BOF-programmes

The Special Research Fund (Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds, BOF) is a research grant funding allocated by the Flemish government to the universities every year. The grant funding is distributed among the various Flemish universities on the basis of a competitive system. The BOF funds are allocated through project or fellowship funding for fundamental scientific research.

The following is an overview of the various BOF programmes. Click on the programme for more information about it.

The BOF programme Large Research Projects provides funding for interdisciplinary projects for fundamental scientific research. With this programme Hasselt University intends to promote the interdisciplinary collaboration through research projects that tie in with one of the Grand Challenges at Hasselt University.

More information can be found on the Intranet (after login)

The BOF 'Small Research Projects' programme entails projects with a four-year funding period, on which 1 or 2 pre-doctoral researcher's mandates are awarded. This BOF program is open to both monodisciplinary projects and projects in which 2 researchers with complementary expertise work together.

More information can be found on the Intranet  (after login)

The Flemish universities launch a call for interuniversity BOF projects (iBOF projects) every two years.

Within the iBOF programme,  excellent, frontier research will be funded, in a collaboration (consortium) of at least 3 promoters at at least 2 Flemish universities.

More information can be found on the Intranet (after login)

Definition

The "Bilateral Scientific Cooperation" programme aims to stimulate and strengthen international university cooperation between Flemish researchers and colleagues from partner countries through (joint) PhD projects. In the selection process, the Research Council monitors a good balance between science-sharing projects with developing countries on one hand, and projects seeking connection to large international networks on the other.

Submission

Applicants
Proposals must meet the following conditions:

• The application must be in the context of a new or already existing collaboration with a foreign research group, and must relate to a doctoral project in favour of a foreign doctoral candidate.
• The candidate must be accepted as a doctoral student on the basis of the doctoral regulations and according to the usual rules;
• The doctoral student must remain administratively linked to the home university or home institution.
• Each stay at UHasselt lasts a maximum of 90 days;
  • Preferably only one stay per calendar year.
  • Providing clear reasons, there can exceptionally be two stays per calendar year.
• The PhD must be (jointly) supervised by the UHasselt research group (cf. UHasselt doctoral regulations). If a promoter already has two ongoing BOF-BILA Projects, he cannot submit a new application.
• At the start of the joint PhD trajectory, it must be clear whether it will be a Joint PhD or an UHasselt PhD. This should be supported by a proof of the home institution that a double PhD degree can be delivered.
• In the case of a joint PhD, it is requested that negotiations for concluding a cooperation agreement for the joint supervision / certification of the doctorate are started prior to the start of the joint PhD trajectory. From a second stay at UHasselt onwards, all agreements regarding guidance, certification, etc. must be clarified in this cooperation agreement.

Application

• The proposals must be submitted using the application form.
• The proposals are submitted electronically to the Directorate Research, Library and Internationalisation at BOF@uhasselt.be.
• The obtained diplomas must be provided in English, Dutch or French. If no English, Dutch or French version of the diploma is attached, the application is not admissible.
• In case of joint PhD: Confirmation joint PhD

Timing

Proposals can be submitted to the Directorate Research, Library and Internationalisation twice a year, on April 1st and October 1st. If this date falls on a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday, the closing date is postponed until the following working day at 5:00 pm.

More information

Contact Hasselt University:
E-mail: elke.bos@uhasselt.be  
Tel.: +3211269053

Support with regard to the application form  will be guaranteed up to 3 working days before submission date.

Hasselt University Intranet: ‘BOF Internal guidelines’

Definition

The BOF programme ‘Doctoral Scholarship’ involves funding for starting personal mandates with a PhD finality for promising candidate PhDs at the start of a doctoral trajectory.

Applications within the Doctoral Scholarship Programme have the classic form of 2 x 2 years. However, applications for a 2-year funding are possible in case of:

• cofinancing by another institution, which offers 2 years of funding and the PhD leads to a joint PhD with a double degree;
• cofinancing by another institution, which offers 1 year of funding, the PhD leads to a joint PhD with a double degree and a 4th year of funding is provided by internal means of the Research group or faculty.

These types of applications with cofinancing are only admissible when the PhD at the other institution hasn’t started yet.

