Strong disciplines as a foundation for interdisciplinarity

Interdisciplinary research flourishes best when rooted in robust disciplinary foundations. KU Leuven will continue to promote the development of core expertise in all scientific fields. Strong disciplines offer the methodological depth, terminological precision, and analytical sharpness needed to enable productive collaboration across disciplinary boundaries. We aim for a balanced allocation of resources, ensuring that smaller disciplines also have sufficient room to deepen their unique expertise. This is essential, as interdisciplinarity without a solid disciplinary basis often leads to superficial integration and reduced scientific impact. Disciplinary excellence and interdisciplinarity are not opposites, but mutually reinforcing pillars of scientific progress.

Balance between basic and targeted research

We support a healthy balance between research that generates fundamental knowledge and research with clear societal applications. Basic research drives future breakthroughs and provides the theoretical framework and technological foundation upon which innovation is built. At the same time, applied research often generates immediate impact, especially when conducted in collaboration with societal actors. We also support initiatives that bridge both forms of research, such as valorisation platforms, translational infrastructure, and living labs where researchers collaborate with businesses, governments, or citizens. This requires a well-balanced flow of funding, internally through the Special Research Fund and externally through Flemish, Belgian, European, and other funding sources. Financial autonomy and academic freedom are essential prerequisites for excellent research.

Strengthening collaborative research

We want to structurally support collaboration within and across disciplines by encouraging and valuing various forms of team research. Team science encompasses not only multidisciplinary collaboration, but also disciplinary research teams in which professors, (early-career) researchers, instrument specialists, and other support staff work closely around shared research themes. Team science enhances the quality and impact of research through complementarity and collective expertise. Collaborative environments with clear roles and good communication (e.g., regarding authorship) also reduce the risk of integrity issues (Aubert Bonn, De Vries & Pinxten 2022).

Through targeted calls, matchmaking events, and central coordination, we aim to foster the formation of research teams with complementary roles. Support extends beyond funding: we build networks, create digital collaboration platforms, and pool expertise to better support interfaculty projects. KU Leuven Institutes are ideally suited to take the lead in this. Training and support in team dynamics are also essential to making collaboration sustainable and effective. Strong examples of collaborative research, in all its forms, will be actively highlighted to encourage uptake across the research community. By valuing team science, we build an inclusive and forward-looking research practice. Pooling resources from basic funding offers excellent opportunities to initiate or consolidate collaborations that teams find most meaningful or productive.

Balanced basic funding for research

We aim for a gradual but clear transition to a basic funding system for ZAP (Independent Academic Staff) members. This model acknowledges that in the current competitive allocation of resources, the role of luck in securing a project is too large, particularly because many excellent applications are submitted while available funding remains limited. The high quality of applications and applicants is further evidenced by the relatively high success rates of external project proposals. KU Leuven’s long history of project funding through the Research Council provides a wealth of data on the average cost of projects across disciplines and the typical profile of successful applicants. These data are extremely valuable for developing robust criteria for basic funding and ensuring its optimal use.

Basic funding has several advantages: it (i) encourages the strategic use of resources through collaboration among researchers; (ii) creates space for better and more thoughtful external project applications; (iii) allows us to maintain specific calls (e.g., for international collaboration or infrastructure); and (iv) reduces the pressure of constant competition, without compromising quality.

We will implement a system in which researchers submit a short project proposal that undergoes minimal screening. For more senior researchers, this is combined with a thorough, discipline-specific review of their past research performance. Qualitative elements will also count, such as mentoring and/or societal impact. This approach ensures a level of quality control without adhering to the current competitive logic. It allows the Research Coordination Office and the Research Council to shift toward more substantive work and provide better support to researchers, for instance, in applying for external projects, outreach, and science communication.

By choosing a system of substantial basic funding for research-active ZAP members, we aim to create a stable, predictable, and transparent funding structure that enables long-term research planning and encourages scientific risk-taking without being perpetually dependent on competitive calls. Structural basic funding contributes to academic autonomy and ensures continuity of solid and fruitful research lines, even when external funding temporarily lapses. Researchers retain full autonomy over the direction of their research agendas, an essential condition for scientific progress. At the same time, we acknowledge that research costs can vary significantly between disciplines. Therefore, we will allow for a degree of differentiation, recognising the higher structural costs of research in more financially demanding fields, without compromising the research freedom or undervaluing contributions from less capital-intensive disciplines.

Not all Special Research Fund resources will be allocated to basic funding, so that calls for infrastructure, institutional support, and internationalisation projects can be maintained. We will also continue to invest in initiatives that promote research impact, such as valorisation platforms, interfaculty collaborations, and support for international project proposals. In this way, we combine stability with openness to external opportunities, without forcing all researchers into a competitive framework. This approach aligns with the international call for a renewed appreciation of curiosity-driven research as a motor of scientific and societal breakthroughs.

