France-Belgium ‘Tournesol’ Hubert Curien Partnerships 2024 Programme
Two programmes provide bilateral mobility funding for researchers in different regions of Belgium collaborating with colleagues across France on joint research projects in any scientific discipline.
The Hubert Curien Partnership (PHC) programme promotes the exchange of scientific and technical excellence between research teams in France and various partner countries through joint research projects and bilateral research visits.
Two PHC programmes exist to support the bilateral mobility of collaborators between France and different regions of Belgium:
- PHC Tournesol Wallonia Brussels covers the French Community of Belgium.
- PHC Tournesol Flanders covers the Flemish Community of Belgium.
Eligible joint research teams involve researchers in both countries who are affiliated with higher education institutions or other research organisations.
The Principal Investigator (PI) of the Flemish team must hold a PhD awarded within the past 12 years and throughout the project must hold an appointment (at least 50%) as scientific staff at a university, scientific institute, university hospital or university research centre in the Flemish Community.
Funding is available to cover the costs of the reciprocal mobility of participating researchers between France and Belgium. Collaborations will be funded for two years each, and may be in any discipline. The maximum amount allocated to each project is approximately €2,000 each year by each country.
The Hubert Curien programme focuses on early career researchers, and all collaborations are expected to involve research visits by doctoral students and/or early career postdoctoral fellows. Visits between France and Flanders may only be undertaken by doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers with less than 12 years postdoctoral experience.
On the French side, PHC Tournesol partnerships are administered by Campus France, while in Belgium, projects are administered by either Wallonia Brussels International (WBI) or Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO – Flanders Scientific Research Fund).
Proposals must be submitted in parallel by both French and Belgium collaborators via their respective administrators.
The joint deadline for application to the 2024 programme is 30 March 2023.
Applications will be jointly reviewed by representatives from each country. Results shall be announced in December 2023 with projects to begin from January 2024.
(This report was the subject of a RESEARCHconnect Newsflash.)