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Focus on Belgium

Facts and figures, life scientists in Belgium, EMBO opportunities

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Belgium had observer status since 1970 and joined the EMBC as a member state in 2007. Life scientists in Belgium are eligible for all EMBO Programmes supporting life scientists in Europe and beyond.

 

Facts and figures

Belgium is a federal constitutional parliamentary monarchy of three regions and three language communities. It was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community, the forerunner of the current European Union, and it is home to the European Parliament and European Commission.1 Belgium was also among the first EMBC members.2

Belgium has five universities in the Flemish-speaking regions3 and five in French-speaking regions4.  KU Leuven was founded in 1425 and is one of Europe’s oldest universities.5

Around 51% of young adults in Belgium attain a tertiary education.6   In 2022, more than 126,000 people in Belgium were employed in R&D work.7     

Gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) increased significantly between 2021 and 2022 by 9.5% to reach 18.9 billion Euro, although rising only slightly as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product to 3.41%. The main sectors financing GERD in 2021 were business enterprise providing 64%, government 17% and inward investment 15%. 7

The European Patent Office granted 1,183 patents to residents of Belgium in 2023.8

Life scientists in Belgium have access to a funding from federal and regional agencies9   and through Horizon 2020 projects, European Research Council grants, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions10 as well as EMBO.

Population: 11,763,65011
R&D spending as percentage of GDP: 3.41%7
People employed in R&D: 126,1127
Patents: 1,1838
Universities: 103 & 4
Horizon 2020 funding:10
  • 8,976 organizations including 1,957 SMEs Involved in H2020 projects

  • 291 ERC Principal Investigators

  • 1,170 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions funded researchers
    		•

    All life scientists in Belgium are eligible for the EMBO Programmes supporting life scientists in Europe and beyond.

    Find out about all EMBO funding schemes here.

    Click to expand

    All information as of April 2025.

    References

    1. European Union
    2. EMBO
    3. Study in Flanders
    4. Study in Belgium
    5. KU Leuven
    6. Eurostat, Population by educational attainment level, sex and age
    7. OECD, Main Science and Technology Indicators, Belgium
    8. European Patent Office, Patent Index 2023
    9. Belgian Science Policy Office, Belgian Report on Science Technology and Innovation 2021, page 19
    10. European Commission, Horizon 2020 country profile
    11. Statbel

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