Regulations for Research Grant

The General Regulations apply.

Art. 1.

The Foundation may, on the advice of the competent Expertpanel, award grants to postdoctoral fellows (**) affiliated with a remunerated appointment to a university in the Flemish Community or appointed to the Evangelic Theological Faculty in Leuven or the Faculty of Protestant Theology in Brussels, or to a Flemish or Federal research institution (***). Grants may also be awarded to postdoctoral fellows from the Flemish Community under the direction and responsibility of a Flemish university.

(*) French nomenclature: Crédit aux Chercheurs du Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique – Flandre (FWO).
German nomenclature: Forschungsstipendium des Fonds für Wissenschaftliche Forschung –Flandern (FWO).
Dutch nomenclature: Krediet aan Navorsers van het Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen (FWO).

(**) Research Grants are in principle awarded only to researchers having acquired a certain amount of continuity in their career up to and including the level of Professor in the rank of Senior Lecturer, except in the areas of mathematics, humanities and social sciences, where these limited funds can also be used for supporting key projects with a major scientific impact.

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

Art. 2.

Only applications involving a grant of minimum EUR 2,500 and maximum EUR 40,000 will be considered.

Art. 3.

Researchers applying for such a grant must attach a report on their previous activities to their application.
No grants are awarded to fellows who pursue material gains. Research Grants are personal and non-transferable.

Art. 4.

§1. The awarded grants can only be used under the conditions in which they were awarded and the any change in the use of the grants is subject to prior approval by the Executive Committee of the Foundation.

§2. The grants remain available during the award year and the two following years. Exceptional and duly justified requests for extensions must be submitted to the FWO no later than 30 November of the third budget year and extensions can only be allowed for a period of maximum six months by the Board of Trustees. Any unused funds shall be returned to the FWO.

Art. 5.

Payments, reports and audits shall be undertaken in accordance with the provisions of the regulations for Research projects.

Art. 6.

All materials acquired under a Research Grant 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 Foundation.

Art. 7.

If the material can be purchased only with the contribution of external funds, the administrative bodies of the FWO shall decide on the ownership issue in consultation with the relevant authorities.

Art. 8.

Material purchased under a Research Grant of the FWO by a researcher who does not belong to the staff of a university, an assimilated institution or a Flemish or Federal research institution, shall remain the property of the Foundation. The holder of such material undertakes to return it in perfect condition - except for normal wear and tear and in case of force majeure - when it is no longer needed.

Art. 9.

Holders of a Research Grant shall report to the Foundation on the scientific research carried out with the grant.

Art. 10.

Applications must be submitted in English, using the online form "Research Grant". The forms must reach the secretariat of  the FWO no later than 1 April at 17:00, which precedes the year to which the expenditure relates. If this date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the submission deadline is moved to the following Monday at 17:00.

Pursuant to Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the Regulations, scientific publications are to be treated as scientific equipment. Unless decided otherwise by the Board, the following items shall not be charged to the Research Grant:

• costs of renting, heating, lighting and maintaining premises and furniture, as these are costs that are normally to be borne by the host institution;
• remuneration of scientific or technical staff, recruited under an employment contract subject to social security provisions;
• management or administration costs.

The following, however, may be charged to the Research Grant:

• compensations for services rendered not subject to any form of social security, e.g. by job students and pollsters, to be notified in advance;
• fees and wages of workers recruited for excavations or similar works

NOTE

Research Grants also include donations from various patrons, such as the Effel, Rimaux-Bartier, De Waele Fernand and Fortis Bank & MeesPierson donations.