Given the age of the "old" research vessel A962 RV Belgica (37 years old), the Belgian Federal Government has decided to have a new modern research vessel built. The new RV Belgica will be operational from the end of 2021 and will be used for marine research and monitoring activities.
The new research vessel is multidisciplinary and will be able to support various research disciplines (fisheries, biology, chemistry, geology, etc.). Compared to the "old" A962 RV Belgica, it will offer more space for scientists and research, and will be equipped with state-of-the-art scientific equipment. It will spend more time at sea (around 300 days a year) and will cover a larger research area (North Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and from 2023 onwards the Arctic in summer).
In order to give an impulsion to the start-up of research on the new RV Belgica and to allow researchers to get to know the ship and its potential, the PPS Science Policy (BELSPO) is launching a specific call for research proposals to be carried out on the new RV Belgica.
The indicative calendar for the call for proposals is as follows:
| Activity | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Launch of the call | 30/06/2021 |
| Deadline expression of interest | 27/07/2021, 14:00 |
| Deadline Full proposals | 14/09/2021, 14:00 |
| Evaluation (remote + panel) | mid 09/2021 > mid 11/2021 |
| Start projects | 15/12/2021 |
The EoI and the research proposals must be submitted through the online platform 
.
