In 2006, the National Fund for Scientific Research (NFWO / FNRS) divided into two organisations: the FWO, for the Flemish community, and the F.R.S.-FNRS (French: Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique – FNRS) for the French-speaking region.

The FWO supports research in science, engineering, and the humanities through a variety of frameworks.

[4] It offers competitive funding for doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships as well as for research grants, specific projects, and infrastructure.

The FWO is a member of Science Europe and collaborates in many European research organisations.

[6][7] In addition, it has created partnerships with numerous counterparts across the globe, such as the French Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Dutch Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Polish Academy of Sciences, and National Natural Science Foundation of China.