The Raw Materials Partnership for the Green and Digital Transition (RAMP)

FWO participation and funding in this call are open to both the fundamental research (‘FO’) and Strategic Basic Research (SBO) funding channels, which means that projects may be funded under either FWO channel. It should be strongly emphasised that the choice of funding channel depends on the type of research project to be carried out (i.e. more fundamental/exploratory in nature vs. strong economic/societal valorisation potential). Failure to comply with the specific requirements for each funding channel may result in ineligibility. 

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. As far as FWO is concerned, only the ‘character’ 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 concerns projects with a primary economic and/or societal finality, for which valorisation is an essential and mandatory component.

Research proposals must be submitted to the RAMP Call Secretariat via the submission platform by consortia of European and international researchers, in accordance with the applicable procedures and eligibility criteria set out in the above-mentioned call document. An example of a pre-proposal template is available on the call page. In addition, a partnering platform is available to find suitable consortium partners or to offer expertise.

Where several Flemish institutions applying for FWO funding collaborate within the same consortium, only one joint form needs to be submitted, containing all information on the Flemish parties involved, in line with ‘regular’ projects. This must always be done by the PI/promotor, using the main applicant’s personal e-loket. 

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 in order to verify eligibility.

Within the framework of an international consortium, FWO can support at least two Flemish projects, with a maximum requested amount of EUR 350,000 (including overhead) per project as a whole, regardless of the number of parties applying for FWO funding. The FWO budgetary rules are also clarified in the call document (see from p. 52 onwards) on the call page.

Some key points and deviations from the regular FWO participation framework to take into account:

• Participation in the European cofund partnerships does not interfere with ‘regular’ FWO project participation and is therefore not taken into account with regard to the maximum number of projects that may be applied for/ongoing. An important caveat, however, is that researchers may participate in a maximum of 2 different projects/consortia per call, provided that these concern different topics.

• Different overhead arrangements apply to the fundamental research and SBO funding channels, as clarified in the call document (see from p. 52 onwards) on the call page.

• 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 have a maximum duration of 36 months and must be budgeted accordingly. Automatic extensions are not allowed within this participation framework. Consequently, Article 28 of the regulations on FWO research projects and Article 14 of the regulations on SBO projects are explicitly excluded.

• Researchers must have an eligible appointment covering the full project duration (e.g. ZAP appointment for universities, doctoral degree required). This applies to both FO and SBO projects, and more specifically with regard to the emeritus arrangement (Article 10, §7): this is not applicable in this context.

• Research teams applying for FWO funding may, if desired, involve ‘stakeholders’ (e.g. patient organisations, interest groups, public and/or private organisations) as subcontractors in a research project, including for non-routine tasks. Please contact FWO for additional information. 

Researchers are strongly advised to contact FWO before submission regarding the eligibility criteria. This is to avoid the ineligibility of the Flemish researcher(s) individually, and of the consortium as a whole.