NWO Dutch Research Council Fellowships: grants, eligibility, ISAAC applications and 2026 deadlines

The NWO Dutch Research Council Fellowships are listed alongside student scholarships, but they work very differently. NWO is the national science funding body of the Netherlands. It invests almost 1 billion euros a year in curiosity-driven research, societal challenges and research infrastructure, and it falls under the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Most of its money goes to research projects and to researchers at Dutch institutions, not to individual students paying tuition. You can read the full scholarship details on our site before you go further.

So who is this guide for? Mainly Pakistani researchers who are already in the Netherlands, PhD holders thinking about a postdoc there, faculty at Pakistani universities who might join a Dutch-led consortium, and students who want to understand how the PhD and postdoc positions they see advertised in the Netherlands get paid for. If you are a bachelor's graduate looking for a funded master's place, this is probably the wrong page for you.

The basic facts in one table

NWO is a funding body with many doors

NWO works across four research domains: Science, Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), Applied and Engineering Sciences (AES), and ZonMw, which handles health research. The funding lines are grouped so that people from different fields can work together.

The Open Competition pays for curiosity-driven research with no fixed theme. The Talent Programme gives personal funding to researchers at different career stages through instruments called Veni, Vidi, Vici and Rubicon. Other lines fund projects with knowledge users, practice-oriented research through Regieorgaan SIA, scientific infrastructure and innovation accelerators. Then there are thematic calls tied to national agendas such as the National Growth Fund (NGF) and the Knowledge and Innovation Covenant.

Each of these has its own rules. The details below come mostly from one thematic call, Holomicrobiome 2026, because that is the call the available information describes in depth. Do not assume its numbers apply to Veni, Vidi, Vici, Rubicon or any other line. Read the specific call document on the NWO website for whichever instrument you are interested in.

Flagship or use case: the two Holomicrobiome grant sizes

The Holomicrobiome 2026 programme sits under the National Growth Fund and asks researchers to build consortia. It has two categories, and the difference between them shapes everything from the budget to the forms you fill in.

Grant money can pay for personnel, including PhD candidates, postdocs, researchers and non-scientific staff. It also covers materials, research infrastructure and data files, plus knowledge utilisation and internationalisation activities. Personnel costs are budgeted using the collective labour agreements of Dutch universities and academic medical centres.

Notice the co-funding rule. A grant that needs 15 or 30 percent of total costs from somewhere else is not fully funded in the way a Pakistani student usually understands that phrase. For the project team, that means finding companies or other partners willing to commit money. For a PhD candidate or postdoc hired onto the project, the position itself is paid from the project budget, but that is a job, not a scholarship you apply for directly.

Why a Pakistani applicant usually cannot be the main applicant

The main applicant must hold a position such as full, associate or assistant professor, or a comparable position, at an eligible Dutch knowledge organisation. That single rule rules out most readers of this site as lead applicants.

There are still openings. Depending on the call, co-applicants can include eligible Dutch research organisations, foreign research organisations, companies and other public or private entities. So a Pakistani university or research institute may be able to join as a co-applicant if it meets the criteria in that call. NWO does not say anywhere in the material available to us that individuals of any particular nationality are eligible or ineligible, so check eligibility for your nationality and institution in the call document itself.

Two more rules matter for consortia:

• In specific calls, at least 50 percent of the awarded grant must go to the research organisations listed as main applicants.
• Main applicants must attend mandatory matchmaking events where the call requires it.

Put together, the realistic route for most Pakistani researchers is to connect with a Dutch professor who leads the application, rather than trying to lead one from Pakistan.

