European Science Foundation

The European Science Foundation (ESF) is an association under the local laws of Alsace–Moselle (a region in the eastern part of France), foundation only by name and not in legal status or function.

Its office is in Strasbourg. In 2025, the association has 10 members from 8 countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Luxembourg, Romania, Serbia and Türkiye.

Since the dissolution of the original intergovernmental European Science Foundation in the 2010s with the transfer of its former coordination functions to Science Europe, the Strasbourg-based Alsace–Moselle association has operated primarily as an administrative service provider. Its activities centre on coordination, accounting and dissemination in Horizon 2020/Horizon Europe project consortia. Contrary to what its name suggests, the association has no core institutional funding and relies largely on short-term contracts and project management fees; publicly available information indicates that it has no diversified revenue streams beyond these temporary projects. Membership contributions, if any, represent only a minor share of income (ESF does not disclose membership fee amounts or income), and would derive solely from its two full members in Bulgaria and Luxembourg. Unlike the foundation it once was, the association today functions under a project-dependent model that provides limited financial stability and restricts its capacity for long-term planning. The strategic positioning of the Alsatian association appears to depend largely on the credibility and brand of the former foundation. Provided by Wikipedia