NWO Talent Programme

The Talent Scheme offers individual grants to talented, creative researchers. This enables them to conduct the research of their choice. Since the Talent Scheme was set up in 2000, NWO has been able to offer grants to nearly two thousand talented researchers. The Talent Scheme has three funding instruments tailored to various phases in researchers' scientific careers.

Veni, for researchers who have recently graduated
Vidi, for experienced researchers who have already conducted several years of research after gaining their PhD
Vici, for senior researchers who have already demonstrated the ability to develop their own line of research

Aim and objectives

Grants from the Talent Scheme enable scientists to conduct research of their own choice. This gives innovative research a boost and facilitates career progression at scientific research institutes.

Veni

Veni provides researchers who have recently gained their PhD the chance to develop their ideas further for a period of three years. The maximum grant is 250,000 euros.

Vidi

Vidi is aimed at researchers who have already conducted several years of research following their PhD. In this, they have demonstrated their ability to generate innovative ideas and to successfully and independently develop these. They may develop their own innovative line of research and appoint one or two researches for this themselves. The maximum grant is 800,000 euros.

Vici

Vici is aimed at senior researchers who have successfully demonstrated their ability to develop their own innovative line of research. They have also guided young researchers in this. Researchers who receive a Vici grant may form their own research group, often in advance of a tenured professorship. The line of research becomes structurally embedded in the research facility. The maximum grant is 1.5 million euros.
Budget and duration

The Talent Scheme programme started in 2000 and runs for an indeterminate duration. There are separate funding rounds each year for Veni, Vidi and Vici, each with its own closing date.
Assessment
For this call, you have to make a choice to which domain you are going to submit an application. You can choose from:
- Science (ENW)
- Social Science and Humanities (SSH)
- Applied and Engineering Sciences (AES)
- Health Care Research (ZonMw)
Please decide well in advance to which domain it would be best to submit your proposal. After submission, your choice for the domain is final and it will no longer be possible to have the proposal assessed within another domain. If you have doubts about which domain would be most appropriate, for example, because your proposal has a (partly) domain-overarching character, then you should get in touch with one of the contact persons from the programme well before the deadline. They can advise you about which domain can best deal with your proposal. However, the final choice is yours.
Embedding Guarantee Veni and Vidi

From 2019 on NWO asks candidates for an 'embedding guarantee' from the start of the application round for NWO Talent Programme Veni funding. Researchers can only submit applications for Veni funding with the support of the Dutch institution where they intend to conduct their research. It is expected to lead to fewer applications and to be more consistent with the research institutions’ personnel policy. The embedding guarantee format can be downloaded from the Veni financing webpage of the four domains.

More information

FAQ Embedding Guarantee
Partners

The Talent Scheme was launched in 2000 following the joint realisation of the Minister of Education, Culture and Science, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the Association of Universities in the Netherlands and NWO that innovative research needed a boost. NWO set up the programme together with the KNAW and the universities.
Committees
The NWO science domains work with broad-based committees of scientists who advise on the quality and priority of applications for the Talent Scheme. Cross-disciplinary Veni and Vidi requests are considered by a separate committee.