Innovation Mandates (Innovatiemandaten)

Innovation Mandates — Call 2026A (Innovatiemandaten)

Supports postdoctoral research mandates bridging basic research into industrial applications with Flemish valorisation.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

Innovatiemandaten is a VLAIO programme that co-finances postdoctoral research mandates aimed at bridging basic research results — often from prior doctoral work — into business applications, with valorisation required in Flanders. The programme is analogous to Baekeland-mandaten but operates at the postdoctoral level. Each mandate involves a minimum of four parties: VLAIO as grantor, a company with legal personality and a Flemish operating seat (serving as lead applicant and industrial promoter), the mandatee (a postdoctoral researcher employed by either the company or the knowledge institution), and a scientific promoter affiliated with a Flemish research institution.

For spin-off mandates, the full budget is 100% subsidised and the mandate can only be initiated by the knowledge institution. For existing-company mandates, Phase 1 (maximum 12 months) is also 100% subsidised through the knowledge institution. Phase 2 base support drops to 50% of accepted costs and is paid directly to the company; this base rate is cumulatively increased by 10% for cooperation with independent companies or international partners, by 10% for medium-sized enterprises, and by 20% for small enterprises — with the total capped accordingly. A mandate lasts in principle two years; a three-year term is possible for existing-company mandates when the extra duration is substantively justified by the nature of the work, for example long-duration testing. Non-personnel costs are capped at EUR 50,000 per full-time year of mandate. Phase 2 subsidies are exempt from corporate income tax.

Applications may be submitted continuously throughout the year; VLAIO groups decisions into two annual decision rounds. The 2026A round closed on 10 March 2026; the second 2026 call (2026B) is typically opened in July. Applications are submitted online using VLAIO's standard template. New knowledge generated during the project must be built up within the Flemish location of the participating company, and results must subsequently be valorised in Flanders — a hard eligibility condition that disqualifies mandates planning to transfer outcomes abroad before Flemish commercial exploitation.