The Board of Directors of the FNRS has just decided on March 30th, 2020 on the first measures to be taken as a consequence of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on research and researchers. Here is the summary.
Will expenses already incurred for congresses or stays abroad, that have been granted by the FNRS and have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 epidemic, be reimbursed?
Yes, the FNRS will reimburse the costs incurred by both FNRS researchers and academic institutions for events cancelled due to coronavirus. As usual, these reimbursements will be made on the basis of supporting documents.
Will the grants awarded for these cancelled events be valid later if the event is postponed?
Yes, a grant awarded for a cancelled event remains valid if the event is postponed.
Is it currently possible to submit a new application for "mobility" abroad (stay abroad, scientific meeting, ...)?
Yes, these applications will be registered, an acknowledgement of receipt will be sent, but applications will only be processed from April 20th (at the earliest).
What happens for the applicants for a “Chargé de recherches” fellowship who will not be able to defend their thesis before May 1st?
The deadline for obtaining the thesis is delayed and set at September 23rd. However, the candidate whose thesis has not been defended by 1 May must, in order to remain eligible, send the manuscript of his/her thesis to the FNRS (via the e-space platform) by May 1st at the latest. This manuscript will be communicated to the members of the scientific commissions. This measure aims to allow these doctoral students at the end of their thesis to still make the best use of their work with the scientific commissions in the absence of the report of their thesis jury.
Can the project agreements and research credits be extended?
Yes, the duration of all agreements is extended by 12 months (without granting additional financial means): this means that the eligibility of the planned expenditure will benefit from a 12-month extension of the current situation.
What is the new timetable for the Télévie call?
The Scientific Commission will meet on September 7th, 2020 (the big closing TV show being postponed to September 5th).
For the newly selected grants TLV ("classic" Télévie) and PDR-TLV (Télévie Research Projects), the start date of the contracts remains to be specified (October 1st, November 1st or December 1st). Post-doc contracts will be effective subject to the completion of the doctoral degree no later than one week before the starting date.
The grants renewal of doctoral students on the FNRS-Télévie Grants and on the Télévie PDRs for the 2018 call will be granted by the June Board meeting. The new contracts will start on October 1st, as usual.
Finally, the FNRS reminds its researchers that they are required to follow the instructions of their host university.
