6th Call Defence-related Research Action (DEFRA) 2026

Research

What?

Subject to approval by the Council of Ministers, the sixth call for proposals of the Defence-related Research Action, DEFRA, will be launched soon.
Through the funding of research projects based on scientific excellence, the DEFRA programme allows meeting the scientific knowledge needs of the Belgian Defence.
Ten themes will be covered in this 6th call, with a total indicative budget of 26 M€:

• Theme 1: Resilient Propulsion Technologies for Strategic Autonomy (2 M€)
• Theme 2: Cyber : Advanced Data Management and Intelligence Concepts (3 M€)
• Theme 3: Innovative Solutions for Military Medical Logistics in Challenging Environments (2 M€)
• Theme 4: Biomanufacturing (2 M€)
• Theme 5: Smart energy management, energy optimisation (including optimised storage technologies) (3 M€)
• Theme 6: Next generation sensing (2 M€)
• Theme 7: Exploring and Integrating Unmanned Systems (2 M€)
• Theme 8: Conflict Dynamics & Warning Intelligence (2 M€)
• Theme 9:  Communications Technology (2 M€)
• Theme 10:  Open call: Defence relevant research (6 M€)

For all themes, projects will have a duration of minimum 2 and maximum 4 years.

There is no set maximum budget per project. However, applicants should take into consideration the total available budget for each theme. The objective is to develop a project with the most efficient use of public resources.

The number of projects that will be funded per theme depends on the evaluation of the proposals and the requested budget per proposal. It is envisaged to have 1 or more projects funded for each theme. Budget transfers between the themes are possible.

Proposals can only be introduced in the “Open call” if the subject of the proposal does not correspond with one of the other nine themes.

A physical information session will be organised on Tuesday 27 January 2026 (8h30 – 16h30) and Wednesday 28 January 2026 (8h30 – 14h30) at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels. Registration is mandatory. You can register until 20 January 2026.

Who?

This call is open to Belgian public and private non-profit research institutes and private companies (both as funded and non-funded partners in the project).
The project partnership must be in a triple helix composition where academia and industry work together to foster R&T for Defence.

Take into account that at VLIR level it was decided that the TRL levels of the contribution of universities should be as low as possible.

Application?

The pre-proposals as well as the full proposals must be electronically created, elaborated and submitted via the online submission platform, which will be available after opening of the call.
The template for the full proposals will be available on the website after opening of the call. However, after the evaluation of the pre-proposals a maximum of five pre-proposals per theme will be invited to submit a full proposal. For theme 10 “open call: Defence relevant research” maximum ten pre-proposals will be invited to submit a full proposal.

Deadlines:

• Deadline Pre-proposals: 19 February 2026 (14h00)
• Deadline Full proposals: 4 May 2026 (14h00)

As a civil university, Hasselt University attaches great importance to the clear and demonstrable civil application of defence-related research. That is why a preliminary ethical assessment is mandatory for all DEFRA project applications. Are you working on a DEFRA application? Then register your project before submission via RRI@uhasselt.be. This will enable us to carry out the assessment in good time and support you from the outset.

Regulations?

More information about the Regulations and guidelines will be published soon.

More information?

More information is available on the DEFRA website.

Please always contact research@uhasselt.be if you want to apply.
  

Deadline

19.02.2026

Contact Hasselt University?

E-mail sarah.szyr@uhasselt.be

Tel. +3211269052