First FWO?

What and why

The Faculty's Scientific Research Committee would ask you - provided you are eligible - first to apply to the FWO before submitting an application to the Faculty Research Fund:

The faculty agrees that you should become acquainted with the FWO in the early stages of your research career
The faculty is also trying to spend the Faculty Research Fund's own scarce resources wisely.

Therefore the Faculty Research Fund will refuse the funding of an application when it appears that

the applicant who did not first apply to the FWO qualified for an application with the FWO.
the application was turned down at the FWO because its submission was late, incomplete or careless.
a doctoral student has already received 2 travel grants without meeting the FWO publication requirements

A prior application to the FWO significantly simplifies the subsequent application to the Faculty's Scientific Research Committee:

you simply submit to the Scientific Research Committee your FWO application, the outcome of that application and the faculty's brief form.

Some considerations

International publications

An FWO application requires a number of ‘international publications’.

Participation in an international conference in Europe: at least 1 publication
Participation in an international conference outside of Europe: at least 3 publications
Participation in an international workshop or course: at least 1 publication
Short stay abroad: at least 1 publication
Long stay abroad: at least 1 publication

'International' publications are to be understood as ‘peer-reviewed’ publications:

All A1 and VABB publications are potentially eligible, even if the publisher is Flemish, Dutch or Belgian.

Motivation

Always accompany the need for a credit application for your research with a reasoned opinion.

Not accepted yet?

For participation in an international conference, you can also apply to the FWO without notice of whether you have been accepted for the conference or not. In that case, the FWO may give conditional approval. Not knowing whether you have been accepted or not is, therefore, not a valid reason not to apply to the FWO first.

Single use

When you participate in an international conference, the FWO checks whether your abstract, presentation or poster is not used twice. In other words, you should never use the same abstract, presentation or poster for two (or more) applicants.

Supervisor's recommendation

In most cases, the supervisor must write a recommendation about your application to the FWO. Please ensure that your supervisor's recommendation reaches the FWO in good time.

Teaching assistant, lector, tutor or unsalaried researcher?

As a teaching assistant, lector or tutor, you can submit an application to the FWO. For a long stay you must have an employment of at least 50%.
From now on, the FWO allows unpaid university staff to go on short foreign stays, but not for long stays.