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Luxembourg National Research Fund

LuxAid BRIDGES: Call for research projects in the field of international development cooperation

The FNR and the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs have joined forces to support research projects in the field of international development cooperation and announce the launch of the “SEEDLING” call for projects in the framework of the new funding instrument “LuxAid BRIDGES”. The call is structured in two phases: a pre-call open until 10 May 2023 followed by a full call which will open in autumn 2023.

The call is aligned with the objectives of the “Road to 2030” strategy of the Luxembourg Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, and the national research and innovation strategy. Through the funding of research projects in partnership with researchers in developing countries and even organisations active in the international cooperation ecosystem, LuxAid BRIDGES aims to further support the development of research capacities and to pool scientific results in favour of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian action.

This first call for proposals reflects the shared objective of the Luxembourg Agency for Development and Humanitarian Aid and the FNR to support research and development projects in thematic areas related to development cooperation and humanitarian action, through annual calls for proposals mobilising €2 MEUR of funding per year.

“This call for proposals will mobilise research actors to work together in favour of development cooperation and international humanitarian action. By funding projects that will strengthen local research capacities, we want to contribute to research progress in areas as diverse as natural resource management including sustainable agriculture, water and energy, poverty eradication, inclusive finance, global health, digitalisation and international law.” – Franz Fayot, Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action.

“This initiative fits perfectly with the National Research and Innovation Strategy, which aims to maximise the impact of research conducted in Luxembourg by examining the extent to which research results can be used and transferred in Luxembourg’s development cooperation efforts. By setting up this specific funding instrument, a more systematic cooperation between the research ecosystem and Luxembourg’s development cooperation and humanitarian action policy is encouraged,” – Claude Meisch, Minister for Higher Education and Research.

Implemented jointly with the Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation LuxDev, LuxAid BRIDGES is organised in two phases, the first of which consists of a preliminary call known as “SEEDLING”. The projects selected during this pre-call will be able to benefit from a maximum grant of 20,000 euros to carry out a three-month feasibility study. The second phase consists in the launch of the main call for proposals under LuxAid BRIDGES, which will take place at the end of 2023.

Luxembourg-based organisations eligible for support are public institutions, public bodies engaged in research activities and non-profit associations/foundations and societal impact companies. In addition, project partnerships submitted must link a research institution in Luxembourg with international and multilateral organisations, civil society, academic and research centres or the private sector located in a developing country or with demonstrated relevance to development and/or humanitarian practitioners.

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