The Fonds de Dotation Roullier launches its first call for research projects on soil !

The Fonds de Dotation Roullier launched its first call for research proposals, “Call for proposals Soil Research 2025-28: DISSEMINATING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SOILS THROUGH AGRICULTURAL STAKEHOLDERS AND PRACTICES THAT IMPROVE SOIL QUALITY”. General-interest project leaders will receive funding ranging from €200,000 to €400,000 per project! This substantial sum will be used to finance ambitious projects.
This call for proposals is part of the Fonds de Dotation Roullier’s mission to support sustainable, high-performance agriculture, with particular emphasis on improving the quality of agricultural soils. The aim of this call for proposals is to encourage ambitious, innovative, multi-partner research projects of general interest, both in France and internationally, by providing substantial financial support for future winners over a period of 3 to 5 years.
Call for Soil projects - 2025-28
The main themes supported by the AAP are :
- Preserving the quality of agricultural soils and improving their health and fertility.
- Training farmers in best practices for sustainable soil management.
- Promoting soil-related scientific research and innovation.
The funding granted per project will be between €200,000 and a maximum of €400,000 for projects with an overall budget ranging from €200,000 to several million euros. In addition to the funding, the Fonds de Dotation Roullier will provide technical support to project sponsors. The funding granted by the call for projects will be used to finance the engineering part of the projects.
Targeted project sponsors
This call for projects is reserved for French or foreign project promoters. Commercial organisations and individuals are not eligible for the call for projects.
To be eligible, project sponsors must :
- Be a legal entity in charge of research activities, such as a public research organisation, a higher education establishment, a university chair, an NGO or an association, a foundation or an endowment fund, an agricultural research and development structure or a French or international institution.
- Have recognised expertise in the agricultural and/or food sector.
- Be eligible for sponsorship.
- The project sponsor may work with partners such as research and/or training organisations, local authorities, public agencies, technical institutes, cooperatives or companies.
- Partners involved alongside the project promoter must be linked to the promoter by a formalised partnership.
- The partners must have been involved in defining and implementing the project. Their role and added value must be clearly explained.
How to respond to the call for projects
Project promoters may apply for this call for projects between 20 January 2025 and 21 April 2025 at midnight. All the necessary documents must be sent by e-mail to appelaprojets@fdr.org , the date and time of receipt being taken as proof.
Click below to download all the documents relating to the call for projects:
FDR_Appel à projets Sols-2025-FR
FDR_Dossier Candidature-2025-FR
FDR_Communiqué Presse Lancement-2025-FR
FDR_Call for Proposals Soils-EN
FDR_Press Release Launch-2025-EN
FDR_Convocatoria Suelos-2025-ES