STAATSCOURANT
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Call for proposals Accelerating Energy Transition in Dutch and Taiwanese Ports, voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
A collaboration between NWO and NSTC
2026
Content
1
Summary and introduction
1.1
Brief summary
1.2
Introduction
2
Aim and background
2.1
Aim of the Call for proposals
2.2
Background
2.3
Thematic focus
2.4
Fair research cooperation, integrated approach and international cooperation
2.5
Societal impact of research
3
Preparation and submission
3.1
Timeline
3.2
Who can apply
3.3
What can be applied for
3.4
Submitting a letter of intent
3.5
Preparing and submitting a proposal
3.6
Co-funding
3.7
Requirements for consideration
4
Assessment
4.1
Criteria
4.2
Procedure
4.3
Guidelines and frameworks for assessment
5
After the grant award
5.1
Start of the project
5.2
Joint monitoring and project management
5.3
Guidelines and frameworks for project execution
5.4
Completion
5.5
Research results – Open Science
5.6
Evaluation
6
Contact
6.1
Technical questions about the ISAAC electronic application system
6.2
Technical questions about the web application Academic Research Service Portal
6.3
Reference version of the Call for proposals
7
Annexes
7.1
Information Funding Organisations’ Annexes
7.2
Overview on mandatory reporting and meetings
7.3
Indexation of project budgets submitted to NWO
1
Summary and introduction
This chapter contains a brief summary of the Call for proposals and an introduction.
1.1
Brief summary
Title: Accelerating Energy Transition in Dutch and Taiwanese Ports.
Aim: This NWO-NSTC Call for proposals aims to accelerate the energy transition within the Taiwanese and Dutch ports and their integrated industrial complexes. The Call for proposals aims to achieve this through joint research cooperations that stimulate knowledge accumulation and sharing. The Call for proposals for proposals focuses on the technological, economic, governmental, and social barriers of the implementation of green energy sources and technologies. Consortia are expected to adopt an operational and systemic approach in their research. This will support a holistic view of the energy transition in the Dutch and Taiwanese ports.
Budget: The maximum grant available per project is € 700,000.00 on the NWO side, and a maximum of NT$3,000,000.00 per project per year for a maximum of 5 years on the NSTC side. No more than 3 proposals are expected to be awarded funding in this Call for proposals.
Co-funding requirement: Co-funding is not mandatory in this Call for proposals.
Supporting contributions: None.
Submission deadlines: Applicants should be aware of four deadlines in this Call for proposals.
1.
The deadline for submitting statements of intent is 29 October 2026, before 14:00:00 CET, at NWO on behalf of the entire consortium.
2.
The deadline for applicants whose (foreign) organisations need to be assessed by NWO (see the NWO regulations in Annex 7.1) is 21 January 2027, before 14:00:00 CET.
3.
The deadline for submitting full proposals at NWO is 4 February 2027, before 14:00:00 CET.
4.
The deadline for submitting full proposals at NSTC (which is the same full proposal submitted to NWO) is 4 March 2027.
Procedure: The application procedure consists of seven steps.
1.
(optional) online matchmaking (see 3.5)
2.
submission of the statement of intent for the entire consortium to NWO;
3.
submission of the proposal to NWO and NSTC;
4.
admissibility of the proposal by NWO and NSTC;
5.
initial advice from the assessment committee;
6.
rebuttal by the NWO applicant on behalf of the entire consortium;
7.
assessment committee meeting;
8.
decision-making.
1.2
Introduction
This “Accelerating Energy Transition in Dutch and Taiwanese Ports” Call for proposals describes the application process and consists of six chapters. It falls under the responsibility of the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and National Science and Technology Council (NSTC).
Please note that NSTC may have additional requirements for applicants based in Taiwan. Taiwan-based applicants should also consult the guidelines published by NSTC at the official NSTC website.
The NWO Grant Rules 2024 and Approval of Funding for Scientific Research apply to all proposals. The English version of the Call for proposals is always leading.
NWO processes personal data it receives in the context of this Call for proposals in accordance with the NWO Privacy Statement. NWO notes it will share names of (co-)applicants, their e-mails, organisation as well as the application itself with NSTC.
2
Aim and background
This chapter provides information about the aim and background of the Call for proposals.
2.1
Aim of the Call for proposals
The Netherlands and Taiwan share the ambition to decarbonise their economies. Their ports host large-scale industrial complexes and form key hubs where energy, industry, transport, and logistics intersect. This is making port decarbonisation an integral part of their broader strategy. Today’s ports emerged in an era when fossil fuels dominated the energy sector and served as key feedstocks. Over the next decades, ports are expected to decarbonise energy-intensive industrial activities, logistics, and transport, while remaining competitive nodes in international trade.
The energy transition in ports in the Netherlands and Taiwan face various technological, economic and social challenges. Within the Dutch ports, for example, the energy transition is slowed by the absence of robust industrial policy, insufficient cost competitiveness of green energy relative to fossil fuels, and limited social support for heavy industry within the Netherlands. The ports in Taiwan are, in turn, searching for ways to expedite the wide-spread introduction and system integration of green hydrogen while addressing the high costs of this transition, safety concerns, and lack of societal acceptance.
