PhD Fellowship fundamental research

Every year, the FWO gives info sessions to universities with explanations on how to submit a PhD fellowship application. A member of FWO’s staff explains the mission of the FWO, the objective of the PhD fellowship programme and the selection and evaluation procedures. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions about these topics during the information session. You can registrate via your university.

Choosing the expert panel is very important. The subject of your research proposal should fit within the scope of the panel, so that the panel members are able to evaluate your application correctly. That is why discussing your choice thoroughly with your supervisor is a good idea. The FWO does not offer advice in this regard.

• Check the list of the panels fundamental research. Also have a look at the digital brochure. When you choose the specific interdisciplinary panel, you need to pay special attention to the functional definition of interdisciplinarity and your motivation for choosing this panel. Your application will also be evaluated on the interdisciplinarity component in this panel (see score grids).
• If, during the review, the panel judges by consensus that the application falls outside the scope of the panel, it may be rejected for that reason. We emphasize again that the responsibility for the correct choice of panel lies with the applicant!
• We will publish an updated panel composition a few weeks after the call closes.

You need to provide the percentile of your study results in your application form. Read all about determining your percentile.

Provide us with your diverse researcher profile: The FWO gives ample consideration to diverse researcher profiles and research output in the application forms. It thereby gives researchers the opportunity to demonstrate the construction of their research careers through a range of scientifically relevant activities, skills, experiences and achievements. This is in line with the international evolution away from a one-sided focus on classical output criteria (such as publications, bibliometrics, patents, etc.) and towards a broader view of what science can be and achieve, while respecting the specificity of each discipline. The application forms are aimed to help the researcher demonstrate that versatility. The FWO instructs the panel members to take this into account in the evaluation of your application.

State any obstacles in your research: The FWO recognises the potential impact of the COVID-19 crisis to this point, on the strength of your application and the ambitions of your research project. We therefore recommend that you explicitly mention the specific factors affecting your application in the application form. This can be done in the field 'career breaks', and where applicable also in 'personal statement', 'research stays' and/or in the project description. The FWO instructs the panel members to take this into account in the evaluation of your application.