Overview
The Flemmish funding agency, FWO, evaluates PhD and postdoc applications through a set of criteria (see PhD preselection score grid, Postdoc preselection score grid)* that fall into two big groups: (1) the researcher and (2) the research proposal.
The FWO application consists of two parts:
(1) project outline
(2) questions section
This guide offers suggestions on how you can use various items in the project outline to demonstrate your eligibility for the PhD/postdoc fellowship according to the FWO criteria. The length of the project outline should not exceed 10 A4 pages, without changing text layout (font Calibri 11, line distance 1, page margins, etc.).
The project outline is the core of your PhD or postdoc application. The FWO provides exactly the same template for the project outline on page 21 of PhD example application form, Junior postdoc example application form, and page 22 of Senior postdoc example application form, consisting of five sections:
- Changes to previous project proposal (only applicable if you are resubmitting your proposal the next year after an unsuccessful attempt)
- Rationale and positioning with regard to the state-of-the-art
- Scientific research objectives
- Research methodology and work plan
- References
*This guide was written in September 2024, and the downloads were backed up at the same time; for updates, please visit the sections on PhD, junior, and senior postdoc fellowships on the FWO website. Usually, we do not apply for the Interdisciplinary panel, so section 3. Level of interdisciplinarity of the score grid does not apply to us.
FWO comment: The titles below provide a list of aspects that should be discussed in the project outline. This is followed by a brief description of the expected content in italics (here converted to block quotes). Please retain these titles in the final project description, but remove the description. You may add extra titles and subtitles as necessary. Please stick to the maximum number of 10 A4 pages, without changing text layout (font Calibri 11, line distance 1, page margins etc.). Please also remove this explanatory paragraph before submitting this project description.
Our comment: Here the FWO specifies the length and format of the proposal. It also tells you to retain the titles of the sections and notes that it allows the addition of subsections. In view of this permission and based on our experience of writing and reviewing applications in the area of Buddhist Studies, we suggest a more fine-grained structure of the project outline.
Section 1. (if applicable) Changes to previous project proposal
FWO comment: If this postdoctoral project proposal has been submitted to FWO earlier, please concisely describe the major changes, e.g. how you considered the panel suggestions as a feedback to your first application.
Our comment: Please follow the above advice.
Section 2. Rationale and positioning with regard to the state-of-the-art
FWO comment: Elaborate the scientific motivation for the project proposal based on scientific knowledge gaps, and the issues and/or problems that you want to solve with this project. Concisely describe the related international state of the art, with reference to scientific literature. Position your project in relation to ongoing national and international research.
Our comment: You can subdivide this section into three parts: general introduction, literature review, and summary.
General introduction aims to provide background information to the readers of your project outline. Please bear in mind that the members of your expert panel are most likely specialists in other religions than Buddhism and in other areas than the country of your interest. Accordingly, you might want to begin by saying a few words about it. For example, you may write about the political situation during the period you are studying or the importance of the tradition you are focusing on within Buddhist philosophy.
From this, you zoom on the specific phenomenon (places, persons, concepts, etc.) that you are going to study. You state that it was an important element of the tradition you are studying or played a significant role in the functioning of the Buddhist community during the period you have just mentioned, and so on. In this way, you introduce some of the major terminology that you use throughout your proposal.
Literature review presents what has been done in scholarship with regard to the concepts, traditions, etc., the importance of which you have just shown. It is only natural that a significant phenomenon has already attracted scholarly attention, and by referencing major scholarship, you are showing that you fulfill the FWO criterion of being knowledgeable in your area of expertise.
Still, not each and every aspect of this crucial phenomenon has been studied so far (otherwise, there will be no need in your project). Accordingly, you conclude the literature review by highlighting the gaps and lacunae in the previous scholarship and stating that what was overlooked there is exactly the subject of the project that you propose.
Summary is where you can explain why you are the right person to fill the research gap that you have just identified. You can mention your previous study and research; for example, summarize in two sentences what you did in your dissertation. At the same time, be careful to underscore that your earlier findings were only limited and that the project that you are proposing here is something new and not just continuation of your previous work (for instance, not the conversion of the dissertation into a book). You can also briefly state what you are going to do in the new project to show how different it is from your previous work.
