DÉVELOPPEMENT

01/ How does it work?

The Policy Supporting Programme delivers research output on specific themes of interest to the Belgian development cooperation on demand of the Belgian government. The goal of PSP is to deepen the knowledge on themes that are of prime importance to the Belgian development cooperation, linked to building the knowledge and capacity of DGD.

An online information and matchmaking session with stakeholders took place on November 30th 2022. This resulted in the final Terms of Reference elaborated by DGD for PSP regarding the following three themes:

• Climate & Environment
• Fragility & Resilience
• Social protection, inequality & inclusive growth.

These Terms of Reference (ToR) provide potential applicants with more subject matter-related information. The present call invites interested parties to submit a Concept Note containing the following elements:

• A presentation of the core group:
      o   relevant expertise
      o   roles & responsibilities
• A strategy for the inception phase:
      o   reflections on the theme and priorities
      o   outlining the method and approach for the inception phase
      o   the approach to mobilise expertise
      o   the approach to guarantee (gender) equality and interdisciplinarity
• A strategy for the uptake of research results
• An activity planning and budget for the inception phase

The PSP will start in May 2023 and end 31 August 2027 (4 years and 4 months). Each project will start with an inception phase in May 2023. The real start of the fully-fledged project takes place as of November 2023, after the submission and validation of the fully-fledged proposal, elaborated on during the inception phase. 

03/ Which partner countries are eligible?

Researchers affiliated with Belgian higher education institutions (HEIs) (both universities and universities of applied sciences and arts), and researchers affiliated with higher education institutions in one of the partner countries of ARES and VLIR-UOS.

Concept Notes need to include at least 1 HEI from Flanders, 1 HEI from the Federation Wallonia-Brussels (FWB), and 1 HEI from a partner country.

A maximum of 50% of the budget can be spent by a HEI in a partner country.

Of the funds spent by the Belgian HEIs, max. 25% of the ARES/VLIR-UOS budget can be spent on Flemish / FWB researchers respectively. How this rule will be implemented, is still under discussion and will be communicated without delay.

05/ How does the assessment procedure work?

The selection commission will be composed of DGD representatives. Two independent experts will be identified by ARES and VLIR-UOS to contribute to the selection commission activities. The selection commission will be responsible for the appraisal and selection of the Concept notes.

After the inception phase, this commission will also be responsible for the assessment of the fully-fledged proposals. For information on the selection criteria, see the table on pages 13-14 in the call document.

All Concept notes are assessed by the commission members, guaranteeing equal treatment and triangulation. 

07/ Timeline