Regulations Scientific Award Climate Research

The General Regulations apply.

Art. 1

On the advice of the competent jury, FWO may award a research grant to a researcher of at least post-doctoral level working in the field of climate research (*) who, during the entire term of the research grant, is affiliated with a remunerated appointment to one of the main host institutes mentioned in Article 7 §2 of the regulations governing fundamental research projects, or to a Flemish or Federal research institution (**). The applicant must have obtained their first doctoral degree, possibly extended in case of eligible career breaks (***), no more than ten years before the application deadline.

(*) This domain is defined as follows: climate science investigates the structure and dynamics of earth’s climate system. It seeks to understand how global, regional and local climates are maintained as well as the processes by which they change over time. In doing so, it employs observations and theory from a variety of domains, including meteorology, oceanography, physics, chemistry and more (cf. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - 2023).

(**) Applicants, staff of a federal scientific institute must belong to the Dutch-speaking community.

(***) For each continuous period of 365 days between the date of the PhD degree and the application, maximum one extension of one year of the abovementioned seniority limit may be granted, if during this period continuous periods of at least 3 months, regardless of the number, have occurred because of maternity leave, full-time parental leave, full-time sickness leave or military service/compulsory civilian service in the country of which they are citizen.

Art. 2

Candidates must not have previously received the Scientific Award Climate Research.

Art. 3

The Scientific Award Climate Research includes a personal research grant worth EUR 10,000. Before the opening of each call of this Award, the Board of Trustees will determine, based on the available budget following the CO₂ contributions, how many such research grants will be made available. The research grants may be accumulated with any additional grants provided by the host institution and the FWO.

Art. 4

The research grants are personal and non-transferable.

Art. 5

The applicant should indicate in the application form to what extent the research grant will be spent in a sustainable manner. The jury assesses this aspect as an evaluation criterion for this Scientific Award.

Art. 6

The research grants can only be used under the conditions in which they were awarded.

Art. 7

The post-doctoral researcher manages their own research grant.

Art. 8

§1. Research grants can be used for the purchase and financing of all items that are directly related to the research activities of the grant holder. Costs for which research grants can be used are exclusively limited to the following:

• purchase costs for items of lasting value and useful for the research (equipment, computers, books, etc.). Upon termination of the grant, those items become the property of the host institution or university hospital. In doing so, the grant holder must comply with the purchasing policy of the host institution or university hospital.
• costs of consumables (reagents, test animals or plants, chemicals, etc.);
• operating expenditure (based on invoice, internal note, or financial statement) for photocopies, searches and data traffic (mail/fax/internet);
• the remuneration of persons not subject to social security who participate in the awarded research (based on  invoice or internal note);
• travel and accommodation expenses in Belgium and abroad (excluding commuting expenses);
• fees for student stays and participation in conferences abroad provided they are in line with the awarded research;
• publication costs for articles with the grant holder as first author (or as co-author on a reasonable cost-sharing basis);
• access to and dissemination of research results.

§2. Post-doctoral researchers can also use the fee to participate in training activities to promote transferable skills (communication, valorisation, leadership, career planning and so on) provided this does not interfere with the research activities approved initially.

§3. The research grant may under no circumstances be used for:

• costs for registration on the university roll or as a regular student in Belgium or abroad;
• the grant holder’s or the supervisor’s strictly personal expenditure including housing and commuting expenses;
• the settlement of central management costs and/or general operating costs by the research group/department or the university;
• expenditure already covered by other financing sources;
• costs of other scholarship students, PhD students, post-doctoral fellows or staff members.

§4. The grants remain available for a period of 365 days following the awarding. Any unused funds shall be returned to the FWO.

Art. 9

All materials acquired as part of a Scientific Award Climate Research shall become the property of the university or a scientific research institute to which the grant holder is affiliated, or of an officially registered higher education institution, by virtue of the agreement made with a Flemish university that must be included in the application. This institution undertakes, however, to keep the said material at the disposal of the researcher for the time that is needed to complete the research for which the grant was awarded. Moreover, it undertakes to neither sell nor lend out the material without prior permission of the FWO.

Art. 10

Holders of a research grant corresponding to the Scientific Award Climate Research report to the FWO on the scientific work they have carried out using the grant made available to them. This includes a brief scientific report and a financial report.

Art. 11

All applications are submitted by the applicant to the FWO in English and using the “Scientific Award Climate Research” application form. Applications should be submitted electronically using the appropriate form provided no later than the submission date and time as mentioned in the call. The form is available on the website www.fwo.be and should be sent by e-mail to prijzen@fwo.be.

Art. 12

§1. The research grant is paid to an account number held by the main host institution to which the grant holder is affiliated.

§2. The Finance department of the host institution will open a credit line for the beneficiaries.

Art. 13

The award will be granted by the FWO Board of Trustees based on the advice of a jury of experts appointed by the FWO.

Art. 14

All problems that might arise in relation to the eligibility of submitted applications and the granting of the award shall be settled by the Research Foundation - Flanders, whose decision in these respects will be final.

Art. 15

If the jury finds that fewer applications than the number of available research grants determined by the FWO Board of Trustees deserve the Prize, the jury may decide to award a smaller number of research grants for that call.

Art. 16

The jury's deliberations are confidential.