Medium-scale research infrastructure
Results of the first call 2007-2008
In the first call for Medium-scale research infrastructure, the subsidies of 2007 and 2008 were combined, making an amount of EUR 20,000,000 available.
On October 15, 2008, the Hercules Foundation’s Board of Directors approved 43 applications for a total amount of more than EUR 19,600,000.
A large number of investment proposals were submitted with a relatively low success rate. This reflects the acute need for funding for medium-scale research infrastructure in Flemish universities and university colleges.
One of the important strategic objectives of the Hercules initiative is to strengthen cooperation between the various players in the Flemish science and innovation system. To this end, a progressive subsidy percentage was, among other things, introduced for the Hercules 2 and Hercules 3 initiatives.
Of the 146 applications submitted in the first medium-scale infrastructure call, 11 involved institutions from more than one association. Three of them were selected as an inter-association proposal.
Of the 43 approved applications, six are in cooperation with a public research institution or a company and three of them are a partnership agreement between two associations. In total, 12of the approved applications were the result of cooperation between institutions withinthe same association. In two of these applications, a researcher from a university college acted as promoter-spokesperson.
In 13 of the approved applications, the promoters indicated that the infrastructure is used for basic strategic research. For the other 30 applications, both fundamental and basic strategic research will be also carried out. In other words, no projects are being subsidised in which the applicants state that the infrastructure to be acquired is solely intended for fundamental research.
Researchers from the social sciences and humanities also received Hercules funding.