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Mobility projects South Korea

This programme supports the exchange of researchers between Flanders and South-Korea (NRF) through two-year joint mobility projects.

Status

Duration

In association with

Objective

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 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 South Korean National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF). The FWO-NRF agreement aims to stimulate collaboration between South Korea and Flanders in the area of scientific basic research in all scientific domains by conducting joint mobility projects with a focus at Flemish side on the exchange of junior researchers.

Important dates

  • 3 April 2024: call opens
    • Please be aware that due to administrative-technical reasons the application form at FWO side will only be available in the E-loket from the 15th of April onwards.
  • 27 June 2024 at 5pm (Belgian time): deadline (at Flemish side final submission date via FWO E-portal directly by the applicant, the submission does not take place via the Flemish main host institution)
  • June-November 2024: evaluation
  • December 2024: announcement of results
  • 1 January 2025: start of project

Features

  • Duration of projects: 2 years (01/01/2025 – 31/12/2026)
  • All scientific disciplines are eligible.
  • Exchanges with special attention to junior researchers: in each project at Flemish side at least one junior researcher should perform an exchange to South Korea. 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 (27/06/2024) of the project, to be counted from the date of obtaining the doctoral degree). This is not a formal requirement at South Korean side.
  • 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 South Korea, to be booked through travel agency authorized by the FWO.
    • NRF pays the researchers from South Korea a total amount of maximum 20,000,000 KRW (about € 14,000) per year to cover the travel expenses towards/from and the stay within Flanders, as well as the organisation of seminars. (Important: Unlike NRF, the FWO will only fund costs related to the exchange of researchers.)   

Profile and conditions

  • The collaboration with partners from South Korea will have an added value for the project.
  • 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.

Advice, selection- and evaluation criteria

Check the advice, selection- and evaluation criteria for a mobility project.

Procedure

  • Carefully read the guidelines for applicants (see ‘Documents and additional information for applicants’ below) and verify if there are no restrictions in place regarding international cooperation in FWO funding instruments.
  • You must submit your project proposal before the deadline to both the FWO and NRF according to the modalities of each institution.
  • NEW: For FWO you submit your application through the FWO E-portal by using the specific digital application form under ‘International collaboration / Mobility projects’ (please be aware that due to administrative-technical reasons the application form will only be available in the E-loket from the 15th of April onwards). Please note that each online FWO submission is automatically confirmed by a confirmation email. If you did not receive such an email, please verify whether you properly submitted your application. Please be aware that it is essential to update your FWO E-portal profile each time you submit a new FWO application.
  • Specific points of attention FWO application:
    • A CV of each involved Flemish and South Korean (co-)supervisor(-spokesperson) that is structured according to the FWO CV template. Please note that only the Flemish supervisor-spokesperson can upload these CVs in the FWO application.
    • Only the Flemish supervisor-spokesperson should register at FWO by creating an online profile including an overview of academic positions and an updated list of publications on the FWO E-portal before the submission deadline. Please note that the registration of your login/password can take up to 24 hours. It is therefore strongly advised to start well in advance.
  • FWO and NRF perform an eligibility check to verify if your application meets all formal criteria of respectively FWO and NRF.
  • In a first phase, the eligible proposals will be evaluated separately at Flemish and at South Korean side. At FWO the evaluation will be done by the CDP (Cross-Domain Panel). Please be aware that this is an international panel composed of members with a broad variety of scientific expertises. Therefore you are kindly advised to write your proposal for a wide scientific audience.
  • In a second phase the results of the separate evaluations (see previous step) are being compared and FWO and NRF take a joint funding decision. Proposals must have been evaluated positively on both the South Korean and Flemish side in order to be fundable.

How to apply?

You can apply for a mobility project with South Korea via our E-loket

Remark: In case of transfer of personal data within the framework of an international collaboration, FWO will ensure that the partners abroad guarantee an equal level of protection with respect to the involved parties.

Documents and additional information for applicants

Contact

See contact for requesting additional info and for specific questions.

For technical (IT) problems regarding E-portal and application modules send an email to the IT helpdesk: FWOhelpdesk@fwo.be

Flight- or train tickets in the frame of an FWO grant, can only be booked through a travel agency authorized by the FWO (Uniglobe Smart Travel Ghent and Omnia Travel). Bookings through another travel agency will not be reimbursed by FWO.

Be aware: For any travel towards a higher-risk destination, the FWO (travel) grant can only be used in case of a positive advice of the concerned host institution. Please make sure to request this advice at the responsible advisory body of your host institution.