Submission

Applicants

• This programme is open to all applicants* without restriction to gender, nationality or age.
• All prospective doctoral students are eligible, provided that they are admitted to the PhD by the relevant faculty within Hasselt University.

*This call is open to candidate PhD students, without restriction to gender, nationality or age. Since this concerns mandates in the scholarship statute, the circular of the Belgian Ministry of Finance regarding the exemption conditions of doctoral scholarships applies. This states, among other things, that employment contracts may not be replaced by a doctoral scholarship.

Exclusion criteria

Regardless the type of appointment or financing under which the PhD research is executed, candidate PhDs that already started their PhD research (i.e. having started a doctoral file or having an appointment as “doctoraatsbursaal”) are excluded from applying for this call.

A person can only be appointed as a PhD fellow (“doctoraatsbursaal”) for a maximum period of 48 months in total across all Belgian universities; should you have been appointed as "doctoraatsbursaal" at a Belgian university in the past, you're are excluded from applying in this call.

Application

• The proposals must be submitted by the doctoral candidate, together with a promoter who is affiliated with Hasselt University and can act, in accordance with the doctoral regulations, as promoter at Hasselt University.  https://www.uhasselt.be/information-for-current-PhDstudents
• Each promoter can only be involved in maximum two applications per call. If the candidate has submitted an application to the FWO simultaneously, the BOF application has to be submitted with the same promoter (no switch between promoter and co-promoter possible).
• The proposals must be submitted using the application forms.

Application form without FWO application
Application form with FWO application
Application form supplementary funding (bench fee)

• The completed application forms are electronically submitted to BOF@uhasselt.be.
• A recommendation letter by the promoter can be included in the application (not mandatory).
• Each applicant has to submit a parallel application for FWO PhD fellowship Fundamental Research (FO), a FWO PhD fellowship strategic basic research (SB) or another externally funded scholarship, if the prospective doctoral student is eligible according to the rules of the financier.
• Applications are submitted in English.
• The applicants can only submit their application within 1 of the BOF doctoral funding programmes: Euregional doctoral grants (with either ULiège, UNamur or UM) or UHasselt doctoral scholarship programme.

Timing

• March 1st (5:00 pm): deadline submission of application.  If this is a Saturday, Sunday, or a public holiday, the closing date is moved to the next working day at 5:00 pm;
• April-May: selection procedure with internal selection and interview round;
• End of June: announcement selection;
• November 1st: start of the mandate.

In agreement with the faculty, the start date can be postponed, until February 1st of the same academic year at the latest.

More information
Contact Hasselt University:
E-mail: elke.bos@uhasselt.be  
Tel.: +3211269053

Support with regard to the application form  will be guaranteed up to 3 working days before submission date.

Hasselt University Intranet: ‘BOF Internal guidelines’

This programme is linked to the BOF doctoral scholarship programme. It provides non renewable 1 year scholarship funding for candidates, who were not selected at the BOF nor at the FWO, to prepare a renewed FWO application or another externally funded mandate. 

More information can be found on the Intranet (after login)

CALL FOR PROPOSALS 2023

Definition

The BOF programme ‘Euregional Doctoral Grants in collaboration with ‘Université de Namur (UNamur)’ involves funding of personal mandates with a PhD finality. It concerns joint PhDs where both universities have funding to cofund two mandates each year. 

The candidate will be appointed at both universities for 50% during the entire PhD.

Submission

Applications

• This programme is open to all applicants^[1] without restriction to gender, nationality or age
• All prospective doctoral students are eligible, provided that they are admitted to the PhD by the relevant faculty within Hasselt University and UNamur.

^[1] This call is open to candidate PhD students, without restriction to gender, nationality or age. Since this concerns mandates in the scholarship statute, the circular of the Belgian Ministry of Finance regarding the exemption conditions of doctoral scholarships applies. This states, among other things, that employment contracts may not be replaced by a doctoral scholarship.

Exclusion criteria

A person can only be appointed as a PhD fellow (“doctoraatsbursaal”) for a maximum period of 48 months in total across all Belgian universities; should you have been appointed as "doctoraatsbursaal" at a Belgian university in the past, you are excluded from applying in this call.

