FWO-expert panels

For the fundamental channels, there are 31 subject-specific expert panels and one specific interdisciplinary panel. Each panel is subdivided into a panel for PhD fellowships fundamental research, postdoctoral fellowships and research projects fundamental research.

In the context of the ‘Kom op tegen Kanker’ and “JEZ!” campaigns, the FWO has a yearly budget available to support patient-oriented research projects with a specific scope on the one hand and “development of young people on a physical, artistic or psychosocial level" on the other hand.

SBO expert panels are generalist panels in which thematically linked economic and societal projects are evaluated. The most important role of the SBO expert panels is to assign consensus scores for the various scientific and utilization (sub) criteria. This phase is followed by a meta-evaluation carried out by two steering evaluation committees. 

For the TBM programme, when the call closes, the submitted project proposals are divided into thematic groups based on their subject. A specific expert panel is put together for each thematic group.

The evaluation of medium-scale research infrastructure is done by the universities. To evaluate the biennial applications for large-scale research infrastructure, the FWO calls on the Science Commission, composed of international experts, for scientific evaluation and the Invest Commission for financial feasibility. The Science Commission also assesses the scientific quality of the submitted proposals for international research infrastructure. The Strategy commission evaluates the strategic importance for Flanders and whether the investment plans presented are realistic, qualitative and feasible for international research infrastructure applications that are rated scientifically excellent or very good by the Science Commission.