Work Programme 2025

The 2025 Work Programme describes the actions and calls for proposals proposed by the French National Research Agency (ANR) for the coming year. Aimed at all scientific communities and all public or private players involved in French research, it provides a general overview of the ANR's funding offer.

The ANR's 2025 Work Programme follows on from the 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions. It is structured into four cross-cutting components, each with a specific budget, funding instruments, calls for proposals and specific programmes.

As part of its Work Programme, the ANR is maintaining a substantial proportion of funding granted on an investigator-driven basis via the Generic Call for Proposals (AAPG). The aim of the AAPG is to take full account of the diversity of needs in terms of disciplines and projects (particularly in terms of resources and duration), while maintaining strong support for young researchers.

The Work Programme enables researchers in different scientific fields to access co-financing for a large number of research themes, whether targeted or not, within a disciplinary or interdisciplinary framework, in addition to the recurrent funding allocated to them.

Download the 2025 work programme

The generic call for proposals (AAPG), ANR's main call

The AAPG mobilises 5 instruments to fund:

• individual research projects carried out by young researchers (JCJC);
   
• ambitious and innovative research projects carried out by a team or a laboratory as part of the reintroduction of the “Single-team research project” (PRME) instrument;
   
• collaborative research projects:
   
  
  • between public entities in a national context (PRC),
     
  • between public and private entities opening up to the business world (PRCE) or between French and foreign laboratories or public partners in a bilateral international context as part of the "Collaborative Research Project - International" (PRCI) instrument

The AAPG is structured into 57 research areas, 38 of which are presented within 7 disciplinary fields and 19 of which correspond to cross-disciplinary issues. Each area has its own scientific evaluation committee (CES).

Regardless of the AAPG instrument, all types of projects can be envisaged: projects targeting original, ground-breaking or exploratory objectives or concepts; projects aimed at removing scientific barriers that are well identified in the community; projects exploiting data generated by research infrastructures; projects following on from previous projects and making it possible to envisage new objectives.

The specific programmes and calls for proposals of the 2025 Work Programme

As part of its 2025 Work Programme, the ANR is also implementing:

• European and international initiatives: with the "European or International Scientific Networking" (MRSEI) and "Support for European or International Scientific Networking" (SRSEI) instruments, the "Tremplin-ERC" (T-ERC) programme, the "Access-ERC" call in the field of social sciences and humanities, as well as specific calls for proposals under multilateral programmes and strategic bilateral partnerships.
   
• Programmes focused on public-private partnerships and transferring the results of public research to the business world, such as the LabCom (joint laboratories), Industrial Chairs and Carnot Institutes programmes, as well as the Astrid and Astrid Maturation schemes funded by the Defence Innovation Agency (AID).
   
• The ANR also offers specific calls corresponding to national priorities, scientific issues proposed by external (co-)funders, or pilot/experimental calls. The ANR can also launch specific calls to support urgent research needs, in connection with an event or disaster of exceptional scale (Flash call), or to explore multiple research approaches on the same issue (Challenge).

Strategic priorities of the 2025 Work Programme

The ANR's 2025 Action Plan also incorporates strategic priorities defined by the French State and the implementation of government plans, such as:

• Artificial intelligence;
• Human and social sciences;
• Quantum technologies;
• Autism and neurodevelopmental disorders;
• Translational research into rare diseases;
• Mathematics;
• Scientific exploitation of data generated by international scientific organisations (OSI) and research infrastructures (IR).

The priorities set out in the 2025 Work Programme are detailed within the scientific areas described in the AAPG 2025. They will be linked, where appropriate, with the "France 2030 Investment Plan", and in particular with the "Priority Research Programmes and Equipment" (PEPR) of France 2030.

Commitments of the 2025 Work Programme

The ANR reaffirms its commitment to:

• Respect for the principles of ethics and scientific integrity,
• The development of a policy to reduce gender inequalities in Higher Education and Research (ESR),
• Open science,
• Sustainable development objectives,
• Promoting scientific, technical and industrial culture (CSTI) and dialogue between science and society,
• Compliance with the Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge,
• Implementation of measures to protect the nation's scientific and technical heritage (PPST), aimed at protecting access by public and private establishments to their strategic knowledge and know-how, as well as their sensitive technologies.

The implementation of these commitments is set out in the 2025 Work Programme.

A Work Programme developed in consultation

The ANR relied on the Programming Steering Committees (CPP), which met from March to April 2024, to draw up its 2025 Work Programme in consultation with the scientific communities and institutional research players.

These committees bring together representatives of the ANR, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, other ministries, the CNRS, France Universités, representatives of other major research players, and private research players. They correspond to the following areas:  Life Sciences, Energy and Materials, Digital, Environment, Humanities and Social Sciences, Mathematics and Interactions, Physics of Matter and Sciences of the Universe. Specific meetings (inter-CPP) are also held to deal with cross-disciplinary areas.

Further reading:

Download the 2025 work programme

The Generic Call for Proposals (AAPG)