DUT Call 2025

Fond National de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS)

Sciences exactes et appliquées (2)

Introduction:

The aim of this Call for proposals is to support transnational research and/or innovation projects that help cities tackle urban challenges and transition towards a climate neutral and resilient future for all. Projects should contribute to one or more of the three Transition Pathways: the 15-minute City (15mC), Circular Urban Economies (CUE), and Positive Energy Districts (PED). These pathways provide a holistic and systemic approach to tackling urban challenges, fostering innovation and enabling cities to implement sustainable solutions.

Thematic areas:

The DUT Partnership accelerates urban transitions through three thematic areas – known as Transition Pathways (TPs), which focus on key dimensions of urban transitions: urban mobility (the 15-minute City Transition Pathway (15mC TP)), urban energy (the Positive Energy Districts Transition Pathway (PED TP)), and urban resources and greening (the Circular Urban Economies Transition Pathway (CUE TP)). While each TP has its distinct thematic focus, they function as interconnected sub-programmes, ensuring that urban transitions are app in a comprehensive and integrated manner.

• The 15-minute City Transition Pathway (15mC TP) addresses challenges of urban mobility, logistics, public space and proximity-based policies to promote implementation of climate neutral, resilient neighbourhoods for all. It draws on research and innovation projects to showcase a diverse mosaic of approaches that drive mobility transitions. The 15mC TP aims to enable analysis, development and testing of ideas, tools and innovations for 15-minute cities within co-creative and transdisciplinary settings.

• The Circular Urban Economies Transition Pathway (CUE TP) aims to foster urban places, communities and neighbourhoods that are sustained by circular resource flows and enhance the wellbeing of their inhabitants and ecosystems. It encourages urban planning and design characterised by regenerative urbanism, favouring the combination of circular principles, urban greening, and equal access to urban spaces and resources.

• The Positive Energy Districts Transition Pathway (PED TP) aims to develop innovative solutions for planning, large-scale implementation, and replication of PEDs across Europe’s urban and peri-urban areas. By combining energy efficiency, renewable energy production, and energy flexibility at the local level, PEDs offer and contribute to affordable energy systems, affordable quality housing, and competitive, resilient and inclusive local economies for cities through energy communities, contributing to European goals such as the SET Plan and the EU Mission on Climate-neutral and Smart Cities.

Financement

Funding information for FNRS:

Each partner is funded separately by the national/regional funding organisation they are applying to. They must fulfil the conditions of their funding organisation.

The maximum amount of requested funding per project is 300.000 EUR for a total period of thee years. If the project involves the recruitment of a PhD student, the project duration of the F.R.S.-FNRS sub-project could be up to four years.

Eligible costs items:

Personnel costs: 80,000€ EUR per year on average for the duration of the project. The usual duration of ERA-NET research programmes is three years. However, when the project involves a PhD student, the principal investigator can apply for an additional one year funding in order to complete the four years PhD programme. Since this programme is co-funded by the European Commission, this final year should not be included in the budget submitted to this call.

Equipment: can be eligible up to 20% of the total budget of the project

Running costs: travel expenses; organisation of small scientific events in Belgium; consumables and the following support costs: consumables Publication Designing (conception d’ouvrage) Dictionary Production (réalisation de dictionnaire) Purchase of Books Encoding Software Access Rights Congress Registration Fees Purchase of Computer Scanning Travel costs Visa costs Open Access publication of an article up until 500 euros (see F.R.S-FNRS Open Access policy).

“Overhead” is not an eligible cost for FNRS. If the project is selected for funding, these costs will be subject to a separate agreement between the institution of the beneficiary and the F.R.S.-FNRS.

Funding information for Innoviris:

Funding covers:

For research organisations: 100% of project costs.

For companies: between 40% and 80% of project costs, depending on the size of your company and the focus of the project (industrial research or experimental development).

For other organisations: between 40% and 100% of project costs, depending on your organisation's share of economic activities.

Pour postuler

Transnational level:

Pre-proposals/full proposals must be prepared in English using the designated mandatory proposal form. Proposals written in other languages will be ineligible.

