The Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (Dutch: Federaal Wetenschapsbeleid; French: Politique scientifique fédérale) or BELSPO is a Belgian government institution responsible for coordinating science policy at a federal level. It designs and implements research programmes and networks and manages the participation of Belgium in European and international organisations. BELSPO supervises Belgian federal scientific organisations.
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History
BELSPO was previously known as the Office for Scientific, Technical and Cultural Affairs (OSTC), which name was changed following the Copernic reform of Belgium's federal administration.
In 1959 the structures were created for the political and administrative coordination of the Belgian science policy. These structures included the Interministerial Commission for Science Policy (ICSP) and the National Council for Science Policy (NCSP). In 1968, the Science Policy Office (SPO) was established as a Belgian State administration.