NWO Open Competition Domain Science – M 2025/2026

NWO Open Competition Domain Science – M 2025/2026 is sponsored by NWO (Dutch Research Council). In the NWO Open Competition Domain Science - M, researchers can apply individually or in collaboration for non-programmed, curiosity-driven basic research.

Open Competition Domain Science – M 2025/2026 | NWO The maximum number of proposals for this round of the ENW-M Open Competition, 2025/2026, has been reached, and the ENW-M Open Competition is therefore closed for submission of new proposals. The fact that the maximum number of proposals has been reached relatively early indicates that demand within the ENW-M Open Competition is high.

NWO anticipated this for this round by making more funding available and increasing the number of proposals. For the next round, NWO will consider how to address this, for example by introducing adjusted submission requirements. These will affect the new round, which is expected to open for applications again in August 2026.

The subsidy ceiling for Weave application with NWO as partner agency has not been reached yet. This call is expected to be open till 31 July 2026. Further information on the application procedure for the ENW-M Open Competition can be found in the Call for proposals.

22 May 2026: Committee/jury composition added. ENW-M grants are intended for curiosity-driven scientific research with impact. The ENW-M grants offer researchers the opportunity and freedom to start, and/or strengthen excellent, challenging and innovative lines of research, both mono disciplinary, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary.

For this call for proposals, your application must fit in the NWO Domain Science. Consider at an early point in time if the contents of your application meet this condition. In case of any doubts, for instance because your application is (partially) multidisciplinary, please contact one of the contact persons for this programme.

This person can advise you about the substantive connection between your application and this Call for Proposals. Full, associate and assistant professors and other researchers with a comparable position may submit an application if they have a tenured position (and therefore a paid position for an indefinite period) or a tenure track agreement at one of the organisations mentioned in the Call for Proposals.

Researchers with a one-year or a two-year employment contract who are expected to be offered a permanent employment contract after the initial one-year or two-year period has elapsed, are also eligible to submit a proposal. An additional condition is a. o.

that a main or co-applicant may only submit an ENW-M proposal for substantive consideration once every twelve months. For a description of this and other conditions, please refer to the Call for Proposals. The Open Competition Domain Science - M consists of multiple categories: An ENW-M-1 grant has a maximum size of € 400,000 and has a single main applicant and no co-applicants.

The grant must be used for a single scientific position in combination with the other budget modules available. An ENW-M-1X grant concerns projects with an investment character, for which a top-up is possible. If more than €150,000 in investment is requested, the maximum budget is increased from €400,000 to €400,000 plus the value of the investment, up to a maximum size of €800,000.

An ENW-M-1X has one main applicant and no co-applicants. The grant must be used for a single temporary scientific position and an investment between 150,000 and 500,000 euros in combination with the other available budget modules. An ENW-M-1-Weave grant has a single main Dutch applicant and one or more co-applicants from Germany/Luxembourg/Flanders who work together to realise the proposed research.

The budget requested from NWO has a maximum size of 400,000 euro and must be used for a single temporary scientific position in combination with the other available budget modules. Note! This concerns Weave applications in which the Dutch applicant acts as main applicant and NWO as the lead agency.

In case of Weave-proposals where the German/Luxembourgish/Flemish researcher acts as main applicant and the Dutch researcher as co-applicant NWO will act as partner agency, see in this case the websites from NWO ( https://www. nwo. nl/en/calls/weave-with-nwo-as-partner-agency-2025/2026 ), DFG ( https://www.

dfg. de/en/research-funding/funding-opportunities/countries-… ), FNR ( https://www. fnr.

lu/international-cooperation/weave/ ) and FWO ( https://www. fwo. be/en/support-programmes/international-projects/ ).

An ENW-M-2 grant has a maximum size of 800,000 euros and has a single main applicant and a single co-applicant who work together to realise the proposed research. It should be clear from the application that their expertise is complementary. The grant must be used for two temporary scientific positions in combination with the other budget modules available.

The Open Competition Domain Science - M is a continuous call, meaning that applications can be submitted on a continuous basis. A new round of this call is opened annually. A round consists of 5 sets of 75 (package 1 till 3) or 84 (package 4 and 5) admissible proposals each.

The current round (2025/2026) is closing: Once 393 (3x75 and 2x84) applications have been received No later than 31 July 2026 Applications for the current round (2025/2026) can therefore be submitted until 31 July 2026 at the latest, as long as the maximum number of 419 applications has not yet been reached. The new round, year 2026/2027, will be opened in August 2026, in which applications can again be submitted continuously. Note!

ENW-M-1-Weave proposals with a Flemish co-applicant should be submitted no later than 24 February 2026, 14:00:00 CET . Proposals are assessed for: Scientific quality of the proposal (What) Scientific and/or societal impact (Why) Scientific quality of the proposal contributes 75% of the final score, the scientific and/or societal impact 25%. Admissible proposals are assessed by independent external experts.

The referees' reports are sent to the applicant for a written rebuttal. A maximum of five packages of 75 proposals each, will be assessed per round. Per package a maximum of three cluster committees will be formed.

On the basis of the assessment criteria, each cluster committee ranks the proposals with accompanying referees' reports and rebuttals within that cluster. Each cluster committee agrees on a prioritisation of the proposal and advises the NWO Domain Science Board about the quality of the proposals. Based on this advice and the available funding, the Domain Science Board decides whether to grant or reject the proposals.

For further information about Weave, please visit https://www. nwo. nl/en/researchprogrammes/open-competition-enw/weave-research-funding-for-international-collaboration In case of ENW-M-1-Weave applications, to accommodate the assessment, the involved funding agencies will share Personal Data of the applicant.

This may include: Name of the applicant(s) (first name, last name) Affiliation of the applicant(s) Name of the external reviewer (first name, last name) Affiliation of the external reviewer Motivation for the decision (to fund or not to fund) By submitting an application, you agree to this. Responsible research data management is an essential component of good research practice.

Prepare a data management plan after the grant is awarded and before the project starts. Applications must be submitted through the Isaac application and reporting system. If you do not have an Isaac account yet, then please create one at least one workday in advance.

More information about writing a proposal and which forms you need to use can be found in Isaac. Please download and use the forms in Isaac. Below you will find examples of the required forms.

For this call for proposals, your application must fit in the NWO Domain Science. Consider at an early point in time if the contents of your application meet this condition. In case of any doubts, for instance because your application is (partially) multidisciplinary, please contact one of the contact persons for this programme.

This person can advise you about the substantive connection between your application and this call for proposals. Download the application form, the budget table and other required templates; Prepare the application in English; Use the application form and the budget table for the 2025/2026 round; Save the budget table as Excel and the other forms as pdf files and upload them in ISAAC.

For every proposal submitted, NWO assumes that the applicant has informed the host institution and that the university or institute has accepted the funding conditions of this programme.

Downloads for your application Open Competition Domain Science – M 2025/2026 | call for proposals Open Competition Domain Science - M 2025/2026 | review form Open Competition Domain Science – M 2025/2026 | declaration research organisations Online manual grant application system ISAAC ISAAC offers applicants for research funding the possibility to track their application in the assessment process.

The funding process explained NWO has a fixed procedure for handling all applications. Learn more about how the application procedure is set up – from the moment you apply until a decision is reached. Do you already have an account in Isaac?

Have you completed the application form? Have you completed the budget table for the round 2025/2026? Have you prepared the application in English?

You can read all the details about the application for funding in the call for proposals. If you have any questions, please contact the contact person.