FWO - call SBO projects (Strategic Basic Research) Security and Defence 2026

Research

Funding organisation:

Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen

What?

This Strategic Basic Research (SBO) programme focuses on innovative research that creates prospects for new applications within the security and defence sector, working closely with potential societal stakeholders.

Features

• Project period: 4 years. With justification, a shorter project period is acceptable.
• Acceptable costs:
  • Research staffing, operation, equipment and subcontracting contracts (in accordance with cost model rules)
    • Max. € 425.000 (excl. overhead)/year/participating legal entity with a share of more than 15% of the total project budget
  • The total cost of tasks carried out by subcontractors may not exceed 30% of the total budget
  • guideline with regard to the magnitude of the project budget: € 1.700.000 (excl. overhead)
• Funding percentage: 100%

The results will be announced end of May 2027.

Specific features for the security and defence call:

• The same characteristics and eligibility conditions as for SBO apply; however, applicants are expected to form a consortium (two or more applying legal entities), as the emphasis of the VISD lies on ecosystem collaboration.
• In this first call, no themes or orientation roadmaps (Space, Maritime, Aviation and (C-)UAS, Cybersecurity, AI, Autonomous Systems, Biotechnology, Energy and Environment, Geo-intelligence) are predefined. The 2026 call is therefore bottom-up across all VISD orientation roadmaps. Applicants must indicate how their proposal fits within one of these roadmaps.
• Companies represented in the advisory committee are limited to EU, EFTA, or NATO countries, and applicants are expected to demonstrate the added value for the Flemish security and defence industry. The advisory committees must also include security and defence representation in order to ensure valorisation.
• Applicants must describe how the proposal links to and/or fits within one or more orientation roadmaps.
• Applicants are explicitly required to include a risk analysis for technology transfer.
• Ethical assessment and screening with regard to knowledge security by the host institutions is mandatory for each submitted proposal, in order to mitigate the risks of undesirable technology transfer and misuse. The FWO must have received this analysis at the time of the rebuttal, by analogy with the procedure for animal experiments on non-human primates.
• Newly recruited staff members (researchers, technicians, etc.) must be nationals of EU, EFTA, or NATO countries. Newly recruited staff may be subject to verification.
• Projects will only be evaluated by experts holding the nationality of an EU, EFTA, or NATO country in order to guarantee knowledge security. This applies to both external referees and panel members.
• The new funding channel will have its own steering committee, which will be responsible for the final ranking of projects and will oversee strategic relevance, alignment with the orientation roadmaps, and security aspects.

More information can be found in the manuals on the FWO website.

OBI organises an online info session with the FWO on Friday, 19 June 2026 (12:30 - 14:00). You can register via this link until 17 June 2026 (noon).
  

Who?

Eligible organisations: research centres (such as universities, university colleges, strategic research centers) in the Flemish region:

• IMEC, VITO, VIB, Flanders Make, VLIZ and the Flemish scientific institutions receiving an allocation from the Flemish government must submit an SBO proposal in collaboration with at least one other Flemish research centre
• Flemish university colleges (‘hogescholen’) must always submit an SBO project proposal in collaboration with or at least after a positive advice of the university with which it is associated. This
  takes the form of a document in which the university agrees to the submission of the project proposal by the university college. Flemish university colleges must always submit a proposal in
  collaboration with at least one other Flemish research centre
• max. 20% of the budget may be earmarked for non-Flemish research centres (= combined sub-budgets of non-Flemish research centres that are part of the consortium and that are carrying out specific sub-tasks as subcontracting), with the additional restriction that non-Flemish partners must be based in EU, EFTA, or NATO countries. 

Application?

Submission mandatory pre-proposal (proposal in preparation) to the host institution (= main applicant of the proposal) through the FWO e-portal:
FWO deadline: 11 September 2026, 17u

This preliminary application should contain at least the following information:
1) Project title and duration
2) Non-confidential summary and description of scientific & valorization goals
3) Full composition of the project consortium
4) Choice of the research topic, selection of the thematic SBO expert panel and experts to be avoided (max. 3)

Internal deadline for submission full proposal: 21 September 2026, 12u noon
Applicants need to submit their research proposal via the E-portal of FWO before the internal deadline. The applications will be automatically transferred to the research coordination office (OBI). OBI has to finalize the submission before the FWO deadline (25 September 2026, 17:00).

This internal deadline is only applicable if UHasselt is the main applicant. When UHasselt is a co-applicant, you have to respect the internal deadline of the university of the main applicant.

For main applicants only: Don't forget to transfer the proposal in application to the host institution before the deadline by clicking the button "submit to host institution".
- Deadline 11 September: After submitting the proposal OBI will reopen the application so researchers can finalize their proposal.
- Deadline 21 September: After submitting the final proposal OBI will only reopen the application if we detect non-compliance with the FWO rules and regulations.
  

More information?

More information can be found on the FWO website. 

Useful UHasselt relevant documents can be found on the intranet. (will be updated soon)

Support for applicants

Exploratory meetings at FWO

Potential applicants may request an exploratory (online) discussion with the FWO staff. Please send an e-mail to sbo@fwo.be including a short abstract (max. 1 A4 page). The applicants should also provide a number of possible dates (day and desirable hour) when this exploratory interview could take place. The information that is provided during this meeting should be interpreted as non-binding advice and no rights can be derived from this information.

Deadline intern

11.09.2026, 25.09.2026

Contact Hasselt University?

E-mail sarah.szyr@uhasselt.be

Tel. +3211269052