Support programmes
With our financial resources we support individual researchers and research teams with personal fellowships and project funding.
All about support programmes
The General Regulations apply.
Supporting the organisation of international scientific conferences is intended to encourage scientific debate in various disciplines, and thus contribute to scientific collaboration between Flemish research institutes. Conferences in the context of doctoral schools and expert meetings are not eligible. The conference for which a grant is being asked should have an open character and thus be accessible for everyone who wishes to participate.
The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) provides funding for the organisation of scientific conferences in Belgium. Scientific conferences held in the buildings of the Academia Belgica in Rome, and organised by the Academia Belgica and/or the Belgian Historical Institute in Rome, as well as scientific conferences (co-)organised by researchers affiliated to a Flemish university, the Hogere Zeevaartschool, the Vlerick Management School, the Antwerp Management School, the Institute of Tropical Medicine and/or the Flemish schools of arts recognised by decree, taking place in the context of the operation of the Belgian School at Athens (EBSA) or the Dutch-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC) are also eligible in exceptional cases.
The grants are seen as co-funding. A detailed overview of the estimated costs and the co-funding needs to be mentioned in the application. Scientific conferences for which no registration fee is being charged to the participants, are not eligible. The size of the grant is determined by the International collaboration committee (CIWC) of the FWO.
A grant can be asked for the organisation of two different types of conferences. The applicant needs to clearly motivate in the application for which type of conference a grant is being asked for. In addition, the conference needs to comply with the predetermined conditions of this specific conference type.
TYPE I: big international reference conference in a specific scientific domain
The grant for a TYPE I conference is maximally 10% of the total conference cost with a maximum of 10.000 euro.
To be eligible for a TYPE I conference grant the following criteria should be fulfilled:
TYPE II: international conference
The grant for a TYPE II conference is maximally 5.000 euro.
To be eligible for a TYPE II conference grant the following criteria should be fulfilled:
The applicant must hold at least one of the following types of appointment (remunerated):
Applications must be submitted by the responsible spokesperson no later than six months prior to the opening of the relevant conference, using the appropriate online forms available via the website of the FWO. If the scientific programme remains to be defined in detail, the application must at least be accompanied by the outlines of the programme and the list of present guest speakers.
The scientific committee and the organising committee should consist at least of members of the Independent Academic Staff of at least two Belgian universities, of which at least one is from the Flemish Community. Hereby, the equivalent for a Flemish university are: the Evangelical Protestant Faculty in Leuven and the Faculty of Protestant Theology in Brussels insofar as research in religious studies or theology is concerned, the Higher Naval College insofar as scientific research in nautical sciences is concerned, the Vlerick Management School and the Antwerp Management School insofar as research in management sciences is concerned, the Institute of Tropical Medicine insofar as it concerns research in tropical medicine and veterinary medicine and health care in developing countries and the decree-recognised Flemish schools of arts insofar as it concerns research in the audiovisual and visual arts and music and performing arts. The equivalent for the university ZAP is the staff categories of these institutions as listed in Article 3. Participation by multiple Flemish universities in both committees is considered a plus.
The grant shall be used exclusively for the following cost categories:
§1. When a grant is allocated, the applicant can, upon written request, receive a down payment in the amount of half of the allocated sum.
§2. The balance is paid upon presentation of all supporting documents which must be forwarded at the end of the conference.
§3. In addition to the supporting documents, a detailed income and expenditure account must be submitted to the FWO. If the income exceeds the expenditure, the FWO reserves the right to withdraw a portion of the allocated grant.
§4. The scientific report to be submitted shall take the form of a document of maximum 3 pages. Any proceedings or minutes of the conference need not be forwarded to the FWO.