Application

• The proposals must be submitted by the doctoral candidate, together with:
  • a promoter who is affiliated with Hasselt University and can act, in accordance with the doctoral regulations, as promoter at Hasselt University.  https://www.uhasselt.be/information-for-current-PhDstudents
  • a promoter who is affiliated with UNamur and can act as promoter according to their regulations.
• The proposals must be submitted using the application form.
• The completed application forms are electronically submitted to BOF@uhasselt.be, and to secretariat.adre@unamur.be.
• Applications are submitted in English.
• The applicants can only submit their application within 1 of the BOF doctoral funding programmes: Euregional doctoral grants (with either ULiège, UNamur or UM) or UHasselt doctoral scholarship programme.

Timing

• March 1^st, 5:00pm: deadline submission of application.  If this is a Saturday, Sunday, or a public holiday, the closing date is moved to the next working day at 5:00 pm;
• June 2023: announcement selection;
• October 1^st: start of the mandate.

More information

Contact UNamur:
E-mail: secretariat.adre@unamur.be 
Tel: +3281725049

Contact Hasselt University:
E-mail: elke.bos@uhasselt.be 
Tel.: +3211269053

Support with regard to the application form  will be guaranteed up to 3 working days before submission date.

UHasselt intranet: BOF internal guidelines

Definition

The BOF programme ‘Euregional Doctoral Grants in collaboration with ‘Université de Liège (ULiège)’ involves funding of personal mandates with a PhD finality. It concerns joint PhDs where both universities have funding to cofund two mandates every two years (the even years). The candidate will be appointed at both universities for 50% during the entire PhD.

The domain in which applications can be submitted will be announced in the call for this programme.

Submission

Applicants

• This programme is open to all applicants^[1] without restriction to gender, nationality or age.
• All prospective doctoral students are eligible, provided that they are admitted to the PhD by the relevant faculty within Hasselt University and ULiège.

^[1] _{This call is open to candidate PhD students, without restriction to gender, nationality or age. Since this concerns mandates in the scholarship statute, the circular of the Belgian Ministry of Finance regarding the exemption conditions of doctoral scholarships applies. This states, among other things, that employment contracts may not be replaced by a doctoral scholarship.}

Exclusion criteria

A person can only be appointed as a PhD fellow (“doctoraatsbursaal”) for a maximum period of 48 months in total across all Belgian universities; should you have been appointed as "doctoraatsbursaal" at a Belgian university in the past, you're are excluded from applying in this call.

Application

• The proposals must be submitted by the doctoral candidate, together with:
  • a promoter who is affiliated with Hasselt University and can act, in accordance with the doctoral regulations, as promoter at Hasselt University.
  • a promoter who is affiliated with ULiège and can act as promoter according to their regulations.
• The proposals must be submitted using the application forms
• The completed application forms are electronically submitted to BOF@uhasselt.be, and to ard@uliege.be.
• Applications are submitted in English.
• The applicants can only submit their application within 1 of the BOF doctoral funding programmes: Euregional doctoral grants (with either ULiège, UNamur or UM) or UHasselt doctoral scholarship programme.

Timing

• NEXT CALL: 2024
• March 1st (5:00 pm): deadline submission of application. If this is a Saturday, Sunday, or a public holiday, the closing date is moved to the next working day at 5:00 pm;
• June: announcement selection;
• October 1st: start of the mandate

More information

Contact ULiège:
E-mail: denys.jeandrain@uliege.be
Tel: +3243665231

Contact Hasselt University:
E-mail: elke.bos@uhasselt.be 
Tel.: +3211269053

Regulations

• Regulations UHasselt: BOF Internal Guidelines
• https://my.servicejuridique.uliege.be/upload/docs/application/pdf/2021-10/reglement_des_bourses_de_doctorat-finalise_doc_00142040.pdf
• https://www.recherche.uliege.be/doctorat

Support with regard to the application form  will be guaranteed up to 3 working days before submission date.

Definition

The BOF programme ‘Euregional Doctoral funding in collaboration with Maastricht University (UM)’ involves funding of personal mandates or project funding with a PhD finality. It concerns joint PhDs where both universities have funding to cofund two projects/mandates each year.

The domain in which applications can be submitted and the type of funding (mandate/project) will be announced yearly in the call for this programme.

