Chief Scientist (non-exhaustive list).
• Project applications that have received a C score cannot be submitted in the next SBO call, regardless of type. C scores therefore apply to both the annual regular (bottom-up) SBO call and the biennial thematic SBO call (Innovation in the agricultural and food sector from the past, as well as the security and defence call running in parallel).
• A project cannot be evaluated at the same time in both SBO channels; this includes the SBO programme and the programme for SBO projects focused on Security and Defence.
• The project partners will own the obtained scientific results. Any transfer of intellectual property rights to economic actors must take place under market conform conditions.
• All beneficiaries and researchers working on the project agree to the Research Integrity Clause.

Potential applicants may request an exploratory (online) discussion with the FWO staff by emailing a short abstract (max. 1 page A4) to sbo@fwo.be including. The applicants should also provide a number of possible time slots when this exploratory interview could take place. The information provided during this meeting is non-binding and no rights can be derived from this. This service is not guaranteed during the summer recess.

For questions with regard to the modalities of the SBO programme, please contact sbo@fwo.be.

Recipients of an SBO grant may find a listing of practical and administrative information regarding the grant agreement, the reporting as well as other aspects related to the implementation and follow-up of their SBO project, here.