The ten forms and statements a call can ask for

NWO uses mandatory forms inside ISAAC, and the exact set depends on the funding round. For Holomicrobiome-style calls the list runs to ten items:

1. The application form for your round or category (for example the Flagship or Use Case form)
2. The registration form for matchmaking
3. A budget form
4. A declaration of general terms and conditions under the GBER
5. A declaration of co-funding
6. A general statement and statements for Agvv and Hmb
7. A statement of appointment and project supervision
8. A declaration of support without co-funding
9. A statement of permission to request IKS rates
10. A statement of research organisation

Several of these are legal and financial declarations linked to the Framework for State aid for research, development and innovation (the RDI Framework). Funded projects also have to follow rules on research data management and co-funding. If you are a co-applicant from a Pakistani institution, your finance and research offices will need time to sign off, so involve them early. Our general documents checklist for international scholarships is useful for personal paperwork, but NWO's institutional forms are a different kind of task.

From matchmaking to decision letter

The process for most calls follows the same pattern:

1. Find an open call on the NWO website or in ISAAC and read the call for proposals in full.
2. Register for and attend the mandatory matchmaking event, or submit a letter of intent or pre-proposal, if the call requires it.
3. Create an ISAAC account at least one workday before you plan to submit.
4. Write the proposal on the mandatory ISAAC forms and attach the supporting documents.
5. Submit through ISAAC before the deadline.
6. NWO runs an admissibility check against the formal requirements.
7. If many applications arrive, there may be a pre-selection round. Proposals then go to independent external referees for peer review.
8. You respond to the referee reports in a written rebuttal phase.
9. The selection committee may ask for an interview or a site visit, and scores proposals on a scale of 1 to 9.
10. NWO sends a decision letter with the award status and qualification score.

The Holomicrobiome 2026 calendar

The matchmaking registration and the assessment of organisations dates have already passed. If you were not part of a consortium that registered in time, this round is very likely closed to you. Use it as a model for how the next thematic calls will run and confirm the current deadlines on the official portal.

Where applications go wrong

The most common mistake from Pakistani applicants is treating NWO like a student scholarship and waiting for an "apply now" button. There usually is not one for individuals at master's level, even though master's appears among the listed levels. If you want an NWO-funded PhD or postdoc, look for positions advertised by Dutch universities on NWO projects.

For those who are applying as part of a consortium, these are the traps:

• Missing a mandatory matchmaking registration. It closes months before the full proposal deadline.
• Using the wrong category. Check carefully whether your project fits Flagship or Use Case criteria, because the forms and the budget limits differ.
• Co-funding that falls short. The 15 and 30 percent thresholds are minimums, and the declaration of co-funding has to back them up.
• Leaving ISAAC to the last day. Start entering data at least one day before the deadline, since the online forms take time.
• Budgeting staff costs on guesswork instead of the Dutch university and academic medical centre labour agreements.

If an NWO project does hire you, you will still need a Dutch residence permit and the usual paperwork. Our guide to common visa rejection reasons for Pakistani students covers mistakes worth avoiding at that stage. You can also compare other options in our list of all Netherlands scholarships.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Pakistani student apply to NWO directly for a master's scholarship?

The available information does not describe any direct master's scholarship. Lead applicants must be professors or hold comparable positions at eligible Dutch knowledge organisations. Students usually benefit by being hired as PhD candidates or postdocs on funded projects.

Are international researchers eligible?

Foreign research organisations that meet the criteria can act as co-applicants, depending on the call. Check the specific call for proposals for the rules on your institution and nationality.

What is the difference between Flagship and Use Case projects?

Flagship projects get 1,500,000 to 3,250,000 euros for up to 60 months and need at least 15 percent non-NWO co-funding. Use Case projects get 500,000 to 1,500,000 euros for up to 36 months and need at least 30 percent.

How are applications submitted?

Everything goes through ISAAC using the forms on the funding page of the relevant call. Create your account at least one workday in advance.

How are proposals judged?

After an admissibility check and possible pre-selection, independent external referees review the proposal, applicants write a rebuttal, and an expert selection committee scores it on a scale of 1 to 9. Some calls include an interview or site visit.

Do Veni, Vidi, Vici and Rubicon follow the same rules?

They are part of the Talent Programme, which gives personal funding to researchers at different career stages. Their specific conditions are not covered here, so read each call on the NWO website.

For current calls and exact deadlines, go to the NWO website, and keep the NWO fellowship scholarship page bookmarked for a summary.