Funding was awarded to 91 projects in the Fundamental and Applied Projects competition of the Latvian Science Council. The total funding for project implementation is 27.3 million euros. In total, 596 submissions from 30 scientific institutions were evaluated in the project competition.
One project implementation time is 36 months. Each project is implemented in phases, where the duration of one phase is 12 months. Their implementation will begin on January 1, 2025.
The projects supported in the competition of fundamental and applied projects will be implemented in all scientific branch groups:
- 25 projects will be implemented in natural sciences, their total funding is 7.5 million euros;
- 25 projects will be implemented in engineering sciences and technologies, their total funding is 7.5 million euros;
- 13 projects will be implemented in medical and health sciences, their total funding is 3.9 million euros;
- 10 projects will be implemented in social sciences, their total funding is almost three million euros;
- 9 projects will be implemented in agricultural, forest and veterinary sciences, their total funding is 2.7 million euros;
- 9 projects will be implemented in humanities and arts, their total funding is 2.7 million euros.
9 competitions have already been held
Since 2018, the Latvian Science Council has organized nine competitions for fundamental and applied research projects, thus giving researchers the opportunity to implement their research. Contest results:
- in the first competition, which was announced in 2018, 397 project submissions were received. 61 projects received funding, and the total funding was 17.8 million euros;
- In the summer of 2018, the Latvian Science Council announced the second competition. 328 project submissions were received. 41 projects were financed for 8.5 million euros;
- In 2019, the funding available in the tender was 9.5 million euros and 47 projects were financed;
- In January 2020, the fourth tender was announced. 397 project submissions were submitted, and as a result of the competition, a decision was made to finance 42 projects for a total of 12.8 million euros. For example, one of them is the project of researchers of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Latvia. They looked for an association between glucose variability, bowel disorders and progression of diabetic nephropathy in type 1 diabetes patients;
- In September 2020, the Latvian Science Council for the first time announced the open competition for individual project submissions of fundamental and applied research scientists. It financed 107 projects for 10.74 million euros.One of these projects is a new human organoid model for studying the role of the peripheral nervous system in the development of pancreatic cancer. It is being developed at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Latvia;
- In the 2021 open competition, 579 project submissions were received. The total state budget funding in the tender was 23.8 million euros and 76 projects were financed;
- In the 2022 tender, the highest number of applications was received so far - 600 applications, while the 12.9 million euro funding was distributed to 43 projects.By approving the 2023 budget, the government allocated an additional 4.5 million euros in state budget funding for the implementation of fundamental and applied research projects in 2022. The Latvian Science Council stated that the additional funding will allow a significant step to be taken to ensure that at least 30% of projects evaluated above the quality threshold are funded in this competition every year. This would allow a much larger number of the most talented Latvian scientists to receive support for the implementation of the most promising ideas;
- 583 project submissions were received in the 2023 basic and applied research project competition. The 57 highest rated projects received funding. 17.1 million euros were allocated for its implementation. The available funding and the large number of project submissions created the highest competition in the history of these competitions to date, and it had the lowest success rate in history - 9.9%.
For new knowledge and technologies
The Fundamental and Applied Research Program is a research funding program funded by the Ministry of Education and Science aimed at scientific excellence. Its purpose is to create new knowledge and technological knowledge in all branches of science, supporting the best ideas of Latvian researchers, as well as ensuring the smooth development of all groups of scientific branches. Research topics, goals and tasks are formulated by the researchers themselves.
Funding for projects is allocated taking into account the assessment of independent foreign scientific experts - only the highest rated projects receive funding. By implementing fundamental and applied research projects, the economic growth of Latvia is stimulated, various issues relevant to Latvian society are solved, and the foundations are laid for new directions of research in Latvian science.
Photo: Unsplash.com