Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship — Fellowship

The Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) funds fundamental research across every discipline in Flanders, Belgium. Its senior postdoctoral fellowship is for researchers who finished their PhD a few years ago and want to specialise further in their own field.

The fellow is employed for three years by a Flemish university or another approved host institution, builds an independent research line, and adds academic skills through training and mobility. The research is carried out in Flanders; stays abroad of up to twelve months are allowed with prior FWO approval.

Applications go to one FWO expert panel chosen by discipline and are judged in two rounds, a written preselection followed by an interview. Partner organisations including Meise Botanic Garden, VITO, Flanders Hydraulics and the Suzanne Duchesne Fund attach extra fellowships or bench fees to the same call.

Benefits & funding

Gross monthly salary of €6,081.90, set on the Doctor-Assistant scale at seven years of seniority (index 2.1647, as of 1 March 2026).
An employment contract with the Flemish host institution for three years, with no extension.
An annual bench fee of €4,000 to €10,000 for research costs.
Research stays abroad of up to twelve months are possible with written agreements and prior FWO approval.

Eligibility

You hold a PhD by thesis, or a degree recognised as equivalent under European Union directives or a bilateral agreement.
Your PhD was awarded at least three and at most six years before 1 October of the year the fellowship starts. FWO extends that window by up to one year for each continuous 365-day period of maternity, parental or sick leave or military service, up to twice the normal maximum.
You have at least two years of postdoctoral research experience on 1 October of the starting year. Applicants without a previous FWO fellowship prove this with a declaration signed by an authorised officer of the Flemish host institution.
You have a supervisor at an approved Flemish host institution: a Flemish university, the Antwerp Maritime Academy, Vlerick Business School, Antwerp Management School, the Institute of Tropical Medicine, or a recognised arts school that runs research with a university.
You have never held this fellowship, not even partly, and you may apply for it at most twice, with one application per call.
Holders of a junior postdoctoral fellowship may apply at any time, provided the senior fellowship starts immediately after the junior one.
FWO publishes no nationality, residency, age or gender requirement. The application is submitted and defended in English, and FWO’s regulations assume that candidates with a PhD from outside the Flemish Community have enough Dutch to work inside the local research environment.

Can you apply?

Here's who can apply

Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.

Education required
PhD
Experience required
≥ 2 yrs

Check my eligibility — free

Circlebreaker is a free database of global fellowships, scholarships and programs — every one decoded like this.

We only check the criteria we have data for. Always confirm full eligibility on the official page before applying.

Application process

1
Find a supervisor at an approved Flemish host institution and agree on the research project.
2
Choose the FWO expert panel that matches your discipline.
3
Complete the application in English in the FWO E-loket at fwoweb.fwo.be and submit it by 16 November 2026, 5 pm.
4
Ask your supervisor to submit the letter of recommendation, a compulsory part of the file.
5
Add the host institution’s signed declaration of two years of postdoctoral experience if you have not held an FWO fellowship before.
6
Wait for the panel preselection, held online from 18 to 25 March 2027.
7
Attend the in-person panel interview if you are invited on 26 March 2027; interviews run from 14 April to 5 May 2027.
8
Receive the Board of Trustees’ decision on 13 May 2027 and start on 1 October or 1 November 2027.

Program timeline

Call opens.
17 September 2026
Application deadline.
16 November 2026, 5 pm
Online preselection meetings of the expert panels.
18–25 March 2027
Invitations to interview.
26 March 2027
Interviews.
14 April – 5 May 2027
Results announced.
13 May 2027
Fellowship starts.
1 October or 1 November 2027