Free Competition

This grant instrument is aimed at research programmes with a substantial humanities component. A programme proposal should request funding for at least 2 projects that target one central research question and are clearly interrelated. Apart from the results of the individual projects, a synthesized final product should be produced, thus showing the added value of the programmatic approach.

The programme should have a key research question that is further elaborated upon in the projects.

Who can apply

Senior researchers, in other words experienced researchers who hold a doctorate and are employed at a Dutch research institute. This could be a tenured appointment or a temporary appointment for the course of the application process and the research project.

Article 1.1 of the General Terms and Conditions of NWO Grants of NWO Grants states from which organisations a funding proposal to NWO can be submitted.

What can be applied for

Personnel costs:

• a combination of postdoc and PhD projects, at least 2 of which are funded by NWO
• hiring additional (junior) staff to release the main and/or co-applicant from educational and supervisory tasks in order to allow him/her to produce synthesising publications or other products in the framework of the project (maximum € 50,000)

Material costs: see the specification in the guidelines

When can be applied

Per calendar year, each main and/or co-applicant may submit just one proposal. There is no specific submission deadline: applications can be submitted continuously. On average, it takes about four months to process an application. Once the evaluation file – consisting of the application, the expert assessment, the reply and the funding advise formulated by the assessment committee – is complete, it is submitted to the Division for the Humanities.

Twice per year the Division for the Humanities discusses the advise and decides whether or not to fund the proposals submitted. These funding decision meetings shall take place each year roundabout June and December.

Any one application may be submitted on no more than two occasions (i.e. an application may be resubmitted once).

Extra Information

Applications must satisfy the following criteria:

• there is a substantial humanities component in the research
• the budget applied for lies between € 500,000 and € 1,000,000. If this maximum amount is exceeded then cofunding from another organisation is required.
• the maximum funding period for the entire programme is six years
• the main applicant is a senior researcher and should be actively involved in the research programme
• synthesis as one of the end products. It is for the evaluation committee to decide whether the application sufficiently satisfies the conditions for the synthesis requirement.
• the person responsible for realising the synthesis must be named in the proposal; those responsible for the subsidiary projects do not need to be known at the time the application is processed

Criteria

I. scientific quality

a) objective

• scientific significance of the proposal
• originality/innovative character of the objectives
• clarity of the problem definition, implementability in constituent questions

b) methodology

• suitability of approach/methodology for the desired objectives
• originality/innovative character of the proposed approach/methodology
• multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary character
• feasibility/implementability
• soundness and phasing of the work plan

c) research team

• past performance of researcher, support/research group
• previous results in relation to research proposal
• composition of support/research group
• cooperation with others
• feasibility in terms of experience, support and logistical facilities

II. relevance

• knowledge transmission/valorisation
• topicality of the themes
• social, cultural and technical relevance (if applicable)
• technical applicability, prospects of utilisation of results (if applicable)

III. programme criteria

a) added value of programmatic structure
b) coherence between the programme description and the individual projects and among the projects themselves
c) organisation and embeddedness of the programme

• organisation of the programme
• interuniversity collaboration
• demonstrable embeddedness in university or other research institute/school

Procedure

• external experts will issue advice about each proposal
• the applicants may respond to the anonymous reports
• the evaluation committee:
  a) can invite applicants for a meeting and let the result of this count in the qualification and prioritisation
  b) uses the following nine-point scale:

c) prioritises the fundable proposals
d) advises the Humanities Divisional Board

The Humanities Divisional Board:

a) globally assesses the procedure and subsequently, based on the recommendation of the evaluation committee, it determines the final assessment of the proposals
b) can deviate from the prioritisation proposal of the evaluation committee due to policy considerations
c) takes a decision about the proposals to be funded each year roundabout June and December

Each applicant receives a report that gives the average score of the committee members, the average final score and, if necessary, a brief explanation for each main assessment criterion.

An applicant can lodge an objection with the Governing Board of NWO within six weeks of the date on which the decision was announced.

Committees

Committees (Dutch page)

Budget

Minimum of 500,000 euro and maximum of 1,000,000 euro per programme application.

Financiers

NWO Division for the Humanities.

Contacts

• Dr. J. Roodenburg
  phone: +31 (0)70 344 08 06, e-mail: j.roodenburg@nwo.nl