This NWO-NSTC Call for proposals aims to accelerate the energy transition within the Dutch and Taiwanese ports and their integrated industrial complexes through a joint research cooperation stimulating knowledge accumulation and sharing. To ensure a holistic view of these transitions, the Call for proposals focuses on the technological, economic, governmental, and social barriers of the implementation of green energy sources and technologies. Consortia are expected to use an operational and systemic approach in their research.
2.2
Background
To foster practical cooperation between researchers in the Netherlands and Taiwan and stimulate cross-domain innovation on the decarbonisation technologies for port systems the Netherlands' NWO and Taiwan's NSTC set up this Call for proposals. The main goal is to accelerate the smart and low-carbon transformation of international port systems through an interdisciplinary, systemic, operational research approach. Social, legal, ethical, economical, logistical, policy, governmental aspects within the energy transition of the port system also has to be considered to ensure new insights lead to scalable and globally demonstrative low-carbon port ecosystems.
2.3
Thematic focus
Energy transition in Taiwanese ports
In Taiwan, the urgency for the energy transition is driven by the limited domestic renewable energy potential and a strong reliance on imported energy. High population density, mountainous geography, and limited land availability constrain large-scale renewable deployment. The absence of significant domestic fossil fuel resources necessitates substantial imports of coal, oil, and natural gas. This structural dependency raises energy security concerns and underscores the need to accelerate low-carbon development. At the same time, the rapid expansion of highly energy-intensive industries, such as semiconductor manufacturing and AI-related industries, further increases demand for stable, low-carbon power. This makes the energy transition not only an environmental priority but also a strategic economic imperative.
Strong policy frameworks, such as the “Taiwan 2050 Hydrogen Application Technology Roadmap” and "Hydrogen and Ammonia Supply Chain Decarbonization Flagship Action Plan”, are (being) developed to position ports as future hydrogen hubs in alignment with Taiwan’s hydrogen and net-zero strategies. Ports are expected to enable green hydrogen-based transitions while safeguarding energy security for export-oriented heavy industry. These efforts focus on infrastructure deployment and the establishment of regional green hydrogen and ammonia demonstration hubs to enhance supply-chain integration.
The green hydrogen initiatives, however, are mainly in planning or pilot stages, and large-scale deployment has not yet occurred. Existing activities focus mainly on feasibility studies, small-scale demonstrations and conceptual designs for hydrogen import, storage and utilisation. This includes work on green ammonia as a maritime fuel, and high-pressure H2 for industrial applications. There are, however, still technical, societal and institutional challenges. These relate to high costs, evolving regulatory frameworks, safety as well as social acceptance of the energy transition within the ports.
Addressing these challenges require more coherent, inclusive policy designs and mechanisms. There is a critical need in Taiwan to move beyond purely technological implementation and foster research that includes social, legal, and governance dimensions equally, ensuring the more socially grounded energy transition.
Energy transition in Dutch ports
In the Netherlands, the ports of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and North Sea Port (Vlissingen, Terneuzen, Ghent) are part of the ARRRA cluster that extends to Belgium and Germany. Together, they produce 40% of Europe’s fuels and chemicals, and 41% of its steel. The energy transition in the Dutch ports is showing stagnation due to the lack of cost competition of green energy with fossil fuels, which influences market demand for green energy.
The Netherlands is favourably located on the North Sea – a shallow, windy sea with huge potential for offshore wind. This is a large resource, but offshore wind is comparatively expensive. In addition, green energy prices in the Netherlands are higher compared to neighbouring countries. Apart from the high costs, net congestion and permit-related challenges are other limiting factors in the acceleration of offshore wind production in connection to the onshore industrial clusters. The Dutch ports and their industrial complexes require greater regulatory and permitting flexibility as well as access to the grid, to be able to invest in green energy. There is also a need for sufficient incentives to stimulate the market demand for green energy and compete with fossil fuels. Ports and industry call for consistent, long-term policy, with also a clear translation from European policy to local policy, to make long-term investments and be able to compete within Europe and the world.
Presently, there is a desire to re-establish a strong industrial policy in the EU and the Netherlands. This was clearly expressed in the recent The Draghi report: A competitiveness strategy for Europe – Part A (European Commission, 2024)1https://commission.europa.eu/topics/competitiveness/draghi-report_en. The justification arises from a multipolar geopolitical landscape and from energy and industrial transitions that rely on government mandates, making new public-private cooperation necessary. This leads to the current debate on whether basic industry will relocate from Netherlands and the ARRRA region to areas with more favourable green energy resources, such as solar, onshore wind, and nuclear. It has also raised questions about the importance of importing green hydrogen (liquid or as ammonia) and green molecules such MeOH. The import and use of green hydrogen or green molecules requires substantial industrial investments. Market mechanisms alone do not account for broader societal interests, making government intervention necessary to integrate green energy into a functioning system. This underscores the need for analytical research on future value creation and revenue models of green energy, as well as the impact of government policy.
Overarching questions
Despite the different dynamics and geographical contexts of the two focus areas, addressing the energy transition in ports through a joint cooperation offers unique innovative insights and mutual learning opportunities. The Netherlands and Taiwan both face the challenge of stimulating energy transition in ports in a world in which autonomy for energy and basic industry are ever-more important drivers. In the Netherlands, the government takes a market-driven approach with few governmental interferences. In turn, Taiwan has had a more top-down regulated industrial policy and control over the past decades. These different policy approaches provide opportunities to learn from each other’s pathways. The energy transition limitations vary between the economies, but there are also some overarching concerns:
•
the governance of the energy transition and market design, emphasising the role of government and the search for novel partnerships between governments and (local/national) industries and understanding the manner in which robust policies can be implemented to accelerate the energy transition;
•
the role public-private cooperation plays in enabling the energy and industrial transitions of major port-based industrial clusters, given their dependence on government mandates and evolving industrial policy;
•
the potential for a future basic industry in the Netherlands and Taiwan, in view of the very different energy resource landscape in a renewable world compared to the existing, ‘fossil’ world.
