Dr. Hans Willems, director Research Policy Infosession projects 2015

Dr. Hans Willems, director Research Policy

Infosession projects 2015

Information session FWO 3

On the agenda1. Mission and key facts2. Selection procedure and how to apply3. Funding schemes of the FWO

• Research grants• Research projects

4. European funding schemes with participation of FWO• ERA-NET• Joint programming• Future & Emerging Technologies (FET)

5. Varia February 2015


1. Mission and key facts• Mission of the FWO

• Funds fundamental scientific research (‘frontier research’)

• Bottom-up funding in all disciplines• Strong selection based on scientific excellence

and interuniversity competition (Flemish universities and, to a lesser extent, research institutes)

• Transparent and equal opportunitiesFebruary 2015


1. Mission and key factsOur partners Universities (Leuven, Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels, Hasselt)

Main (Strategic) Research Centers:

February 2015

http://www.google.be/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http://www.dvo.be/artikel/46585-soc-maakindustrie-herdoopt-tot-flanders-make/&ei=Z6FYVKGGMcvbsASinYHQCA&bvm=bv.78677474,d.ZGU&psig=AFQjCNFrIxYsdU7aMOvH7kIfH4TGTGs20Q&ust=1415181025027580


1. Mission and key facts

• Label awarded in december 2010• Implementation of Charter & Code• Focus on transparent recruitment procedures and

family/gender friendly measures

February 2015



• Target groups of the FWO• Young researchers• Postdoctoral researchers• Established researchers• Research teams• Top-researchers and high-potential researchers

February 2015



• Funding schemes of the FWO • Funding for individual researchers

• Pre- and postdoctoral fellowships, bench fees and grants

• Funding for research teams• Research projects, Big Science, Bilateral agreements, …

• Supporting mobility, international contacts and collaborations• travel grants, visiting postdoctoral fellowships, sabbatical leaves, scientific

research communities, organisation of conferences in belgium, international coordination actions, collaboration agreements, …

• Attracting excellent researchers, active abroad, to Flanders• Odysseus , Pegasus

• Awarding scientific prizesFebruary 2015


1. Mission and key facts• Budget 2014: 226 million EUR, ca. 80%

from Flemish Government

February 2015



February 2015

45%

2%1%

50%

3%

Allocation 2014Mandaten Wetenschappelijke contacten Kredieten aan navorsersOnderzoeksprojecten Administratief beheer

14%

7%

15%

3%34%

28%

Distribution of the allocationBiologische wetenschappen CultuurwetenschappenGedrags- en maatschappij-wetenschappen InterdisciplinairMedische wetenschappen Wetenschap en technologie


Evolution number researchers in function (1st Oct.)

Total 2014 : 2950 researchers funded by FWO


February 2015

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20140

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

879

860

1211

AspirantenPostdoctorale onderzoekersOnderzoeksprojecten



February 2015

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20140

100

200

300

400

500

600

439

440

497

363 Aspiranten MAspiranten VPostdoc MPostdoc V

Gender balance


1. Mission and key facts• % foreign researchers (excl. Projects)

February 2015

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20140

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

14.0

32.6

AspirantenPostdoctorale onderzoekers


1. Mission and key facts• Evolution success rate

February 2015

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20140

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

2225

16

AspirantenPostdoctorale onderzoekersOnderzoeksprojecten


1. Mission and key facts• Events

February 2015

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2899423&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

http://www.researchgate.net/group/Research_Foundation-Flanders_FWO/

http://twitter.com/

2. Selection procedure and how to apply



February 2015

Call

Submission/eligibility

check

ExpertPanels(30+1)

(CIS)Board of Trustees

External referees (online)

1 February1 April

February/MarchApril/May

2 meetings/year in Brussels

24 June 201518 November 2015

Duration workflow fellowships: < 5 monthsDuration workflow projects: < 7 months



• FWO E-Portal (ww.fwo.be)(register at least 24 hours in advance)

February 2015



• Some important changes in the forms

• Project outline

• A standard template is presented with questions and instructions (Font Calibri 11 - max 10 pages).

• The applicant will be able to download it, fill it in and upload it again. (You can include lay-out, formulas, graphs, pictures, etc.)

• The FWO administration can reject the PDF if it does not comply with the instructions and ask to adapt it.

February 2015


• Publication lists within the E-portal• Based on FWO classification (A1.1, A1.2, A2, B1,

etc.)• Copy/paste of publications within each category is

possible• Automatic upload from Academic Bibliography

available (UAntwerpen, UGent, Uhasselt and KU Leuven). Only for the publication categories A1.1, A1.2, A2, B1, B2, B3 and C1

February 2015




• Publications

• The classification in the publication list does not imply a qualitative ranking order.

