ASTRID — Specific Support for Defense-Interest Research (Accompagnement Spécifique des Travaux de Recherches d'Intérêt Défense)

ASTRID

Backs early-stage exploratory research with dual civilian and military applicability across fifteen thematic areas.

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

ASTRID (Accompagnement Spécifique des Travaux de Recherches et d'Innovation Défense) is a French government grant programme for dual-use exploratory research, funded by the Agence de l'innovation de défense and operationally implemented by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche. It awards grants of up to €400,000 per project to support early-stage research with both civilian and military applicability. Projects run between 18 and 36 months.

ASTRID is open to French research organisations, universities, laboratories, and companies, provided the proposed research has a credible dual-use rationale. Applications must address one or more of ASTRID's 15 thematic areas, which span artificial intelligence, robotics, cyber, photonics, advanced materials, energy, biological and NRBC (nuclear, radiological, biological, chemical) sciences, and related fields. The programme does not require prior defence contract experience, making it accessible to academic and civilian research teams entering the defence innovation pipeline. A defining IP condition applies to all selected projects: recipients must grant the Délégation Générale de l'Armement (DGA) prior authorisation over any exclusive licensing arrangement or sale of project intellectual property. The 2026 cycle deadline was 2 March 2026 at 15:00 CET, and that window has closed.

Successful ASTRID projects are eligible to progress to more advanced AID instruments, including ASMA (maturation grants) and RAPID (SME innovation subsidies), or to preliminary study contracts directly with DGA. Teams preparing for the next cycle should select thematic areas where their research can convincingly demonstrate both scientific novelty and a plausible defence application, accept the DGA IP clause as non-negotiable, and monitor the ANR and AID portals for the 2026-27 call opening.