Azerbaijan Science Foundation: Funding Overview

The Azerbaijan Science Foundation (ASF) is the national public-entity body responsible for administering competitive research grants on behalf of the Government of Azerbaijan. It was established under its original name, the Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (commonly abbreviated SDF), in October 2009 as part of Azerbaijan’s National Strategy for the Development of Science. In 2022, following a presidential decree, the organisation was reconstituted as a legal public entity under the name Azerbaijan Science Foundation, with a new Supervisory Board approved that October. English-language sourcing on the exact legal mechanics and date of the rename is thin and not fully consistent across the Foundation’s own web properties (its primary domain has moved from sdf.gov.az to aef.gov.az, and pages under the new domain still display the legacy English name “Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan” in places) — researchers who need the precise legal citation should verify directly against the Foundation’s own decree documentation or the Azerbaijani state gazette rather than relying on secondary English coverage, including this guide.

This guide covers what the Foundation is and how it is structured, its main grant instruments, and what an international researcher or research administrator should know before approaching it for funding or collaboration.

What the Azerbaijan Science Foundation Is and How It Is Structured

The Foundation operates under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan rather than as an arm of a ministry of science, which is the organisational pattern typical of several post-Soviet national science foundations. It is headquartered in Baku and functions as Azerbaijan’s principal competitive-grant-making body for research and innovation, distinct from the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, which is the country’s institutional home for research performance rather than grant administration.

Applicants and grantees interact with the Foundation primarily through its “e-Grant” electronic grant management system, which handles competition announcements, application submission, and (for open competitions) results. As with any national funding-agency portal, researchers should confirm current registration requirements directly on the Foundation’s site (aef.gov.az) before an application cycle, since portal requirements and competition calendars change between years and are not reliably mirrored in English-language secondary sources.

From the Science Development Foundation (2009) to the Azerbaijan Science Foundation (2022)

Key points in the Foundation’s history, to the extent they can be verified from available English-language sourcing:

2009: Established as the Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SDF), as part of the National Strategy for the Development of Science in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Through the 2010s: The Foundation reports having run 16 domestic and 2 international grant competitions under the SDF name, building the competition structure (classic, young-scientist, mobility, and targeted competitions) that continues, with adjustments, under the current name.
2022: Reconstituted as the Azerbaijan Science Foundation (ASF), a legal public entity, by presidential decree; the Supervisory Board of the new entity was approved in a further decree in October 2022.

For research administrators tracking funder identity across a grant’s lifecycle — the same practical concern that applies to any renamed or restructured funder — the operative point is that an award, publication, or acknowledgment referencing “SDF” or “Science Development Foundation” from before 2022 and one referencing “Azerbaijan Science Foundation” or “ASF” from 2022 onward are very likely the same legal successor body, but this should be confirmed against the specific award documentation rather than assumed, particularly for compliance or funder-acknowledgment purposes.

Funding Instruments and Grant Programmes

Based on the Foundation’s own English-language pages, its grant competitions are organised around several recurring categories. Exact eligibility criteria, deadlines, and funding ceilings vary by competition year and should always be confirmed against the current call text on aef.gov.az rather than this summary:

Classic (main) grant competition — open across all branches and directions of science, typically the Foundation’s flagship annual or periodic competition for fundamental and applied research projects.
Young scientists and specialists’ grant competition — targeted at early-career researchers (reported age ceiling around 35), run as a recurring competition (the Foundation’s own materials reference a ninth iteration in recent cycles).
Mobility grant competition — reported to run multiple times per year, supporting participation in international scientific conferences and short-term training abroad.
“Shusha grant” competition — a targeted competition covering Karabakh studies.
Industry and ICT-targeted grant competitions — sector-specific calls outside the general classic competition.
Joint and international grant competitions — run in partnership with foreign funding bodies (see international collaboration, below), and distinct from the domestic classic competition.
“Mega projects” — large-scale awards reported in the hundreds of thousands to several millions of euros, intended to equip scientific organisations with major research infrastructure, establish new laboratories, and fund staff training abroad, rather than to fund a single investigator’s project.
Material-technical support and publication support — smaller awards for equipment/materials and for the publication of monographs, books, and atlases.

Supported project types generally fall into fundamental, applied, and “search-innovative” research, in addition to the infrastructure-focused mega-project category. As with any national funder, the categories and their names have shifted over competition cycles (the “16 domestic and 2 international” competition count itself is a historical SDF-era figure, not necessarily current), so a researcher planning an application should treat this list as an orientation to the kinds of instruments the Foundation runs rather than a current catalogue.