Alignment with the academic calendar

Calls for funding and deadlines for internal grants will be better aligned with the academic year. We aim to avoid proposal deadlines during exam periods, semester starts, or other teaching peak times. This scheduling adjustment promotes a more realistic working rhythm for academic staff and helps prevent the overlap of teaching and research duties. Deadlines that fall just before or during intensive academic periods lead to increased stress and procrastination, negatively impacting both the quality of submissions and researchers’ well-being. Therefore, we will introduce an updated annual calendar for research support, with deadlines announced well in advance and synchronised with the academic cycle. Research coordinators and department chairs will be actively involved in this planning. Additionally, we will engage with Flemish funding bodies such as FWO and VLAIO to adopt similar practices. This alignment will improve the feasibility of funding applications, enhance the quality of submitted proposals, and contribute to a fairer distribution of workload within research teams.

Investing in research infrastructure and shared use

We are committed to modernising, centralising, and promoting the shared use of research infrastructure. This includes not only physical equipment, but also supporting IT infrastructure, data storage, and digital services. We will develop a central platform that provides transparent information on the use, availability, and reservation of scientific equipment. With real-time reservation systems and usage statistics, facilities can be used more efficiently, and access can be optimised for all researchers. Infrastructure will be shared based on clear agreements regarding access, usage, and cost-sharing, leading to substantial efficiency gains.

Collaborations with strategic partners such as UZ Leuven, UPC, VIB, and the university colleges within the KU Leuven Association require clear governance structures and contractual agreements concerning ownership, maintenance, and fair financial contributions. KU Leuven guarantees that researchers, regardless of faculty or institution, have equal access to state-of-the-art facilities. This promotes not only cost-effectiveness but also cooperation within and beyond the university, including with industry and international partners.

Promoting an open and sustainable research culture

We are explicitly committed to fostering an open and sustainable scientific practice. Open science, guided by the FAIR principles, is increasingly recognised as essential for transparency, reusability, and societal impact. We actively promote the sharing of data, methodologies, preprints, and publications via open access channels, thereby also encouraging data reuse. To reduce administrative burden, we will provide intuitive data repositories, automatic linking with ORCID, and clear legal frameworks for data sharing and licensing. We will invest in support via open science coaches. A combination of support, recognition, and cultural change is essential to embedding openness in academic practice.

At the same time, we promote research integrity in a broader sense, going beyond openness alone. We will introduce a peer mentoring system on research integrity, where experienced researchers engage in dialogue with junior colleagues about real-world dilemmas, for example, regarding authorship, data selection, or collaboration with external partners. We will encourage researchers to explicitly articulate key decisions and uncertainties in project proposals, for instance through integrity paragraphs or ethical logbooks. We will also continue to invest in responsible leadership by training supervisors to foster safe research environments in which mistakes can be discussed without repercussions.

Greater focus on outreach

We encourage researchers to share their findings beyond academia, through science communication, policy engagement, citizen science, or collaboration with civil society organisations. Open science also means being open to society. We will therefore strengthen support for outreach, training in public communication, and strategic networks with the media and societal partners. This approach not only increases the impact of our research but also strengthens public trust in science and fosters a culture rooted in sustainability, transparency, and collaboration.

An interfaculty centre

We propose the establishment of an interfaculty centre that unites three core themes: science communication, inter- and multidisciplinary collaboration, and research integrity. Each of these areas will be supported by a BOF-ZAP mandate, one from each science group. These BOF-ZAP professors are not only academic experts but also serve as active bridges to the broader university community. They will take a leading role in strengthening structural initiatives, mentoring early-career researchers, and shaping innovative policies.

In science communication, this may involve developing formats for public dialogue, supporting researchers in their public engagement, collaborating with museums and media, policy participation, and engagement-driven research (co-creation, participatory research, citizen science, etc.).

This structure offers an excellent opportunity to combine existing strengths. The centre can integrate closely with Metaforum, which has extensive experience in organising reflection and interfaculty exchange, and with LIAS (Leuven Institute for Advanced Study), which provides expertise and infrastructure for long-term thematic deepening. By involving BOF-ZAP professors in these working groups, we create a sustainable interaction between academic policy, public communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The Vesalius Museum could also play a meaningful role here, as a place where science, heritage, and the public come together. In the most recent BOF-ZAP round, a mandate was foreseen for the development and expansion of the Vesalius Museum. The centre should grow into an anchor point within the university, where multidisciplinary research, integrity, communication, and societal responsibility reinforce each other.

Systematically applying AI in research

There is growing international consensus that AI not only boosts efficiency but can also enhance inclusivity by lowering barriers to scientific writing or data analysis. We are developing an AI policy tailored to researchers, bringing together ethical principles, sustainability, practical guidelines, and technical support. By using AI intelligently, we can improve the efficiency and quality of research, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance our international competitiveness as a leading research university.

We want to give researchers access to generative AI and other smart tools that accelerate and improve scientific work, from programming support and statistical analysis to literature reviews and academic writing. We will negotiate institutional licenses with providers such as OpenAI to provide researchers with safe and ethical access to powerful AI platforms. These tools will be integrated into KU Leuven’s digital environments, with specific attention to privacy, data security, and intellectual property. The ecological impact of AI use also requires careful monitoring. We will provide training, guidelines, and ethical frameworks on the use of AI. Transparency about AI use, proper citation, and critical reflection on AI output are essential to safeguarding academic integrity.