On the 8th of February 2024, the Council of Ministers approved the launch of two new programmes from 2024 to 2031: the P4Science Programme and the S4Policy Programme, implemented under the responsibility of the Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO).
The P4Science Programme aims to strengthen the scientific expertise of the FSIs, coherently revolving around their strategic and priority research themes, and enabling the building of knowledge while engaging in inter- and trans-disciplinary collaboration with other institutions. This programme should help position the FSIs at the European level and, where possible, complement the programmes of the federated entities.
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. These research priorities are - mandatorily - aligned with the research strategy of the FSIs.
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.
A call for proposals is launched every two years (call 2024-2025; 2026-2027; 2028-2029; 2030-2031), featuring a number of research priorities aligned with those of the Federal Scientific Institutions.
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.
The research priorities within these calls are not thematic and are defined bottom-up 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.
