Mobility projects Brazil (State of São Paulo)

The FWO is keen on promoting international collaboration as a driving force for excellence. That is why the FWO signs bilateral agreements with a number of countries (and regions) for the funding of scientific mobility projects. Within these projects only travel and living expenses can be funded.

One of these bilateral partners is the São Paulo Science Foundation (FAPESP). The FWO-FAPESP agreement aims to stimulate collaboration between Brazil (State of São Paulo) and Flanders in the area of scientific basic research by conducting joint mobility projects with a focus on the exchange of junior researchers.

• 8 December 2025: call opens
• 23 February 2026 at 5pm (Belgian time): deadline (i.e. final submission date at Flemish side via FWO E-portal directly by the applicant, the submission does not take place via the Flemish main host institution. However, the involved host institution at Flemish side will have to give, via their FWO tool, formal institutional consent for the application.)
• February-June 2026: evaluation
• June-July 2026: announcement of results
• 1 January 2027: start project at FWO and FAPESP side

• Duration of projects: 2 years (01/01/2027 – 31/12/2028)
• Exchanges with special attention to junior researchers: in each project at Flemish side at least one junior researcher should perform an exchange to Brazil. This junior researcher is a PhD student or a postdoctoral researcher with no more than 12 years of postdoctoral experience (first PhD degree can be obtained maximally 12 years before the submission deadline (23/02/2026) of the project, to be counted from the date of obtaining the doctoral degree).
• Funding: each party bears the full costs of its own researchers (travel, accommodation and living expenses):
  • FWO offers researchers from Flanders a daily living allowance of € 66 (or max. €1,650 per month) on top of the travel expenses towards/from Brazil, to be booked through a travel agency authorized by the FWO.
  • FAPESP pays the researchers from Brazil a daily allowance according to the rules of the Ordinance PR No. 35/2020 (www.fapesp.br/14018).

• The collaboration with partners from Brazil (State of São Paulo) will have an added value for the project.
• New!: In the framework of this call with FAPESP, you can only act once as a supervisor-spokesperson or co-supervisor at Flemish (FWO) side.
• As supervisor-spokesperson of the Flemish research team, you hold a PhD.
• You hold, throughout the entire period of your project, an appointment of at least 50% at:
  • a university in the Flemish Community (including the academic programmes within the corresponding association), or to
  • a federal or Flemish scientific institute as scientific staff of the Dutch-speaking community, or to
  • a university hospital in the Flemish Community as scientific staff, or to
  • a hospital with an academic character recognized as research center in the Flemish Community as scientific staff.
• You agree with the Research Integrity Clause.
• At Flemish (FWO) side: Visits can only be performed by researchers (from PhD student level onwards) holding, throughout the entire period of the exchange visit, an appointment of at least 50% at one of the eligible institutions in Flanders as listed above.