Types of research
The challenge outlined in this Call for proposals can benefit from impartial academic analysis. At the core of it is fact-finding and analysis based on literature review and field data, such as historical analysis of industrial build-up, energy resource analysis, as well as techno-economic and governance analysis of industrial sectors. The research activities can encompass, for instance, a comparative techno-economic, historical and/or governance analysis of the green energy resource positions of major ports in Taiwan and the Netherlands and their influence on policy frameworks. This can be complemented by operational case studies that explore real-world implementation contexts, interventions and scenario development or applied policy frameworks to help stakeholders with actionable strategies for the energy transition in the ports. Governments can strengthen their industrial policies by drawing on solid analyses and practical assessments. Well-founded policy papers, feasibility checks for new regulations and consensus-based dialogue mechanisms with stakeholders, for instance, all contribute to this.
Further, evaluations of the economic, environmental, and managerial feasibility (business models) of technical implementations can provide investors and governments with a deeper understanding of the course of actions towards resilient investments in the green energy sector. The research insights should ultimately help accelerate the energy transition in their respective ports, laying the foundation toward a zero-emission society.
Specific consortium requirements
To contribute to the acceleration of the energy transition in the Dutch and Taiwanese ports, a strong interdisciplinary research team on both sides is necessary. Apart from that, consortia are required to work transdisciplinary, meaning both teams should work together with the appropriate stakeholders from the so-called quadruple helix model. These are, among others, port authorities, industrial operators, shipping companies, energy producers, infrastructure developers, technology providers, governments, regulatory bodies, and local communities. Research institutions and standard-setting organisations also play a critical role in translating knowledge into practice.
An important consideration is the engagement of stakeholders of the quadruple helix and how this is incorporated into the activities of the research project. Consortia should be fitting to the objectives of the proposal. There also needs to be sufficient interaction between public authorities, industry and researchers to ensure insights lead to scalable implementation by relevant stakeholders, at least within the Netherlands and Taiwan. To ensure this, consortia are strongly encouraged to actively engage and involve stakeholders from the quadruple helix during the design, development and execution of the research. On the Dutch side, the inclusion of at least one cooperation partner from this quadruple helix is mandatory.
In addition, on both sides of the consortium, there needs to be a senior project lead who, alongside guiding junior researchers, manages stakeholder engagement, performs the cross-project synthesis, and stimulates translation of academic work into (non-academic) policy papers. This will help the relevant stakeholders with the acceleration of the energy transition in the ports. Moreover, researchers are encouraged to spend at least a cumulative total of at least three months during the project's duration in each other’s research sites and work on joint case studies to have a better understanding of operational contexts. Consortia are encouraged to be mindful about the number of visits, in the interest of sustainability.
2.4
Fair research cooperation, integrated approach and international cooperation
For research partnerships to be effective, they have to be fair2NWO adheres to the Research Fairness Initiative of COHRED.. Proposals should be characterised by equitable partnership and sustainable cooperation among the partners in the consortium and with relevant stakeholders. Evidence of such active engagement will be an element in the assessment of project proposals.
Applications should furthermore be characterised by equitable partnership and sustainable cooperation between the partners based in the territory represented by NWO and the territory represented by NSTC. This includes inter-institutional cooperation, a balanced contribution to the proposed research, and frequent exchange between the partners, including exchange visits by both senior and junior researchers. Projects should budget for this accordingly.
The challenges addressed in this Call for proposals are interrelated and multi-scalar, and to reach impact require a holistic approach that spans the entire research and innovation chain. The consortia should crosscut scientific disciplinary boundaries (interdisciplinarity) and integrate scientific and practitioners’ knowledge in joint research (transdisciplinarity). Research should focus on the entire knowledge chain, from fundamental to applied and practical research. The proposed research itself should be characterised by integrated perspectives. It should evolve in a process of co-creation with different partners. Researchers from both the territory represented by NWO and the territory represented by NSTC are expected to be involved. Societal partners from public, semi-public and/or private organisations are encouraged to participate throughout the entire project, contributing both to defining and conducting the research, and to communicating the progress and results. In this way, all partners can jointly produce a mutually valued outcome.
Projects are also expected to collaborate with the other project(s) awarded in this Call for proposals to enhance the impact of this programme as a whole. As a part of this, projects will be expected to attend joint kick-off, mid-term, and final workshops. Projects should budget for this accordingly. Please see Annex 7.1 how these costs should be included in the budget. Consortium members on both sides of the consortium, namely in the territory represented by NWO and in the territory represented by NSTC, are expected to participate in these events.
2.5
Societal impact of research
NWO and NSTC promote research’s contribution to societal issues by encouraging productive interactions with societal stakeholders. This applies to both the development and the implementation of research.
Societal impact refers to changes resulting partly or entirely from knowledge and skills gained through research. These are changes that contribute to the health of people, animals, the planet, and society, both now and for future generations.