• The Expert panel evaluates the quality of the publications.

• The FWO does not put forward qualitative or quantitative norms.

February 2015



• Ethical advice• The applicant has to indicate whether an advice is

necessary if human beings or animals are involved. • The panel can also ask for an advice.• The advice has to be provided by the local ethical

commission (host institution).• The advice has to be submitted to FWO before the

start of the fellowship/work package concerned.• No advice no funding

February 2015



• Choice of panel

• Applications for the Interdisciplinary Panel which are inadmissible based on the interdisciplinarity of the research proposal, can be redirected towards a monodisciplinary panel (after consultation of the applicant).

• The selection of the correct Expertpanel is crucial.

February 2015



• Reform panel structure

• 30 > 31 Expert panels (30 disciplinary / 1 interdisciplinary)

• CULT 4 is split up in• CULT 4: Theology and Religion Sciences• Cult 5: Philosophy and Ethics

• Other panels: adaptation scope and/or name

February 2015


3. Funding schemes of the FWO

• Research grants• Research projects• Odysseus• ERA-NET• Joint Programming• Future & Emerging Technologies (FET)

February 2015



• General remarks: scoring by the Expert panel

• A+ marks for the top 5% of the proposals; • A marks for the top 10% of the proposals; • A- marks for the top 20% of the proposals; • B range only for the top 50% of the proposals; • C or D for the lower half of the proposals.

(Cf. Assessment Form)February 2015



• General remarks: Accountability

• Progress report / end report• Evaluated by FWO Expert Panels• FWO should be mentioned on each publication

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Research grants

Deadline: 1 April 2015 – 17.00h

In function: ≥ 1 January 2016

February 2015



• Personal research budget between € 2.500 and € 40.000

• Grant for 1 year• Specific research grants:

• Eiffel (Cancer/Leukemia): € 7.450• Fernand De Waele (Civil Engineering/Cancer): € 6.200• Fortis Bank & MeersPierson (Economics): € 12.500• Rimaux-Bartiers (Incurable Disease): € 12.400

February 2015



• Who can apply? (Always under the supervision of Flemish University)

• Appointed at a university• Appointed at a Flemish or a Federal institute for scientific

research (belonging to the Dutch-speaking community)• Independent postdoctoral researchers from the Flemish

Community under the direction and responsibility of a Flemish University

• Not exceeding the level of ‘hoofddocent’• Exception: mathematics, languages, humanities and social sciences

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Research grants• Selection

• Scientific output of the applicant • Scientific context of the research department• Research methodology• Originality and innovative nature of the project • Feasibility of the project • Purposefulness of the project • Necessity of the applied for budget

• Evaluation • Achieving goals set at the start of the project• Results and publications

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Research grants• What can be applied for?

• Consumables / equipment • Wages “job students” / interviewers• Wages for excavation or similar work

• What cannot be applied for?• Rent, heating, lighting and maintenance of the premises• Furniture• Compensation of scientific or technical staff (with

employment contract and subject to social security)

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Research projects

Deadline: 1 April 2015 – 17.00h(each university: internal deadline)

In function: ≥ 1 January 2016(start can be postponed for ≤ 1 year)

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Research projects• Characteristics

• For each call, a researcher can act as a (co-)supervisor for max. 2 projects

• If the promotor is granted a project with funding, (s)he cannot apply as (co)promoter during the following call

• Funding for a limited period in principle 4 years (exceptionally extended (max. 2 years))

• Specific research objectives• Consumables, equipment and staff (scientific/technical)• Special attention for interuniversity and interdisciplinary projects• If possible, organized in function of preparing a PhD

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Research projects• Who can act as (co-)supervisor ((co-)promotor)?

1. a ZAP-member with an appointment of more than 10% at a Flemish university;

2. a ZAP-member with an appointment of 10% at a Flemish university, with a specific research mandate;

3. a ZAP-member with an appointment of 5% at a Flemish university AND at the same time appointed as (adjunct) head of the clinic of in a similar function at an Academic Hospital in Flanders;

4. Academic personel appointed at the Evangelische Protestantse Faculteit in Leuven or at the Faculteit voor Protestantse Godgeleerdheid in Brussels;

February 2015



5. A research director of FWO;6. A nominative beneficiant of an ERC Starting

Grant, an ERC Advanced Grant or an Odysseus II grant, with a Flemish university as a host institution

All co-supervisors should be researchers of at least postdoctoral level; Co-supervisors should be appointed at a Flemish university or the Transnationale Universiteit Limburg, a Flemish research institution, a Flemish Academic hospital, or a Federal research institution.