The proposal form should be filled in completely.

Pre-proposals and full proposals must respect the total number of pages using a standard font size and normal page margins as indicated on the proposal form.

Pre-proposals and full proposals must be submitted on the UEFISCDI electronic submission system, UDiManager12 (www.uefiscdi-direct.ro), before each associated deadline:

• the Call for pre-proposals is open until 17 November 2025, 13:00 (CET).

• In March 2025, applicants will be invited to enter the second stage of the procedure: the Call for full proposals will close on 23 April 2026, 13:00 (CEST)

National/regional level:

FNRS:

Applicants must provide basic administrative data by submitting an administrative application on e-space within 5 working days after the general deadline of the call to be eligible. Please select the “PINT-MULTI” funding instrument when creating the administrative application.

Innoviris:

All Brussels-based partners seeking funding from Innoviris must submit a funding application form to Innoviris in parallel with the European application. The submission form (only in French and Dutch but you can fill it in in English) is available on the French or Dutch page. The non-submission of your proposal to Innoviris will render your participation ineligible.

Submit your funding application electronically to Innoviris at funding-request@innoviris.brussels and ghubert@innoviris.brussels.

Requis d'admission

Eligibility of the consortia:

Transnational eligibility rule 1: Each proposal must be submitted by a consortium consisting of at least three eligible Applicants from at least three different participating countries. at least two of the eligible Applicants must be from different EU Member States (MS) or Associated Countries (AC) to the Horizon Europe eligible for EC co-funding in this Call: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and Türkiye

Transnational eligibility rule 2: The Main Applicant (project coordinator) must be eligible to be funded and request funding by its national/regional participating Funding Agency.

Transnational eligibility rule 3: A Principal Investigator (PI) must only participate in a maximum of two proposals, and only once as the PI of a Main Applicant. If the DUT Call Secretariat, in charge of checking transnational eligibility, identifies the same personas PI in more than two pre-proposals, or as PI of the Main Applicant of more than one pre-proposal, all pre-proposals/full proposals in which they are a PI, will be declared ineligible.

Transnational eligibility rule 4: Consortia must include at least one urban government authority10 (city, municipality or entity providing key urban services11, so long as this entity is owned by a local government (confirmation of this by the local government may be requested by the Call Secretariat)) either as a Main Applicant, Co-applicant, or Cooperation Partner depending on the national/regional eligibility criteria.

Project duration: Projects may be funded for a maximum of 36 months.

See call document for more details.

Eligibility for belgian partners (F.R.S. - FNRS):

Applicants requesting funding from F.R.S. FNRS must comply with the following rules.

The applicant must be affiliated to a university from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB).

At the closure of the call, the applicant should also:

- Be a permanent researcher of F.R.S-FNRS (Chercheur qualifié, maître de recherches ou Directeur de recherche) or;

- Hold a tenure track position (or an assimilated position including pending tenure track) with a research institution from the FWB

After the submission of applications, the F.R.S.-FNRS and the research institutions are required to verify the eligibility of the candidates. The F.R.S.-FNRS reserves the right to refuse those whose eligibility criteria would not comply with the Regulation. In order the check the compliance with these eligibility criteria, please contact your contact person at ULB-TTO (see details below). The complete F.R.S-FNRS rules for international research projects is available at the following link: https://www.frs-fnrs.be/docs/Reglement-et-documents/International/FRS-FNRS_PINT-Multi.pdf.

Eligibility for Brussels partners (Innoviris):

Develop all or part of its Research & Development activities in the Brussels-Capital Region.

To perform a research or innovation activity in the project (coordination and/or dissemination only are not eligible)

Present an innovative R&D project that is likely to have a favourable impact on the economy, employment or sustainable development in the Brussels-Capital Region.

Have fulfilled your obligations under previous funding received from the Brussels-Capital Region.

As a Brussels company or qualified as an economic actor: to be eligible, you must have sufficient liquidity to finance your share of the project and, for companies over 3 years old, you must be financially stable (equity greater than 50% of capital).

Etc.