In this Call for proposals, the Impact Plan approach is applied. With this, NWO and NSTC facilitate the development of an integrated strategy that will enable researchers and partners to purposefully increase the likelihood of achieving the desired societal impact.
This approach should include a Theory of Change. The Theory of Change describes how the research process can contribute to societal impact by taking into account the context and actors involved, and describing the sequence of logically-linked consequential relations.
There are two parts:
•
The Problem Analysis. This joint effort from research partners as well as stakeholders makes explicit which (and whose) problem is being tackled and what is causing the problem. You start by clearly defining the societal challenge and the desired impact. This desired impact is well beyond the runtime of the project and more of a dot on the horizon that the project would like to contribute to. Next, the underlying causes are discussed and which of those are due to (a lack of) knowledge, thereby defining the knowledge gaps. This part should form a logical chain to the project, hypotheses, methodology, and work plan.
•
The Impact Pathway. This is the visualisation of the change process as described in the Theory of Change following from research execution. It makes explicit how the research activities will lead to results or insights (output). It further explains how the exchange of knowledge and the uptake of research output will contribute to desired changes in behaviour, relationships, actions, and activities of partners and stakeholders (outcome). These changes are considered essential to achieving the desired impact.
Any projections on expected change will be based on a myriad of assumptions. Documenting these assumptions allows for reflection on whether and how expected pathways to impact remain adequate or need adjustment, and where potential risks are. This is why a Theory of Change is not fixed, but rather reflected on continuously throughout the research process. For this reason, it is also used as part of the monitoring, evaluation, and learning trajectory.
Moving from output to outcome does not happen automatically. It is important to have productive interactions. These are exchanges between researchers and stakeholders in which knowledge is produced and valued in ways that is both scientifically robust and socially relevant. Interactions can be direct or personal, indirect or financial. The quantity as well as quality of the productive interactions form indicators for the potential for societal impact. Examples of productive interactions are:
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Co-design: formulation of research questions and approaches jointly with potential end-users.
•
Co-creation: joint execution of research projects and interactive dialogue on research results.
A Strategic Activity Plan spells out how the proposed productive interactions contribute to achieving outcomes. Strategies are needed to plan and monitor how the consortium’s efforts will enhance the potential for outcomes. This planning should include specific activities for:
•
Stakeholder engagement: who are the relevant stakeholders according to context analysis, how are the productive interactions organised and when?
•
Communication strategy: how are engagement dialogues organised, results exchanged and translated, and whose responsibility is it?
•
Capacity strengthening: who needs which capabilities to carry out the research effectively? And who needs which capacity to use the research output, both within the consortium and among stakeholders?
•
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning: how are results of activities monitored and evaluated, such that assumptions can be tested and activities adjusted accordingly? And whose responsibility is it?
An NWO e-learning module is available to interested parties via NWO Impact – Online workshops. For more information on NWO’s knowledge utilisation policy, see the website:
Knowledge utilisation | NWO.
3
Preparation and submission
This chapter contains information on how to prepare and submit a proposal. The term ‘proposal’ also refers to a letter of intent, insofar as these items are applicable for this Call for proposals.
The use of generative AI when preparing a proposal is not explicitly prohibited as long as this happens responsibly. For guidance, see the NWO policy on the use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) | NWO.
3.1
Timeline
The submission deadlines and a timeline for the entire assessment procedure for this Call for proposals are given below. NWO and NSTC reserve the right to make adjustments to this timeline in the course of the procedure if needed. These will be communicated to the main applicants. Proposals submitted after the deadline will not be taken into consideration by NWO.
Webinar
28-08-2026
Non-mandatory online matchmaking at 09:00–11:00 CEST. See section 3.5.
Letters of intent
29-10-2026 at 14:00:00 CET
Deadline for letters of intent at NWO on behalf of the entire consortium
Assessment (foreign) organisations
21-01-2027 at 14:00:00 CET
Deadline for submission of requests to assess (foreign) organisations (see the NWO section in Annex 7.1)
Proposals
04-02-2027 at 14:00:00 CET
Deadline for proposals at NWO and consortium list at NSTC
04-03-2027
Deadline for proposals at NSTC
March–April 2027
Consultation of pre-advisers
Beginning of May 2027
Opportunity for applicants to submit a rebuttal
June–July 2027
Assessment committee meeting
October 2027
Decision by the NWO Executive Board and NSTC International Cooperation Strategy Board
3.2
Who can apply
Eligibility rules concerning the entire consortium
The consortium partners apply for funding from their own funding organisation. The regulations about who is eligible to apply for funding from each funding organisation are stated in the eligibility rules of each funding council in Annex 7.1. Please note that a proposal that does not adhere to the conditions will be considered ineligible. The consortia in this Call for proposals must meet the minimum requirements stated below.
The side in the territory represented by NWO:
–
a main applicant who meets the criteria in the NWO section of Annex 7.1;
–
a co-applicant who meets the criteria in the NWO section of Annex 7.1 and is from a different organisation than the main applicant;
–
a cooperation partner from a practitioner organisation, such as a business, (local) government, or non-governmental organisation. Consortia are encouraged to work together with cooperation partners from a practitioner organisation, such a business, (local) government, or non-governmental organisation. The inclusion of a cooperation partner is mandatory for the side of the consortium represented by NWO and optional for the side of the consortium represented by NSTC. Please note that the mandatory cooperation partner can be based either in the Netherlands or Taiwan, depending on the needs of the consortium.
