Start-up Projects 2027-2028

Who can submit a project and with who?

The project must be submitted by a member of a higher education institution in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB) with at least one partner in a higher education institution in one of the countries listed below.

Only one project may be submitted per FWB coordinator, per category and per call for proposals.

An FWB coordinator may lead only one Start-up project per call for proposals. However, they may coordinate one Start-up project and one project under another ARES funding scheme. If their two-year seed project is selected, they will not be able to submit a new Start-up project whilst their first project is ongoing or during the next call. 

Eligible countries?

• In Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, DR Congo, Ivory Cost, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal.
• In South America and Caribe: Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, Peru.
• In South-East Asia: Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam.
• In Asia: Palestine.

Duration?

1 or 2 years.

Budget?

Maximum 40 000 € for 1-year projects - Maximum 80 000 € for 2-years projects.

Call details

The 2026 call for proposals is now closed, but you can download the call document for information purposes (in French).

How to submit a project?

• The project must be submitted online via GIRAF by the coordinator.
• You don’t have a GIRAF account ? Create an account.
• The link to create a project form is provided by the cooperation/international relations unit of of the institution of the project coordinator. The form must be opened by the coordinator of the project proposal.
• GIRAF guide for the candidate (in French only)

Project proposals must include:

• the contact details of all stakeholders;
• the completed project proposal form;
• the detailed budget outline.

These documents will be uploaded through GIRAF.

Evaluation criteria

• Alignment with the objectives of the instrument "Start-up Project".
• Relevance of the goals in the context of the project.
• Uniqueness/innovativeness/originality of the proposal (in terms of concepts/method/field/institution/etc.).
• Adequacy of goals, expected results and activities.
• Adequacy of resources mobilised (human and financial) in relation to the goals of the project.
• Scientific and/or educational quality (quality of method, rigour, link with state of the art, etc.).
• Balance of contributions, skills and complementarity of partners.
• Prospects at the end of the project.

Synthetic calendar

13 October 2026: Launch of the call

12 January 2027 at 4 pm (Belgian time, UTC+1): Deadline for opening a new form

15 January 2027 at 12 noon (Belgian time, UTC+1): Final deadline for project submissions

May 2027: Project selection

September 2027: Start-up of the projects

Referential documents

• Joint Strategic Framework: "Higher Education and Science for Sustainable Development" (in French).
• Geographical Strategic Frameworks (in French).
• Vade-mecum.
• Mobility Guide.

MORE INFORMATION: contact ARES : a-v@ares-ac.be.