Support programmes
With our financial resources we support individual researchers and research teams with personal fellowships and project funding.
All about support programmes
Mobility projects Taiwan
This programme supports the exchange of researchers between Flanders and Taiwan (NSTC) through two-year joint mobility projects.
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 (and regions) 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 Taiwanese National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The FWO-NSTC agreement aims to stimulate collaboration between Taiwan and Flanders in the area of scientific basic research by conducting joint mobility projects with a focus on the exchange of junior researchers from Flanders to Taiwan and the other way around.
Important dates
- 29 January 2026: call opens
- 31 March 2026 at 5pm (Belgian time): deadline (i.e. final submission date at Flemish side via FWO E-portal directly by the applicant, the submission does not take place via the Flemish main host institution. However, the involved host institution at Flemish side will have to give, via their FWO tool, formal institutional consent for the application.)
- April-June 2026: evaluation
- December 2026: announcement of results
- 1 January 2027: start project at FWO and NSTC side
Features
- Duration of projects: 2 years (01/01/2027 – 31/12/2028)
- Exchanges with special attention to junior researchers: in each project at Flemish and Taiwanese side at least one junior researcher should perform an exchange. 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 (31/03/2026) of the project, to be counted from the date of obtaining the doctoral degree).
- 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 Taiwan, to be booked through a travel agency authorized by the FWO.
- NSTC pays the researchers from Taiwan max. NT$ 240,000 (approx. € 6,500) per project per year.
Advice, selection- and evaluation criteria
Check the advice, selection- and evaluation criteria for a mobility project.
Profile and conditions
- The collaboration with partners from Taiwan will have an added value for the project.
- New!: In the framework of this call with NSTC, you can only act once as a supervisor-spokesperson or co-supervisor at Flemish (FWO) side.
- 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.
- You agree with the Research Integrity Clause.
- At Flemish (FWO) side: Visits can only be performed by researchers (from PhD student level onwards) holding, throughout the entire period of the exchange visit, an appointment of at least 50% at one of the eligible institutions in Flanders as listed above.
Procedure
- Carefully read the guidelines for applicants (see ‘Documents and additional information for applicants’ below) and verify which restrictions regarding international cooperation in FWO funding instruments are in place.
- You must submit your project proposal before the deadline to both the FWO and NSTC 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 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 Taiwanese (co-)supervisor(-spokesperson) that is structured according to the FWO CV mobility projects 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.
- NEW: From 2025 onwards the online FWO application form will contain a specific tab 'Research Security'. Applicants are required, based on the topic of their research proposal, involved countries and foreign partners, to complete a set of questions regarding unwanted knowledge transfer, misuse of research results and/or interference. If as a result of this, your project proposal needs a research security approval, please contact the dedicated contact persons at your host institution immediately, preferably before the submission of your proposal. On Tuesday 29/04/2025 an online info session was organized specifically on research security within the framework of the Extra-European calls. The presentation can be consulted here.
- FWO and NSTC perform an eligibility check to verify if your application meets all formal criteria of respectively FWO and NSTC.
- Please be aware! Guidelines on formal requirements in application forms and accompanying documents of application programmes shall be strictly followed. If these are violated, the application may be declared inadmissible.
- In a first phase, the eligible proposals will be evaluated separately at Flemish and at Taiwanese 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 NSTC take a joint funding decision. Proposals must have been evaluated positively on both the Taiwanese and Flemish side in order to be fundable.
How to apply?
You can apply for a mobility project with Taiwan via our E-loket
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.
Specific supporting documents
- Advice, selection and evaluation criteria
Here you can find all advice, selection and evaluation criteria for the application of a mobility project at FWO. - Institutional restrictions on international cooperation in FWO funding instruments