International Collaboration, Diaspora Engagement, and EU Ties

The Foundation’s international activity runs through several channels relevant to a non-Azerbaijani researcher or an Azerbaijani researcher’s foreign collaborator:

Bilateral joint grant competitions with foreign science-funding counterparts, including partners reported by the Foundation such as Turkey’s TÜBİTAK and Russia’s RFBR (the Russian Foundation for Basic Research) — the specific list of active bilateral partners changes over time and should be checked against the current “joint grant competitions” listing on the Foundation’s site.
EU framework programme links. Azerbaijan’s relationship to Horizon Europe and its predecessor Horizon 2020 is that of a non-associated third country rather than a fully associated state, which materially affects funding eligibility for Azerbaijani participants in EU-funded consortia; researchers assembling a Horizon Europe consortium that includes an Azerbaijani partner should verify current association/eligibility status directly against the European Commission’s Horizon Europe country-eligibility documentation rather than assuming parity with EU member states or fully associated countries. CASRAI’s guide to Horizon Europe National Contact Points covers the EU-side mechanics of this kind of cross-border application.
Diaspora scientist engagement. The Foundation maintains a dedicated programme/section for Azerbaijani diaspora scientists — researchers of Azerbaijani origin working abroad — distinct from its general international competitions. This is conceptually related to, though administratively separate from, the kind of return/reintegration funding mechanism covered in CASRAI’s general guide to reintegration and return grants for researchers relocating to their home country.

Practical Guidance for International Researchers and Research Administrators

Work through the current call text, not historical summaries. Competition names, eligibility rules, and funding ceilings have changed across the SDF-to-ASF transition and continue to change between cycles; treat any given competition’s official announcement on aef.gov.az as the authoritative source, including for this guide’s own summary above.
Register in e-Grant early. The Foundation’s electronic system is the standard application channel; institutional research offices supporting a proposal to the Foundation should confirm current registration and document-submission requirements well before a stated deadline, as with any national portal unfamiliar to the applicant’s home institution.
Expect most primary documentation in Azerbaijani. While the Foundation maintains an English-language section of its website, full call texts, regulations, and portal interfaces may be more complete in Azerbaijani (and in some cases Russian); institutions planning a submission should budget time for translation review or local-partner support rather than relying solely on the English pages.
Distinguish joint/international competitions from domestic ones. A foreign researcher without an Azerbaijani host institution or partner is very unlikely to be eligible for the Foundation’s domestic “classic” competition; international engagement runs through the bilateral joint competitions, EU-linked mechanisms, or a formal partnership with an Azerbaijani institution, so identifying the correct entry point matters more than the specific competition name.
Confirm funder-identity conventions for acknowledgments and compliance. Given the 2022 rename, grant agreements, publications, and funder-acknowledgment text should reference whichever name (SDF or ASF) matches the specific award’s original documentation, not the current organisational name by default.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Azerbaijan Science Foundation the same organisation as the Science Development Foundation (SDF)?

Yes, in substance: the Azerbaijan Science Foundation (ASF) is the successor entity to the Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, established in 2009 and reconstituted under its current name and legal-entity status in 2022. Award documentation from before 2022 will generally reference SDF; documentation from 2022 onward will generally reference ASF.

What is e-Grant?

e-Grant is the Foundation’s electronic grant management system, used for announcing competitions and submitting applications. Applicants should register and confirm current requirements directly through aef.gov.az ahead of any deadline.

Can a researcher outside Azerbaijan apply directly to the Foundation’s grant competitions?

Generally, direct eligibility for the Foundation’s domestic “classic” competition is limited to researchers working through an Azerbaijani institution. International researchers typically engage through the Foundation’s joint/bilateral competitions with partner funding bodies, through EU-linked mechanisms where Azerbaijan participates as a non-associated third country, through a formal partnership with an Azerbaijani host institution, or as part of the Foundation’s diaspora-scientist engagement if they are of Azerbaijani origin. Always confirm current eligibility rules against the specific competition’s call text.

What is a “mega project” under the Foundation’s programmes?

It is the Foundation’s largest category of award, reported at from several hundred thousand up to several million euros, intended to fund major research infrastructure, new laboratories, and associated staff training abroad, rather than a single investigator-led research project.

What is the “Shusha grant”?

A targeted grant competition run by the Foundation covering Karabakh studies, distinct from its general classic (all-fields) competition.

Azerbaijan Science Foundation (formerly Science Development Foundation/SDF): Funding Overview