ICON (Interdisciplinary Cooperative Research)

VLAIO's ICON (Interdisciplinary Cooperative Research) programme funds demand-driven cooperative research in Flanders. It sits under VLAIO and brings together strategic research centres, spearhead clusters, research organisations and at least three independent Flemish companies around a shared innovation question. The route uses grant support through the Onderzoeksproject instrument, with awards from €100,000 to €3 million and industrial support levels of 25% to 60%. Calls run multiple times a year, and the record ties the programme to networks such as imec.icon, Flanders Make, Blauwe Cluster, Biovia, Catalisti, ENT.A, Flanders' FOOD, Flux50, VIL and the MateriNex materials track. The strongest applications are consortia that can show a concrete market segment, a technical research challenge and a partner network that already knows how to work together. Projects must align with the relevant cluster or strategic research centre, and the consortium structure matters as much as the topic because research organisations are required and the work is meant to land in an industrial setting.

Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.