Information for Researchers, No. 106 | November 26, 2021

Weave Lead Agency Initiative: Additional Collaboration Opportunity with F.R.S.-FNRS and FWO (Belgium)

Funding opportunity for bi- to trilateral projects within the Weave Lead Agency Initiative

Funding opportunity for bi- to trilateral projects within the Weave Lead Agency Initiative

The Weave Lead Agency Procedure (Weave) developed by European funding organisations to support excellent collaborative research across borders was launched in December 2020. By means of a single review process, the initiative aims to simplify the submission and selection procedures for closely integrated collaborative research proposals involving researchers from up to three European countries or regions. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) already applies Weave together with FWF (Austria), FNR (Luxembourg), SNSF (Switzerland), GACR (Czech Republic) and NCN (Poland). From 1 January 2022 on, the cooperation with F.R.S.-FNRS and FWO (Belgium) commences and opens up new collaboration opportunities.

Background information on the Weave Lead Agency Procedure:

  • Within Weave, researchers from two up to three European countries or regions are able to submit a collaborative research proposal to any of the participating funders.
  • To submit a proposal, all applicants must meet the eligibility requirements of their respective Weave signatory organisation.
  • Weave is based on the Lead Agency Procedure principle. The team of applicants selects a coordinating applicant, who submits the joint proposal to the respective Weave funding organisation in his/her country. This organisation acts as the Lead Agency for the proposal and conducts the evaluation process. Following the assessment, it communicates its funding recommendation to the other funding organisations involved (the Partner Agencies) for approval and budgetary purposes.
  • For further information on the Weave Lead Agency Procedure, please refer to Information on Weave on the DFG-webpage and the website of the Weave Initiative (see links below).

Implementation of the Weave Lead Agency Procedure:

The DFG funding scheme open to Weave is the Individual Research Grants Programme (“Sachbeihilfe”). In addition to the research organisations listed above and starting on 1 January 2022, the DFG will apply the Weave Lead Agency Procedure together with the following funding organisations from Belgium:

  • Fund for Scientific Research - FNRS (F.R.S.-FNRS) for researchers from the French-speaking Community
  • Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) for researchers from Flanders

DFG as the Lead Agency:

For details on the DFG’s application process, please refer to:

  • the DFG website on the Weave Lead Agency Procedure (see link below)
  • the supplementary instructions for proposals within the Weave Lead Agency Procedure (DFG-form 54.019; see link below)

Proposals with DFG as the Lead Agency and F.R.S.-FNRS or FWO as Partner Agency can be submitted starting from 1 January 2022. To ensure a decision can be reached in 2022, these proposals have to be submitted before 1 April 2022.

A copy of the proposal has to be submitted to the respective Partner Agency within seven days. Please make sure to also consult the websites of the other funding organisations involved in a proposal (see links below) as there may be important information to consider prior to submitting a proposal, e.g. eligibility requirements, deadlines, submission of additional documents, etc.

DFG as the Partner Agency:

To submit a Weave Lead Agency Proposal with either F.R.S.-FNRS or FWO as the Lead Agency, please consult the websites of these two funding organisations for important information on eligibility requirements, deadlines, etc. (see links below).

A copy of the proposal as well as all other required documents have to be submitted to the DFG within seven days upon submission to the Lead Agency. For further details, please refer to the DFG website on the Weave Lead Agency Procedure (see link below).

Data protection

Please note the DFG’s data protection notice on research funding (see link below). If necessary, please forward this information to any individuals whose data will be processed by DFG due to their involvement in your project.

Further Information

Information on Weave in German (Antragstellung mit europäischen Kooperationspartnerinnen und -partnern im Weave Lead Agency-Verfahren):

Information on Weave in English:

Supplementary instructions for proposals within the Weave Lead Agency Procedure; „Ergänzender Leitfaden zur Antragstellung im Rahmen einer grenzüberschreitenden Kooperation im Weave Lead Agency-Verfahren (Weave LAV)” (DFG-Vordruck 54.019):

DFG’s Electronic Proposal Processing System for Applicants – elan:

DFG’s data protection notice on research funding:

Contact at DFG:

Further information of the partner organisations in Belgium:

Information provided by FWO: