In May, the FNR has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Quebec Research Fund (FRQ) to support bilateral projects in the framework of the AUDACE programme. A first bilateral call for interdisciplinary projects will be launched in summer 2020 with a pre-proposal deadline in early autumn 2020.
AUDACE is a very original research programme that has been pioneered by the FRQ over the past years. The goal of this program is to support bold research that offers a departure from traditional approaches. For the purposes of this program, “bold” refers to the ability of the researchers and their project to go beyond the existing paradigms of their respective scientific cultures and fields of research. Thus, AUDACE supports exploratory inter-disciplinary and inter-sectoral initiatives with the potential to radically transform research and creation.
The main objective of this agreement is to foster cross-border collaboration between the scientific communities of Quebec and Luxembourg. In the framework of the AUDACE programme, the research consortia are invited to submit joint interdisciplinary projects. Three annual bilateral Calls are foreseen under this agreement, with FRQ Quebec serving as lead agency.
Currently, FRQ and FNR are working on specific guidelines for bilateral AUDACE proposals. AUDACE aims to provide researchers from the three major sectors covered by the Fonds with favourable conditions for initiating projects with a high level of risk and the potential for high impacts, be they scientific, social, economic, technological, cultural, aesthetic, etc. The research consortia must comprise researchers from two different domains.
In February 2019, the FNR was part of a Research Luxembourg delegation visit to Quebec, which had the aim of strengthening the links between both regions in the fields of research and innovation.
About the Quebec Research Fund (FRQ)
Since 2011, the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) has been grouped together with the Fonds de recherche – Nature et technologies (FRQNT) and the Fonds de recherche – Société et culture (FRQSC) under the banner Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ).
