Belgian Ophthalmology Cooperation in Clinical Sciences: BOCCS
BOCCS is intended to stimulate collaboration between Belgian Institutes, by funding research that explores therapeutic outcomes, diagnostic methods or epidemiological parameters of challenging clinical problems with unclear evidence-base. It promotes harmonisation of protocols and pooling or sharing of samples and models between participating centres. Thus Belgian investigators greater sample sizes and more convincing outcomes data.
The outcomes should benefit the Belgian Ophthalmologists in their daily practice and improve optimal use of Social Security resources. The collaborating teams should follow the ICH-GCP regulations and requirements applicable at the time of submission.
BOCCS is a two-year assignment program with an option to apply for a second round of funding. BOCCS projects are collaborative, clinical projects involving two or more Belgian centers of expertise. If successful, the maximum amount of money allocated to such projects also depends on the number of centers involved, beyond the quality and topic of the research project.
Timeline & deadlines:
| • Submission of preliminary call | 31 May 2025, before midnight |
| • Applicants invited to prepare final application | 23 June 2025 |
| • Final submission of successful applications | 01 September 2025, before midnight |
| • Selection of final successful projects | 15 November 2025 |
| • Announcement of final successful projects | November 2025 at OB2025 |
| • Start of funding | 01 December 2025 |
| • End of funding | 31 November 2026 |
The application for BOCCS (Belgian Ophthalmology Cooperation in Clinical Sciences) has two phases:
- A Preliminary Application (PART I) must be submitted before midnight on May 31, 2025
- Selected applicants will be invited to submit their final application on 23 June 2025.
- After this, applicants who are asked to proceed will have until midnight on the 1st September to complete and submit the Final Application Form (PART II).
Please download the official application form here.
Please note, this is a locked Word document – you can only enter text/ make selections as restricted by the document. Please ensure you answer the questions as fully as possible, paying attention to the process outlined above. If you have difficulty with the form, please inform fro@fro-online.org
Upload your Application Form here:
