Biodiversa+ call 2026: 'BiodivFuture'

Research

Funding organisation:

Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen

What?

Novel ecosystems: biodiversity, socio-ecological consequences and future trajectories (referred to as BiodivFuture).

A new joint transnational cofunded call for research projects has been launched within the framework of the Horizon Europe Biodiversity+ partnership. This call focuses on supporting future-looking research and innovation that will address biodiversity and novel ecosystems, as well as their socio-ecological dynamics and consequences relating to the sustainability goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and associated future pathways and trajectories of change.

The call covers investigating the causes (drivers), effects (biological responses), and outcomes (including opportunities, risks and trade-offs) of current and future trajectories of change in all relevant realms (terrestrial, freshwater, marine and coastal areas), in all regions of the world. It aims at funding novel, high-quality transnational research with potential for societal and political impact that will significantly improve our understanding of novel ecosystems with holistic, systemic, and integrated approaches.

In the face of inevitable and potentially irreversible change, knowledge generated under this call should ultimately lead to actions to achieve impacts that sustain resilient, interconnected, diverse and ecologically functioning ecosystems. This could include critical reflection on what constitutes ecosystem states that best preserve or restore natural resources by taking multiple costs and benefits (trade-offs) into account and the diversity of contexts, scales, perspectives and world views. Well-functioning ecosystems should benefit people and protect nature at scales from local to global and emphasise biodiversity, trophic complexity, economic vitality, and societal well-being.

Research priorities covered by BiodivFuture are structured into three non-mutually exclusive themes. Projects are welcome to address one or several of these themes.

Theme A: NOVEL ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING
Theme B: PATHWAYS TO NOVEL ECOSYSTEMS
Theme C: BIODIVERSITY BENEFITS AND EQUITY IN THE CONTEXT OF NOVEL ECOSYSTEM

More elaborate information in view of the call can be consulted on the BiodivERsA-website.

A two-step application procedure will be used.
Step 1 with a closing date for pre-proposals’ submission 10 November 2026 (12:00 CET).
Results step 1: Mid February 2027
Deadline Step 2 to submit full proposals: 16 April 2027 (12:00 CET).
Recommendations for funding: Late September to early October 2027
Start projects: Between 1 December 2027 and 1 April 2028

FWO plans, as is usual in this partnership, to participate with an amount of EUR 750,000, allowing them to award 3 projects at EUR 250,000.

FWO participation will take place by engaging two 'national' FWO channels, being the FWO Research Projects ('FO') and the Strategic Basic Research (SBO), both with some different participation modalities compared to their regular framework (e.g. more limited budget, shorter duration of 36 months, valorisation aspect for SBO, etc.).

Who?

To be eligible, research consortia will have to include teams from a minimum of 3 countries financially participating in the Call, including at least 2 from EU Member States or EU Associated Countries. Note that not all EU Member States or Associated Countries will financially participate in this call.
   

Application?

Proposals (in English only) will have to be submitted electronically. Instructions regarding submission, eligibility and evaluation criteria can be found on the BiodivERsA-website.

The FWO requires pre-registration on a national/regional level as well by filling in an application form on the FWO e-portal before the deadline for submission of the pre-proposals. When you're logged on to the e-portal, you can find it under "Researcher". 
It is strongly recommended to contact the FWO administration about your pre-registration at the latest one week before submission in order to verify admissibility.

Given the pre-proposal already has to be OK in terms of budget, OBI has an internal deadline to check your proposal.
Internal deadline: 3 November 2026

In case the consortium includes more than one partner requesting funding from FWO, a single online form should be submitted containing all relevant information from the different Flemish partners.

Regulations?

All relevant call information can be consulted in on the BiodivERsA-website, also when it comes to the general rules for participation. In addition the ‘national/regional’ FWO eligibility criteria have to be respected, which are of importance when it comes to the eligibility of the Flemish (FWO) subproject.

You can find more information about the FWO regulations on the FWO website.
  

More information?

Researchers are strongly encouraged to contact the FWO before submission in view of the eligibility criteria, in order to avoid the ineligibility of a researcher, and the project consortium as a whole.

Information about FWO participation can also be obtained by contacting the following FWO colleagues:

• Toon Monbaliu (FO): 
  • europe@fwo.be, 
  • +32 (0)2 550 15 70
• Kristien Peeters (SBO)
  • europe@fwo.be
  • +32 (0)2 550 15 95

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

Deadline intern

03.11.2026, 10.11.2026

Contact Hasselt University?

E-mail sarah.szyr@uhasselt.be

Tel. +3211269052