TBM projects (Applied Biomedical Research with a Primary Social finality)

The TBM programme aims at contributing to the implementation of (new) therapies, diagnostic techniques and preventive methods, which would not make it to the patient without government funding due to a lack of industrial interest.

• Call open: from 19 February 2026
• Presubmission inquiry with FWO: always possible (even before opening of the call), no later than one week before the submission deadline
• Internal deadline host institutions: early-mid April 2026 (contact the responsible department of the host institution in time about the transfer of the application between the supervisor and the host institution)
• Deadline submission via FWO e-portal by the main host institution: 23 April 2026 at 17h
• Opportunity to rebut in writing: 10-21 September 2026
• Panel meetings: November 2026
• Announcement of results: 26 November 2026
• Start of approved projects: 1 January 2027
• Feedback about the application is sent to main supervisor: January 2027

• Eligible organisations: research centres (e.g. universities, university hospitals, university colleges (‘hogescholen’) and strategic research centres)
  • 20% of the budget can be earmarked for non-Flemish research centres
  • at least 10% of the budget should be earmarked for applicants that are a Flemish hospital or ITM (because of the clinical objective)
• Project period: 2 to 4 years
• Budget:
  • 215,000 – 850,000 euro (for large or multicentric trials, exceptionally budgets up to 1,275,000 euro can be granted, if properly justified in the proposal)
  • Acceptable costs: staffing, operations, equipment, subcontracting (in accordance with cost model)
  • Funding percentage: 100%
  • Available budget for the call of 2026: 14,8 mio euro  (including 17% overhead)
• Success rate call of 2025: 29%

• Your project matches each of the following 4 conditions:

1. It is aimed at advancing a new therapy, diagnosis and/or specific prevention of a particular human disease/medical issue or comparing existing therapies, diagnostics or preventive methods in order to find out their relative efficacy and cost-effectiveness.
2. It is directed at research that is positioned late in the path from discovery to a specific application (i.e. there is a clinically relevant proof of concept) and aims at translating scientific findings into clinical applications rather than creating new knowledge from scratch. On the other hand, it is not positioned too late in the path from discovery to application: it does not consist of implementation activities that no longer require any research.
3. It offers a clear applicability with an added value for the Flemish health situation, including at least a positive medical impact for a particular group of patients or a cost reduction for the Flemish healthcare system.
4. At the time of submitting the application (or in the near future), the industry is not interested in your project for commercial reasons.

• For the execution of the project, you need bench fees, equipment and personnel grants.
• The organisation(s) to which you belong, are research centre(s) that comply with the definition of a ‘research and knowledge-dissemination organisation’ as mentioned in Art. 2, sec. 83 of the European legislation no. 651/2014. When in doubt, please contact the FWO (tbm@fwo.be).
• The project executors are the owners of their own results.
• Per call, a researcher can act as main supervisor-spokesperson for maximum one TBM project and as co-supervisor for maximum two TBM projects, regardless of whether budget is requested or not. The total of requested and ongoing TBM projects on behalf of a single supervisor-spokesperson may not exceed two. The date on which a newly awarded TBM project would normally start, is used as reference date to calculate this total. This means that there can be only a single ongoing research project on the date that your new research project will start. If there are already two ongoing research projects, one must end on the 31st of December of the year that the application is submitted.
• You agree with the Research Integrity Clause.
• New: The application form now includes an additional question regarding the substantive and/or conceptual contribution of the applicant(s) and any others to the research design, data collection, and the analysis or interpretation thereof. This information helps evaluators to better understand how the research proposal was developed and who contributed in which capacity. In this way, appropriate recognition is given to everyone involved in the proposal, regardless of their role. This section is solely for clarification and is not used as an additional assessment criterion.

• Presubmission. All researchers who wish to propose a new project idea are strongly advised to send a presubmission inquiry whether the proposal matches the strict eligibility criteria in the form of a short abstract (see template) via e-mail to tbm@fwo.be. It is possible to request an oral preliminary discussion at FWO. If desired, written feedback can also be given. In addition, some host institutions will organise information sessions and meetings in collaboration with the FWO. For more information, please contact the responsible department of your host institution. The presubmission inquiry must reach the FWO at the latest one week before the submission deadline.
• Submission. As supervisor of the project, you will prepare your proposal via your personal FWO e-portal and submit your complete proposal timely to your host institution. As the main applicant your host institution then will submit your proposal to FWO by the abovementioned deadline. Start your application in good time! Unforeseen circumstances may always arise, and you will be in a better position to respond to them if you still have sufficient time remaining. Guidelines regarding the formal requirements in the application forms and accompanying documents of application programmes must be strictly adhered to. Failure to comply may result in your application being declared inadmissible.
• Evaluation. Your proposal is reviewed by (inter)national experts who will first evaluate your proposal in writing. The evaluators are members of the TBM-expert panels, as well as external reviewers with specific expertise in the research domain of the project proposal. You will get the opportunity to respond to their remarks via a written rebuttal. Subsequently, the TBM-panel members will discuss and evaluate your proposal during a panel meeting at FWO.
• Rebuttal. Between 10 and 21 September 2026 you will have the opportunity to respond in writing to the comments of the evaluators. The supervisor-spokesperson of the application will receive an email invitation at the primary email address entered into the e-portal, i.e. the email address used to transfer the application to the main host institution. It is important to verify that the invitation of the FWO did not end up in a spam folder. If you have not received a notification on 10 September, you should contact the FWO as soon as possible. It is advised to make prior arrangements for the drafting and submission of the rebuttal in case the supervisor-spokesperson is indisposed. In any case, force majeure must be demonstrated with a medical certificate or other relevant official document.
• Decision. The expert panels will report to the board of trustees of the FWO. The board of trustees will decide on granting support.
• Feedback. Following the announcement of the results, each supervisor-spokesperson will receive feedback about the decision.

For questions with regard to the modalities of the TBM programme, please contact tbm@fwo.be. For technical problems regarding the e-portal, please mail the IT helpdesk at fwohelpdesk@fwo.be.

The TBM programme and the evaluation procedure are explained in this video and pdf. Several host institutions also organise information sessions. Contact the responsible service at your institution about the practical details.