Strategic Basic Research (SBO)
Building tomorrow's technology together.
Flanders Make's Strategic Basic Research (SBO) focuses on innovative, high-risk research with high industrial relevance. The aim is to push the boundaries of state-of-the-art technology and create better products, processes and services for Flemish industry in the long term.
SBO projects form the scientific basis for future collaborative research and innovation projects.
What is an SBO project?
An SBO project funds strategic basic research that:
- Is innovative and technologically ambitious
- Focuses on industrially relevant challenges
- Enables long-term industrial valorisation
Implementation
- Research by Flanders Make
- Supplemented by external research partners if necessary
- Supported by an industrial user group
SBO projects create a structural knowledge base on which future innovation projects can build.
Goals
SBO projects build new, generic knowledge that is further removed from the market.
During the project, companies can:
- Carry out small validation cases
- Test the applicability of new knowledge
- Explore implementation possibilities
A successful SBO project typically leads to:
- New collaborative research projects
- R&D projects with possible VLAIO support
- Further industrial valorisation in the medium or long term
Throughout the entire process, we work closely with potential users, both in the preparatory phase and during implementation.
The industrial user group
We set up a user group for each SBO project.
The role of the user group
- Advises and directs the research;
- Defines small validation cases;
- Monitors the valorisation plan;
- Acts as a sounding board for implementation.
The project coordinator organises at least two meetings per year.
Companies commit to actively contributing to the functioning of the user group.
Participation
Who can participate?
The following companies can participate as industrial partners in the user group:
- Flemish SMEs
- Large companies
- Companies outside Flanders
SBO is open to companies that want to contribute strategically to future technologies and their application potential.
How to participate?
Flanders Make organises periodic SBO open calls. Companies can:
- Respond to an open call;
- Join the user group during the course of a project;
- Share their own project ideas with Flanders Make.
We discuss project ideas within the relevant competence cluster consortia.
The typical duration of an SBO project is four years.
The financial situation
Companies in the user group pay a one-off contribution per SBO project.
- SME: €1,000 (excluding VAT)
- Large enterprise: €4,000 (excluding VAT)
We invoice this in the first year of participation. Members of relevant Flanders Make competence clusters receive a 50% discount.
More about small validation cases
A small validation case is a limited study within a company from the user group to test the applicability of a generic SBO result.
Objective
- Validation of a tangible technical result
- Evaluation of industrial applicability
- Exploration of further valorisation
Criteria
- Involvement of a company from the user group
- Clear link to SBO results
- Clear industrial case description
- Motivation for future industrial use
- Short work plan
A cooperation agreement is concluded for each validation case.
Non-confidential results are shared within the user group.
Intellectual property (IP)
Flanders Make owns the research results in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the user group.
Important to know
- Participants do not automatically acquire ownership or licensing rights.
- Licences are granted through formal agreements.
- Market-based fees apply.
- Available on an equal and non-discriminatory basis within the EU.
Option for exclusive licence
Companies conducting a validation case can:
- Obtain an option (6 months) to negotiate an exclusive licence.
- Negotiate a non-exclusive licence for background IP.
Licences are application-specific and may be co-exclusive if several companies are active in the same domain.
Flanders Make always retains the right to use results for internal research and training.
Samen vormen we de technologie van morgen.