Depending on the type of funding (mandate/project), the submission and evaluation criteria will slightly differ as explained below.

Please note that applying for funding within this programme implies working at two universities in two countries and may imply that grantees are employed for two years in Belgium and for two year in the Netherlands in the relevant statutes at both universities concerned.

Submission

Applicants - in case of mandate funding

• This programme is open to all PhD candidates* without restriction to gender, nationality or age.
• All prospective PhD candidates are eligible, provided that they are admitted to the PhD by the relevant faculty within Hasselt University and Maastricht University.

* This call is open to candidate PhD students, without restriction to gender, nationality or age. Since this concerns mandates in the scholarship statute, the circular of the Belgian Ministry of Finance regarding the exemption conditions of doctoral scholarships applies. This states, among other things, that employment contracts may not be replaced by a doctoral scholarship.

Exclusion criteria

A person can only be appointed as a PhD fellow (“doctoraatsbursaal”) for a maximum period of 48 months in total across all Belgian universities; should you have been appointed as "doctoraatsbursaal" at a Belgian university in the past, you're are excluded from applying in this call.

Applications - in case of project funding

Projects must be submitted by:

• a promoter who is affiliated with Hasselt University and can act, in accordance with the doctoral regulations, as promoter at Hasselt University.
• a promoter who is affiliated with Maastricht University and can act as promoter according to their regulations.

Application

• In case of mandate funding, the proposals must be submitted by the doctoral candidate, together with:
• a promoter who is affiliated with Hasselt University and can act, in accordance with the doctoral regulations, as promoter at Hasselt University.  https://www.uhasselt.be/information-for-current-PhDstudents
• a promoter who is affiliated with Maastricht University and can act as promoter according to their regulations.
• In case of project funding, the project can be submitted with or without a candidate.
• The proposals must be submitted using the application form.
• The completed application forms are electronically submitted to BOF@uhasselt.be, and to Maastricht University (correct mailadres will be announced when the call is launched).
• Applications are submitted in English.
• The applicants can only submit their application within 1 of the BOF doctoral funding programmes: Euregional doctoral grants (with either ULiège, UNamur or UM) or UHasselt doctoral scholarship programme.

Timing

• NEXT CALL: 2024
• February / March - to be confirmed when the call is launched: deadline submission of application. If this is a Saturday, Sunday, or a public holiday, the closing date is moved to the next working day at 5 pm;
• June: announcement selection;
• October 1st: beginning of the mandate/project.

More information

• Maastricht University:
  
  
• Hasselt University:
  Elke Bos
  E-mail: elke.bos@uhasselt.be
  Tel: +32 11 26 90 53

Support with regard to the application form  will be guaranteed up to 3 working days before submission date.

UHasselt intranet: BOF internal guidelines

Within this programme promoters who have acquired competitive external funding, but need additional funding to complete the 4-year budget requirements to appoint a PhD student, can apply for 50% personnel costs and € 2,500 bench fee for the last year of appointment.

More information can be found on the Intranet (after login)

Within this programme, funds are earmarked for one-year postdoc mandates for FWO candidate fellows who, following a scientifically favourable ranking, for budgetary reasons, are not offered a fellowship by the FWO.

More information can be found on the Intranet mandates (after login)

Every year, Hasselt University reserves part of the BOF funds for the BOF Research Infrastructure Fund, in order to expand its research infrastructure park. By combining these BOF funds with the FWO Research Infrastructure funds for medium-scale infrastructure, Hasselt University is able to launch a BOF Infrastructure call every four years.

More information can be found on the Intranet (after login)

Definition

The BOF programme for incoming mobility funds incoming international academic research stays for short periods of time (from 1 to 3 months).

Submission

Applicants

This programme is open for academic researchers from the postdoctoral level upwards. The stay of a foreign researcher at our university should have an added value for the UHasselt research.

Application

• The proposals must be submitted using the application form.
• The applications must include a scientific plan.
• The completed application forms are electronically submitted to BOF@uhasselt.be.
• External researchers are asked to add a C.V. to the application.
• Applications are submitted in English.

Timing

The applications for a short stay can be submitted three times a year: February 1st, May 15th and October 1st.  Should the deadline fall on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the deadline is moved to the next working day at 5 pm.