The side in the territory represented by NSTC:
–
a main applicant who fulfils the requirements as specified in the NSTC section of Annex 7.1;
–
a co-applicant (optional) who fulfils the requirements as specified in the NSTC section of Annex 7.1;
–
a cooperation partner from a practitioner organisation, such a business, (local) government, or non-governmental organisation. Please note that a cooperation partner for the consortium side represented by NSTC is optional.
Main applicants
A proposal should have two main applicants: one based in the territory represented by NWO, in accordance with the laws administered in that territory, and one based in the territory represented by NSTC, in accordance with the laws administered in that territory.
The main applicants are responsible for submitting the application and coordinating and managing the project. The main applicant based in the territory represented by NWO submits the proposal via the NWO web application ISAAC. The main applicant based in the territory represented by NSTC submits the proposal to NSTC via the Academic Research Service Portal.
During the assessment process, NWO will communicate with the main applicant based in the territory represented by NWO, and NSTC will communicate with the main applicant based in the territory represented by NSTC. Main applicants are expected to inform each other and the consortium of any necessary steps regarding the application.
After a proposal has been awarded funding, the main applicant based in the territory represented by NWO will become the project leader and point of contact for NWO. The main applicant based in the territory represented by NSTC will become the project leader and point of contact for NSTC. The research organisation of the main applicants are the main beneficiaries and will become the official secretaries for their respective grants.
Co-applicants
Co-applicants have an active role in the project. Together with the project leaders, they are responsible for realising the entire project.
Cooperation partners
Cooperation partners are non-research, practitioner organisations (i.e. legal entities). Cooperation partners, also from Taiwan, may be renumerated through ‘work by third parties’ in the NWO budget modules ‘Material costs’ and/or ‘Knowledge utilisation’, and/or they can finance their activity from other sources (see the NWO section in Annex 7.1). A clear description/indication of the role and form of engagement of these cooperation partners should be included in the proposal. Cooperation partners can be:
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companies and commercial organisations;
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government authorities (such as regional and local government institutions, municipalities and municipal organisations, city authorities, public administrations, and infrastructure and service providers);
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consumers and civil society representatives (e.g. local and community organisations, non-governmental organisations, not-for-profit organisations, citizens’ representatives, etc.).
3.3
What can be applied for
Different costs can be reimbursed from the NWO and NSTC grants. The application form allows you to specify which organisation you would like to cover a certain cost. You should complete two budgets: one specifying the costs to be covered by the NWO grant and one specifying the costs to be covered by the NSTC grant.
Each funding organisation will provide funds directly to their eligible applicants in accordance to the organisation’s rules and regulations. Annex 7.1 outlines the contribution that is available for this Call for proposals from NWO and NSTC, and also the funding rules and guidelines for each funding organisation. All requested costs must be eligible according to the funding organisation’s guidelines.
The maximum duration of the proposed project may be 60 months. In the proposal, a justification of the requested budget is required. The estimated budget must be tabulated according to the proposal template provided.
3.4
Submitting a letter of intent
Submission to NWO
The main applicant based in the territory represented by NWO will submit the letter of intent on behalf of the entire consortium, meaning also on behalf of the main applicant based in the territory represented by NSTC.
NWO makes use of the ISAAC system. To draw up your letter of intent, follow these steps:
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create an account or update your existing account details if necessary;
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in ISAAC, fill in all the requested information and submit the letter of intent;
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if you need to register an organisation that isn’t yet included in the ISAAC database, this is possible until five working days before the deadline by email to relatiebeheer@nwo.nl.
For questions about ISAAC, use the ‘Help’ button in ISAAC to consult the ISAAC manual or contact the ISAAC helpdesk. The ISAAC helpdesk can be reached Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 17:00 at +31 (0) 70 34 40 600. Emails may be sent to isaac.helpdesk@nwo.nl. You will receive a reply within two working days.
3.5
Preparing and submitting a proposal
Webinar
NWO and NSTC will organise a webinar on 28 August 2026 (09:00–11:00 CEST, 15:00–17:00 Taipei Time) to help researchers with an interest in the Call for proposals to connect with each other. Participation to this matchmaking is not mandatory in order to be an applicant. The participants are expected to be ‘above proficient’ in listening and speaking in English; there will be no interpreters available for Chinese and Dutch.
The webinar will start with a short introduction of the Call for proposals. Any questions should be asked afterwards via e-mail. The rest of the 2-hour webinar consists of an interactive matchmaking. Based on information provided by the participants, various breakout sessions will be created to meet other researchers and discuss ideas for this Call for proposals. Please note this matchmaking will not focus on stakeholders. Researchers are expected to find their own stakeholder(s) for their consortium.
All participants, both the ones based in the territory represented by NWO and those in the territory represented by NSTC, can register online via the NWO website. If you have trouble with the registration, please send an e-mail to your funding organisation (see Chapter 6). More information regarding the matchmaking will be send via e-mail to all registered participants in August 2026.
Submission to NWO
In ISAAC, you can convert a previously submitted letter of intent into a proposal using the ‘Convert to proposal’ button. Start preparations for your ISAAC proposal submission in good time.
