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The Belarusian Republican Foundation for Fundamental Research was established by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Belarusian SSR on May 8, 1991 № 176 as the Fund for
Fundamental Research of the Belarusian SSR under the Commission of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the Belarusian SSR on the issues of scientific and technological progress.
The main goal of the Belarusian Republican Foundation for Fundamental Research is financing fundamental and exploratory research in the field of natural, technical, social and human sciences
carried out by scientific organizations and institutions of higher education.
By the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus on April 3, 1996 № 236 the Foundation was transformed into the Belarusian Republican Foundation for Basic Research (BRFFR).
By the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus № 7 March 5, 2002 “On improving public administration in the field of science”, the BRFFR was included into the National Academy of Sciences
of Belarus (NAS of Belarus) with the rights of a legal entity.
BRFFR is a state non-profit organization without membership, the subject of activity of which is financing the conduct and testing of the results of fundamental scientific research selected by the
results of open calls (including the number of international calls). The calls are held on special behalf of the republican, local government bodies and the NAS of Belarus or on behalf of interested
legal entities and individuals acting as initiators, investors, and customers of relevant research projects.
The highest collegial body of the BRFFR is the Scientific Council which is formed from among the leading scientists (representatives of fundamental science) and performs its functions on a voluntary
basis. The Scientific Council determines the main directions and methods of activity of the BRFFR in the framework of the goals and main tasks provided by the Charter of BRFFR.
In order to organize evaluation of fundamental scientific research projects and applications for grants the Scientific Council has created 16 BRFFR expert groups. Scientific projects (except young
scientists’ ones) which were allowed to participate in the call must pass through the state scientific examination under the State Committee on Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus.
The Scientific Council consists of 6 sections: physics, mathematics and computer science, technical sciences, chemistry and earth sciences, agricultural and biological sciences, medical and pharmaceutical
sciences, social and human sciences.
The Executive Directorate has 3 departments: the organization of research and the use of results, international relations department and information support department, finance and accounting department.
The activities of the Foundation are controlled by the Board of Trustees of the BRFFR, which performs its functions on a voluntary basis.
At different times, the Scientific Council of the BRFFR was headed by academicians O. V. Roman (1991–1996), A. S. Rubanov (1996–2003), V. A. Orlovich (2003–2014). Since 2014, the Director of the Executive
Directorate and the Chairman of the Scientific Council of the BRFFR has been Academician S.V. Gaponenko, and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the BRFFR is Academician N.S. Kazak.
The budget of the BRFFR is formed from the republican budget, allocated by the NAS of Belarus, voluntary contributions of public organizations (associations) and individual citizens, targeted contributions
from customers interested in conducting basic research in specific areas or other revenues and incomes.
Annually, according to the results of republican, regional and international competitions and competitions of projects of young scientists, the Foundation finances more than 1000 short-term scientific projects,
including more than 600 international projects. About 5000 Belarusian scientists from organizations of various departmental affiliations and foreign scientists from 40 countries are participating in different
kind of projects, funding by the BRFFR. Moreover every fifth project is carried out by scientists from the regions of Belarus.
In 1991–2019 the BRFFR announced nearly 270 calls for research projects. About 20,000 applications from more than 190 organizations of the Republic of Belarus were reviewed. And over 8200 projects were accepted
(including 2269 projects by young scientists).
BRFFR is the first national scientific foundation created in the CIS countries, the associate member of the International Association of Academies of Sciences (IAAS). BRFFR collaborates with international and
foreign organizations and foundations that support basic scientific research on the basis of 27 bilateral and multilateral agreements.
Since 1994, the BRFFR has been publishing the annual collections “The Main Results of Fundamental Research and Suggestions on the Prospects for Their Use” and “Main Results of Fundamental Research and Search
Scientific Works”. And since 1997 BRFFR is publishing the scientific-theoretical and information-methodical journal “Bulletin of the Foundation of Fundamental Research" (in Russian).
