Open Calls

We set up research projects in which several companies work together and look for a solution to a common technological challenge. These projects create pre-competitive collaborations in which all partners have the same goal and look for a generic solution to a generic problem. Subsequently, the respective companies can use the final technological project output and translate it into concrete product or production innovations. There are 3 different types of projects:

• Strategic Basic Research (SBO), which builds knowledge and brings research closer to the market. Companies in the user group follow up the project for four years and can test the first results on their own application. These companies help to create a hotbed for tomorrow's technology.
• Industrial research (ICON or interdisciplinary collaborative research), in which we develop new knowledge together with a consortium of at least 3 companies, which can be applied in practice and thus contribute to economic added value in Flanders. These are typically two-year projects working on medium-term applications. Companies actively participate in the research with the aim of using the results in their own products or processes.
• Technology transfer projects (TETRA) stimulate knowledge transfer between higher education and companies. In these projects we do practice-based research and participating companies are part of the user group for a period of two years. They help determine the test cases and are among the first companies to gain access to the developed methodologies and tools.

In addition, we also offer customised innovation,