More information

Hasselt University contact person: Lieve Tulleneers

Support with regard to the application form  will be guaranteed up to 3 working days before submission date.

Intranet: BOF internal guidelines

The BOF programme outgoing mobility funds outgoing international academic research stays for a short period of time (from 1 to 3 months).

More information can be found on the Intranet (after login)

The BOF programme Sabbatical Leave cofinances outgoing international research stays for periods of 3 to 12 months.

More information can be found on the Intranet (after login)

The BOF exchange programme for PhD mobility to and from UC Berkeley facilitates outgoing mobility to UC Berkeley and incoming mobility from UC Berkeley for PhD students through a short stay of 1 to 3 months.

More information can be found on the Intranet (after login)

The Directorate Research, Library and Internationalisation committed itself in 2018 to renew and expand the collaboration agreements with the Fachhochschulen (FHS) in Germany in order to strengthen research cooperation. In this collaboration, doctoral students, with an appointment at an FHS, conduct research under the joint supervision of two academic institutions consisting of a UHasselt supervisor and a co-supervisor of the FHS.

More information can be found on the Intranet (after login)

The BOF programme “Research collaboration without boundaries” should leverage sustainable collaborations with disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, where the supervisor is from the Humanities and Social Sciences* and co-promoters can come from any UHasselt faculty or be a non-UHasselt partner, with the latter partner providing 50% effective co-funding. The intent is to provide seed money, with the goal of serving as the start of a sustainable collaboration that can lead to future joint efforts to apply for new external research funding.

More information can be found on the Intranet(after login)

INCENTIVE FUNDING FWO MANDATE (PRE-DOC)
UHasselt provides FWO PhD fellowship grantees that didn’t apply with BOF doctoral fund with the opportunity to apply for additional bench fee once they’ve been granted an FWO fellowship mandate.

More information can be found on the intranet (after login)

INCENTIVE FUNDING BOF TENURE TRACK (ERC GRANT)
With this programme, Hasselt University wants to facilitate BOF TT Assistant Professors in preparing an ERC application. The BOF TT Assistant professors can apply just once for ERC incentive funding during their BOF TT mandate. This funding can be used to hire consultancy, as a resource to cover for replacement during the preparation of the application, to cover research stays with ERC grantees or top researchers, to fund research activities in order to improve the ERC application, etc. These funds will enable the BOF TT Assistant Professor to prepare and submit an ERC application. In total, the BOF TT Assistant Professor can apply for a maximum amount of € 25,000. The ERC-incentive funds can be used to prepare an application for all types of ERC grants such as starting grants, consolidator grants, advanced grants and synergy grants. If this incentive is used, no further claim can be made on other initiatives that exist to support an ERC application.

More information can be found on the intranet (after login)

INCENTIVE FUNDING CONSULTANCY WITHIN EU FRAMEWORK PROGRAMMES
When a promoter plans to apply for a project within the European Framework programme as a coordinator, the promoter can apply for a budget of maximum € 10,000 to hire consultancy to revise the application, including the impact section.

More information can be found on the intranet (after login)

INCENTIVE FUNDING FINANCING THE 4TH YEAR WITHIN WITHIN EU FRAMEWORK PROGRAMMES
With this incentive, funding is made available to finance the fourth year of a PhD fellow, when the acquired external funding through an EU Framework programme only provides funding for three years. The incentive fits the advice of the Board of Deans, stating there must be guarantees for four years of funding at the start of a PhD fellowship.

More information can be found on the intranet (after login)

INCENTIVE FOR EXTERNALLY GRANTED NOMINATIVE MANDATE FINANCING ON A BOF SMALL RESEARCH PROJECT
To meet the increasing demand to provide postdoctoral funding, BOF offers the possibility to appoint a postdoctoral researcher or a new PhD student on the remaining funds of an ongoing BOF Small Project, provided that:

the initially appointed PhD student on that BOF Small Research Project has obtained external nominative mandate funding (e.g. FWO, VLAIO,...);
there are sufficient additional funds to appoint a new PhD student;
the proposed postdoctoral researcher has a clear link with the BOF Small Project.

More information can be found on the intranet (after login)