The steps involved in writing your application are:
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use ISAAC to download the proposal form and required formats for annexes;
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save the completed proposal form as a PDF file and submit it in ISAAC. Submit any annexes separately;
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in ISAAC, fill in all the requested information, including the research fields and a summary for non-experts in Dutch and English. NWO will publish this summary for non-experts along with the press release about the grant awards. It should have a length of 50-100 words and be written for a general audience. Due to intellectual property concerns, no scientific summary is published;
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if you need to register an organisation that isn’t yet included in the ISAAC database, please note this is possible until five working days before the deadline by email to relatiebeheer@nwo.nl;
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the proposal is in English.
It is mandatory to upload the following annexes to the proposal in ISAAC:
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budget (Excel file);
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declaration knowledge security (see the NWO section in Annex 7.1) (PDF);
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letter of Commitment from the institutions of all main and co-applicants (PDF);
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declaration of Support from all cooperation partners (without co-funding) (PDF).
Optional annexes:
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declaration co-funding from all co-funding partners (PDF).
Submitting your application to NSTC
The main applicant based in the territory represented by NSTC must submit the application to NSTC via the Academic Research Service Portal.
Following the online submission by the main applicant through the NSTC system, the main applicant’s host institution must issue and send a formal official letter to NSTC to complete the application process. For further details, please refer to the Call for proposals published on the NSTC website.
Always use the templates provided by NWO and NSTC for all annexes. Annexes other than those listed above are not permitted.
Documentation including proposal submission formats is also available on the funding page for this Call for proposals on the NWO website.
3.6
Co-funding
The NWO Co-funding rules | NWO applies to all proposals. Should the side of the consortium based in the territory represented by NSTC secure co-funding, co-funders are required to fill in the ‘NSTC Letter of Intent of Co-funding’. Please refer to the Chinese version of the Call for proposals for the procedure. Please note that the English version of the Call for proposals is always leading.
Additional definitions:
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co-funding contributions in-kind: capitalised personnel and/or material costs paid by users;
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cash co-funding: used to cover a portion of the total project costs, and together with the grant provided by NWO and NSTC constitutes the financial resources.
For this Call for proposals, co-funding is not mandatory. However, co-funders may be included in the proposal. NWO distinguishes between cash co-funding (received by the applicant), which covers the budget for the project activities described in the proposal, and co-funding in-kind, which may consist of personnel and/or material resources contributed by the participating organisations.
Co-funding is subject to the following principles:
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NWO and NSTC are the proposal’s main funders. Proposals for projects where co-funding exceeds 49% of the total project costs will not be considered;
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Co-funding should furthermore not exceed 49% of the grant provided by the funder to whom the co-funding must be accounted for. Co-funding provided by organisations based in the territory represented by NSTC must be accounted for to NSTC. Co-funding provided by other organisations must be accounted for to NWO;
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Contributions in-kind will only be accepted provided when the co-funder’s contribution forms an integral part of the project activities and can be traced or designated as an identifiable commitment. In case of uncertainty, NWO and NSTC may request further explanation of and documentation for the rates used and can request an adjustment of these rates. Additionally, any contributions in-kind in the form of services or know-how must not already be present or available at the research organisations of the applicants;
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For the capitalisation of time spent on a project by personnel (personnel hours), fixed general hourly rates apply. For rates, see the Manual tariffs Dutch Government (HOT), Table 2, under 2.2 ‘Average total salary costs per salary scale’, column ‘Hourly rate for productive hours excluding VAT’. Use the rate that most closely approximates the actual salary costs;
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Cash co-funding is the net amount the applicant receives from a co-funder. The applicant invoices the co-funder for the cash co-funding amount and any applicable VAT.
Not permissible as cash or in-kind co-funding3The NWO Co-funding Scheme, Article 6 describes which types of co-funding are not permitted.:
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Grant support provided by NWO and NSTC;
–
Co-funding cannot be contributed by parties eligible to submit their own proposal to NWO as part of this Call for proposals;
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Costs of overhead, supervision, consultancy services and/or participation during consortium and programme meetings.
Co-funding declaration of participating co-funders
The co-funding organisation commits to financial support for the project and confirms the specified amount of co-funding in a co-funding declaration. It is mandatory to include co-funding declarations of every co-funder named in the proposal as annexes to the submitted proposal. The co-funding declaration must be signed by an authorised signatory for the co-funding organisation. The required format for the co-funding declaration can be found on the funding page of this Call for proposals on the NWO website, in ISAAC. NSTC provides requirements and conditions for co-funding in the Chinese version of the Call for proposals and in the NSTC’s general guidelines for bilateral cooperation and exchange programmes available on the NSTC website.
If the proposal is awarded funding, the co-funder must confirm their contributions in the consortium agreement. This agreement also contains details of any further arrangements concluded between the co-funders and the applicants (see Subsection 5.1.3).
Accountability of cash or in-kind co-funding
The percentage of co-funding, both cash and in-kind, compared to the grant awarded by NWO and NSTC in this Call for proposals applies from the time of a proposal’s submission until the grant has been determined. Cash co-funding affects the grant amount provided by NWO and NSTC, as both NWO’s and NSTC’s contribution and the co-funded cash are being used for the same project-specific costs, unlike co-funding in-kind.
Official indexation (see Annex 7.3) due to the applicability of other rates after submission will not affect the percentages or co-funding requirements for the NWO contribution. These are calculated based on the percentages in the proposal budgets approved by NWO.