February 2015



If multiple universities are involved in the project: for each university at least the promotor or 1 co-promotor needs to fulfill the conditions, mentioned in §1, sections 1°, 2° and 3°, and furthermore have an appointment for the duration of the whole research project.

If, at the moment of the application, the conditions for (co)promotership are not met, the applicant needs to prove that this will be the case at the start of the agreement (1/1/2016).

February 2015



All researchers engaged for Research Project of FWO according principles Charter and Code

(Regulation Research Projects, art. 17)

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Research projects• Selection criteria

• International scientific level of the research groups • Methodology • Originality and innovative nature of the project • Importance of the project • Purposefulness of the project • Feasibility of the project • Collaboration and coordination between research

departments • Necessity for the budgeted resource

February 2015



• External referees

• Applicant suggests 10 potential referees

• APPLICANT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ELIGIBILITY OF THE REFEREES; IN CASE OF ANY MISCONDUCT EACH APPLICATION WILL IMMEDIATELY BE INELIGIBLE

• FWO-administration selects at random referees until at least 2 reports are available

February 2015



• External referees• Not eligible as referee are:

• Members of the Board of FWO; • Members of an expert panel of FWO; • Those who are appointed at a Belgian university, research

institution or whatever other organization; • Those who are professionally appointed at an institution where

the applicant(s) has/have been enrolled as a student or has/have been professionally appointed after January 1st of the year n-3 (n= year of application);

February 2015




• Co-authors of the applicant(s) of a publication that has been submitted or published after 1 January of the year n-3 (n=year of application); co-authorship is to be understood as follows:

– Co-authorship of a monograph of which the applicant is co-author as well;

– Co-authorship of an article or another type of contribution to a collection of which the applicant is co-author as well;

– Editors are not regarded as co-authors, insofar as they have not also acted as what is understood under ‘co-author’. Co-editors of the applicant are not accepted as external referees.

February 2015




• Partners of the applicant(s) in a research project that has been applied for or ongoing within the last three years prior to the final submission date for applications

• Applicants are responsible for the eligibility of the proposed referees! If the proposed referees do not comply with the eligibility criteria, the application will be declared ineligible!

February 2015



• External referees • Eligibility: specification “research partners”:

• Art. 12, § 4: “partners of the applicant(s) in a research cooperation ,whether formalised in a research project or not, that has been applied for or has been running after January 1st of the year n-3 (n=year of application. In this context, the

following shall in any case qualify as research cooperation (non-exhaustive list):

February 2015



• External referees • Eligibility: specification “research partners”:

• Cooperation under a research fellowship, granted by the FWO;• Cooperation under a research project, whether relating to a specific subject or not or under an

international cooperation project, granted by the FWO;• Cooperation under the Odysseus programme or the Big Science programme, granted by the

FWO;• Cooperation under a Scientific Research Network, granted by the FWO;• Cooperation under programmes similar to those mentioned above, granted by organisations

other than the FWO;• Joint research work not formalised in a cooperation structure as defined above;• Research carried out in the research areas and/or with research facilities provided by the

applicant to the referee or vice versa;• …”

February 2015



• External refereesEligibility• When in doubt about the eligibility before the submission,

applicants can contact FWO before submitting the application: [email protected] .

• The questions to the FWO before submission will be presented to the FWO referee commission of the appropriate scientific domain.

February 2015

mailto:[email protected]


3. Funding schemes: Research projects• FWO Referee Commission

• After submission, co-authorship in publications with > 10 authors FWO administration will consult the referee commission

• After submission, referee commission will decide on the alleged eligibility of the proposed referees

• When the referee commission decides negatively on the eligibility of a proposed referee in an application that has already been submitted, this application will be disqualified!

February 2015



• FWO Referee Commission

• If after the submission date the referee commission answers negatively to a question concerning eligibility of a proposed referee that reached the FWO before the application: applicant will be asked to propose a new referee that meets the eligibility criteria.

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Research projects• External referees

Other issues

• Applicants must see to it that any contact information of the reviewers is up-to-date not the case: FWO will not take further steps in tracking down the reviewer(s) and the applicant may be asked to submit new names.

• Applicants and reviewers may not in any way communicate with each other about any aspect of the application and of the evaluation.

• At the time of entry in application process: reviewers will need to declare that they comply with eligibility requirements or reviewers and that they will treat any information contained in the application as confidential and that they will not use any of this information for purposes other than the drawing up of their evaluation

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Research projects• External referees

Check by FWO• FWO administration will see to it that applicants strictly

observe the eligibility regulations and other guidelines. It will inform the Board of Trustees about any violation of this sort. The Board of Trustees will take the final decision on these violations.

• After administrative check: FWO will inform applicants about violations that were found if alleged violations result from a factual error of the FWO administration, the FWO can be notified.