Section 3. Scientific research objectives
FWO comment: Describe explicitly the scientific objective(s) and the research hypothesis. Explain whether and how the research is specifically challenging and inventive, describing in particular the innovative aspects of the envisaged results. Discuss in detail the results (or partial results) that you aim to achieve, such as specific knowledge and academic breakthroughs.
Our comment: The structure that we suggest here consists of an introductory paragraph, three or four research questions, followed by the discussion of each research question and the summary of the contribution.
It may be good to start the introductory paragraph by explicitly stating “the aim of this project.” A couple more sentences highlighting different aspects may follow.
This can be followed by research questions (and each question can have several subquestions):
RQ1:…??
1.1
1.2.
RQ2:…??
2.1.
2.2.
And so on.
Then you can delve deeper into the content of your research questions by offering discussion and hypotheses.
Discussion of RQ1: …
Hypothesis to answer RQ1: …
Naturally, you could not have included all the details of what you are going to do in the introduction above. Discussion in the place where you can provide more specific information about each subtopic of your project. On the one hand, in this way you show that you have done good preparation to carry out the project, so it is feasible, i.e., it can be accomplished within the grant period (feasibility is one of the FWO’s assessment criteria). On the other hand, you can use such phrases as “My preliminary reading has revealed that” to show that what you are presenting here are not the results of completed research but only tentative suggestions of what might be worth further exploration (otherwise it may seem that you have already accomplished this research and obtained the final result, so there is no need to finance this project anymore).
You can consider concluding this section by summarizing the contribution that you expect your project to make. You can write the phrase “This research project will contribute to the literature in the following ways” and set out several points of contribution.
Section 4. Research methodology and work plan
FWO comment: Elaborate the different envisaged steps (experiments/activities) in your research, and motivate your strategic choices with the aim of reaching the objectives. Describe the set-up and cohesion of the work packages including intermediate goals (milestones).
Show where the proposed methodology (research approach) is according to the state of the art and where it is novel. Discuss risks that might endanger reaching project objectives and the contingency plans to be put in place should this risk occur.
Use a table or graphic representation of the planned course of activities (timing work packages, milestones, critical path) over the 4-years (for PhD applications) and 3-years (for postdoc applications) grant period.
Our comment: We usually subdivide this section into three parts: research methodology, primary sources, and work plan.
Research methodology (about 200 words) is where you discuss the methods you will use. In our field, it is mostly textual research and/or interviews (especially if your project touches upon the contemporary period). There may also be specific methods of art or literature studies, codicology, linguistics, and so on, depending on the nature of your project.
Sources (about 650 words) is the section where you again demonstrate compliance with two of the FWO evaluation criteria: feasibility and risk management. It is better to structure the discussion here by research question, in this way showing that you have ample resources to answer each of the research questions. You may also wish to underscore that you have already obtained your sources, or that they are digitalized and available online, or that you have already identified the libraries and archives where you can obtain them.
On the one hand, the FWO encourages a high level of risk, i.e., situations when some sources may be difficult to get hold of, as it means that your research will undoubtedly produce ground-breaking contributions. On the other hand, it also reminds you that you should design alternative strategies in case you cannot procure the expected resources, so that your project does not abort halfway due to the unavailability of some crucial materials.
Work plan is where you offer a breakdown of the three or four years that you have into shorted timespans with specific objectives. You can begin by writing a standard paragraph:
“My work under the FWO fellowship will be subdivided into four work packages (WPs). The first three of these will address RQ 1, RQ 2, and RQ 3, while the final one will collate the results and prepare the first draft of the monograph.”
Then you can follow this model:
(Time Period) WP1. Address RQ 1.
- Submit a paper to journal X
- Participate in conference Y
- Do a research stay at Z
This is not a mandatory commitment, but just the way to show that you are aware of influential journals, conferences, and possible institutions for academic mobility and that you can plan your work. On the whole, the purpose of the PhD is a dissertation, and the purpose of the postdoc is a book, accompanied by several papers in peer-reviewed journals. The work plan is the right place to highlight these expected achievements.
Section 5. References
FWO comment: Give an overview of the bibliographical references that are relevant for your research proposal.
Our comment: This is the bibliography that you have mentioned in the proposal. It may be advisable to keep it a page and a half or two pages long.