Once a project has been completed, the final grant amount is determined based on the final financial statement, the financial conditions and the co-funding percentages included in the proposal’s budget.
In case of partial cash co-funding payments due to unexpected events such as bankruptcy, NWO and NSTC will base its contribution on the originally awarded grant, taking into account the co-funding payments received and any applicable minimum co-funding requirements.
Calculations of the co-funded percentage compared to the grant awarded by NWO and NSTC will also take any cash co-funding in excess of requirements into account. In the event of a project with cash co-funding in excess of the co-funding requirements and partially received co-funding payments at the time of determination, NWO’s and NSTC’s contribution will never exceed the original amount awarded in the grant. In that case, the percentage contributed by NWO and NSTC will be limited to the maximum amount dictated by the co-funding requirement.
NWO and NSTC should always be notified of any problems regarding anticipated co-funding, cash and/or in-kind. Along with financial consequences for a project, NWO and NSTC may also ask for sufficient changes to be made to the project to enable the research to continue as well as possible by means of a change request.
3.7
Requirements for consideration
NWO and NSTC will assess the proposal against the conditions applicable to this Call for proposals and the regulations per funding organisation (Annex 7.1), including those listed below. A proposal must meet these requirements to be taken into consideration.
Conditions:
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the mandatory letter of intent was submitted before the deadline to NWO;
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the proposal was received before the deadline by both NWO and NSTC;
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the main applicant and co-applicants, cooperation partners as well as the composition of the consortium as a whole, meets the conditions stated in Subsection 3.2 and Annex 7.1;
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the co-funders, if part of the consortium, meet the conditions stated in Subsection 3.6;
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the proposal complies with the DORA guidelines described in Subsection 4.3.4;
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the proposal has been prepared using the forms provided in ISAAC and on the NWO website’s funding page for this Call for proposals;
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the data management section (showing how the applicants will handle data generated by the research) has been completed;
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the proposal form and the required annexes are, after possibly two requests to make additions or changes, correct and complete, and have been filled out according to the instructions;
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the proposal has been submitted to NWO via the ISAAC account of the main applicant based in the Netherlands;
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the proposal is in English;
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the proposal meets the page count and word limit requirements;
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the budget for the proposal has been compiled according to the requirements of this Call for proposals, using the provided format with the most recent rates;
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the co-funding, after any request for additions or changes, has been correctly and fully committed through declarations of co-funding (if applicable);
–
the proposed project has a duration of at least 48 and at most 60 months.
The proposal form may include additional requirements, explanations, procedures and questions necessary for the form’s correct completion.
Consideration of proposal and administrative corrections
After submission of the required documents, the applicant receives notice of whether NWO intends to take the proposal into consideration as soon as possible. Be aware that NWO may contact the Netherlands-based applicants for up to two weeks after the NWO’s submission deadline for proposals to request any administrative corrections required to allow the conditions for submission to be met. The applicant is given a maximum of two opportunities to make these corrections and must do so within five working days. If the corrected documents remain incomplete and/or incorrect, NWO and NSTC will not take the proposal into further consideration.
Notification of own research organisation
NWO and NSTC work on the assumption that applicants have informed the research organisations where they are employed about the proposal submission, and that these organisations have accepted the grant conditions pertaining to this Call for proposals. During the application process, NWO and NSTC will communicate with the main applicant of their respective sides.
4
Assessment
This chapter contains information on the assessment procedure for a proposal.
NWO and NSTC strive to achieve an inclusive culture where there is no place for conscious or unconscious barriers due to cultural, ethnic or religious background, gender, sexual orientation, health or age4Diversity and inclusion | NWO. NWO and NSTC encourage members of an assessment committee to be actively aware of implicit associations and to try to minimise these. NWO and NSTC will provide them with information about concrete ways of improving the assessment of an application.
4.1
Criteria
The applications submitted within this Call for proposals will be substantially assessed on the basis of the following criteria:
1.
Quality of the research
2.
Potential for societal impact
3.
Quality of the consortium
The criteria carry equal weight and each count for one-third of the final assessment.
The assessment criteria are further operationalised below:
1)
Quality of the research
–
Scientific importance and innovativeness of the research questions and approach;
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Degree to which the proposal substantiates convincingly how the research relates to the thematic focus of the Call for proposals;
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Adequacy, feasibility and coherence of the research approach and methodology in view of the problem addressed;
–
Adequacy of the budget.
2)
Potential for societal impact
–
Relevance for society and potential for societal breakthroughs;
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Suitable involvement of target groups, convincingly responding to their demand;
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Quality of the impact plan:
I.
a clear problem statement, analysis and vision on the desired societal impact;
II.
a logical impact pathway presenting plausible pathways to societal impact;
III.
appropriate and feasible strategic activity planning;
IV.
relevant stakeholder involvement in the development and execution of the impact plan.
3)
Quality of the consortium
–
Suitability of the consortium partners’ expertise in relation to the research project;
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The degree to which the consortium is inter -and transdisciplinary and incorporates the necessary scientific disciplines to address the problem, as well as knowledge from outside the scientific community
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Added value of the Netherlands-Tawain cooperation;
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Quality of the Netherlands-Taiwan cooperation, including fair and equitable partnership.
4.2
Procedure
The assessment procedure for a proposal consists of the following steps (see timeline in Subsection 3.1):
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submission of the statement of intent;
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submission of the proposal;
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admissibility of the proposal;
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initial advice from the assessment committee;
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rebuttal;
–
assessment committee meeting;
–
decision-making.