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Research projects• Cost categories

• For each project, and in the case of an interuniversity project, for each host institution, one can apply for €45.000 till €130.000 per year for consumables and staff taken together.

• If one of the partners only applies for consumables, the minimum budget for these consumables can be lowered to €20.000.

• One can apply for max. €150.000 for equipment. Applying for matching funding for max. €150.000 is possible.

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Research projects• Cost categories

• Staff• According to the rules of the host institution• Employment contract or stipend• Interchangeable with consumables• Account for duration project and 1 extra year• Lump sums are no longer applicable: the applicant puts in the

estimated real cost (see HR department host institution).

February 2015


3. Funding schemesResearch projects

• Cost categories• Consumables

• Normal consumables for the execution of the project• “Job students”, interviewers• Guest researchers• Small equipment ≤ € 20.000• Research stays, conferences• Literature• Travel costs (no commuting)• Interchangeable with staff

– Account for during project and next two budget years

February 2015



• Cost categories• Equipment

• The equipment becomes property of the university• ≤ € 150.000• Matching funding is allowed ≤ € 150.000

February 2015



Lead Agency

• International cooperation with peer review by one of the agencies involved• Eligibility and funding by agency in country of the researchers

• With Luxemburg (FNR) and Slovenia (ARRS): cf. regular project

• With the Netherlands (NWO) more specific:• Cultural Sciences• Budget/call: €280 k (FWO) + €225 k (NWO)• Period: 4 years (FWO) – 3-4 years (NWO)• 2015: FWO is L.A. - Flemish applicant + Dutch co-applicant • 2016: NWO is L.A. – Dutch applicant + Flemish co-applicant

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Odysseus • New call 2015

• Deadline: 30/09/2015• KU Leuven, UGent, UAntwerpen, VUB, UHasselt

• To attract top scientists from abroad (brain gain)• Universities suggest candidates• Strict selection by international jury and

international peer review

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: Odysseus • Group I

• International recognized leading researchers• Budget: between € 400.000 and € 1.500.000 per year (max. 5

years)• ZAP-position financied by universities (year 1 min. 50%, from year 2

min. 80%)• Group II

• Researchers with the potential to grow to a leading position• Budget: between € 100.000 and € 200.000 per year (max. 5 years)• Postdoctoral fellowship during the term of the project financed by

universitiesFebruary 2015


3. Funding schemes: ERA-NET• FWO participates in 30 networks (2015)

• All domains: biomedical, technology, SSH• See:

http://www.fwo.be/nl/mandaten-financiering/europese-programmas/era-net/

• Focus on joint calls: consortia of European/associated teams each paid by their national agency

• Selection for partipation by FWO in consultation with Flemish universities and experts

February 2015





3. Funding schemes: ERA-NET

• General principles for participation in joint calls

• Basic research• Virtual common pot• Ca. € 200.000 per call• Rules concerning Flemish participants = FWO-regulations

Research projects

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: JPI• What is Joint Programming?

• EC 07/2008: “towards joint programming in research: working together to tackle common challenges more effectively”

• General principle: coördination of national research programmes in order to tackle “grand challenges”

• Proces steered by GPC (“Groupe de Programmation Conjointe”)

• Implementation: “voluntary guidelines” (framework conditions

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: JPI• Neurodegenerative diseases• Agriculture, Food security & Climate Change• Cultural Heritage• A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life• Urban Europe• Antimicrobial Resistance• Climate• More Years, Better Lives• Water Challenges for a Changing World• Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans

• + Strategic Energy and Technology (SET) Plan

February 2015


3. Funding schemes: JPI• Participation by FWO

• General principles• Fundamental/translational research• Top-up for existing FWO-projects: 10k €/year• Synergy possible with ERA-NET

See: http://www.fwo.be/nl/mandaten-financiering/europese-programmas/jpi/ .

February 2015

http://www.fwo.be/nl/mandaten-financiering/europese-programmas/jpi/



63

3. Funding schemesFuture & Emerging Technologies (FET)

• Basic research with high risk, but possible large impact on technology and society

• Large-scale and long-term research based on cooperation between academy and industry in the European Research Area (ERA)

• 2 FET Flagships approved: HBP and Graphene• FWO is possible partner when it comes to basic

research (e.g. ERA-NET)February 2015 Information session FWO


More information on the FWO• Website of the FWO: www.fwo.be

• Information on strategy, regulations, scientific prizes, calls, …

• Free to download publications• More information on FWO:

http://www.geschiedenisfwo.be/

February 2015

http://www.fwo.be/

http://www.geschiedenisfwo.be/

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2899423&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

http://twitter.com/

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo

Documents

Dr. Hans Willems, director Research Policy Infosession projects 2015