NWO Dutch Research Council Fellowships

NWO structures its funding through a harmonised palette of funding lines to facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration. The Open Competition finances curiosity-driven research without thematic constraints, while the Talent Programme offers personal funding for researchers at various career stages through instruments such as Veni, Vidi, Vici, and Rubicon. Other dedicated funding lines address collaborative projects with knowledge users, practice-oriented research via Regieorgaan SIA, scientific infrastructure, and innovation accelerators.

Specific thematic calls, such as the Holomicrobiome 2026 programme under the National Growth Fund (NGF), invite researchers to build consortia for targeted research and development. The Holomicrobiome call features two distinct categories: Flagship projects providing grants between 1,500,000 and 3,250,000 euros for up to 60 months, and Use Case projects providing grants between 500,000 and 1,500,000 euros for up to 36 months.

Applications for NWO grants must be submitted through ISAAC, the online application and reporting system of the Dutch Research Council. The evaluation procedure typically involves administrative checks, pre-selection if application volumes are high, peer review by independent external referees, a written rebuttal phase, and evaluations by expert selection committees using a scoring scale of 1 to 9.

Selected projects must adhere to strict guidelines regarding research data management, co-funding requirements, and compliance with the Framework for State aid for research, development and innovation (RDI Framework). Main applicants for specific collaborative calls are frequently required to register for and attend mandatory matchmaking events prior to full proposal submission.