An external independent assessment committee will be appointed by the Executive Board from NWO and NSTC for this Call for proposals. Members are drawn from science and society with knowledge of the field. It is the assessment committee’s task to assess the proposals received against the assessment criteria. Each proposal is assessed on its own merits.
Given the expertise present in this joint assessment committee and the small size of the grant, NWO and NSTC have opted to apply the provision in Article 2.2.4, Subsection 2 of the NWO Grant Rules 2024 for assessment of applications without involving referees.
4.2.1
Submission of the statement of intent
With a statement of intent, you indicate that you intend to submit an application for this Call for proposals. Submitting the statement of intent is compulsory if you want to submit a full application in the later phase. The main applicant based in the territory represented by NWO will submit the statement of intent on behalf of the entire consortium.
The statement of intent allows NWO and NSTC to establish the expected number of applications. You must submit your statement of intent before the deadline via ISAAC (see Subsection 3.1). Include a list of the names of the main applicant from the territories represented by NWO and NSTC, and of the co-applicants from the territories represented by NWO and NSTC. As main applicant based in the territory represented by NWO, you will receive a confirmation of receipt of the statement of intent. The consortium may still be adjusted when submitting the full application.
You may withdraw a statement of intent on behalf of the entire consortium. You can do this via your account in ISAAC.
4.2.2
Submission of a proposal
For the submission of the proposal, a standard form is available on the funding page of this Call for proposals on the NWO website and the Academic Research Service Portal of NSTC. When you write your proposal, you must adhere to the questions stated on this form and the procedure given in the explanatory notes. You must also adhere to the conditions for the maximum number of words and pages.
Your complete application form must have been received before the deadline via ISAAC (see Subsection 3.1) and via the Academic Research Service Portal of NSTC. After this deadline, you can no longer submit a proposal. The applicants based in the territory represented by NSTC are required to share a list of consortium partners with NSTC on the date of the NWO deadline.
4.2.3
Admissibility of the proposal
As soon as possible after you have submitted your proposal, you will hear from NWO and NSTC whether or not your proposal will be taken into consideration. NWO and NSTC will determine this based on several administrative-technical criteria (see the formal conditions for submission, Subsection 3.7). NWO and NSTC can only take your proposal into consideration if it meets these conditions.
First, NWO will conduct a preliminary eligibility check to ensure the proposal is admissible. Please bear in mind that within two weeks after the submission deadline, NWO may approach the Netherlands-based applicant with any possible administrative corrections that need to be made so that the proposal can (still) meet the conditions for submission. For this reason, the deadline for the submission of the complete application to NSTC is set two weeks after the NWO deadline. The Netherlands-based applicant will be given a maximum of two opportunities to make the corrections. The first time they will be given five working days to do this, the second time they will receive two working days to make any necessary final administrative adjustments. The proposal that has been declared admissible by NWO should be uploaded to NSTC.
For guidelines on the application submission to NSTC, please refer to the NSTC Call for proposals page. The main applicant based in the territory represented by NSTC will receive a confirmation of receipt from NSTC. NSTC will also conduct an eligibility check and inform the applicant based in the territory represented by NSTC about its outcome.
Please note: The proposal that has been declared admissible by NWO is the proposal that will be assessed by the assessment committee.
4.2.4
Pre-advice by the joint assessment committee
The proposal is shared with the joint assessment committee for review. Preferably, at least two pre-advisers should be appointed for each proposal. The pre-advisers provide written, substantive, and reasoned responses to each proposal. They formulate these responses based on the substantive assessment criteria (see Subsection 4.1) and give the proposal numerical scores for each assessment criterion. Scores are determined based on the NWO score table using a scale of 1 to 9, where ‘1’ is excellent and ‘9’ unsatisfactory. A proposal’s data management section is not assessed and does not affect the decision on whether to award funding. However, the assessment committee may still provide advice on this section.
4.2.5
Rebuttal
The main applicant based in the territory represented by NWO is provided with the anonymised pre-advice and should share these with the main applicant based in the territory represented by NSTC and the rest of the consortium. They may respond with a rebuttal if desired. Rebuttals must be submitted via ISAAC within ten working days of the receipt of the pre-advice. After this deadline, a rebuttal will not be included in the subsequent stages of the procedure. Upon receiving the pre-advice an applicant may opt to withdraw their proposal via ISAAC, in which case they should notify the Call for proposals secretariat (see Chapter 6 for contact details).
4.2.6
Meeting of the joint assessment committee
The joint assessment committee makes its own assessment based on the available material. The final assessment is guided to an important degree by the pre-advice, although the joint assessment committee will not necessarily adopt these in full. The joint assessment committee will consider the arguments put forward by the pre-advisers, weighing them against each other, and determine whether the rebuttal constitutes a proper response to the points of criticism raised in the pre-advice. The joint assessment committee assigns every proposal a final score, rounded to two decimal places.
Following their deliberations, the joint assessment committee prepares a written advisory report for the NWO Executive Board and the NSTC International Cooperation Strategy Board concerning the quality and ranking of the proposals. This advice is based on the assessment criteria. A proposal must achieve an overall rating of at least ‘very good’ to be eligible for the grant. Additionally, the proposal must qualify as at least ‘very good’ for each of the individual assessment criteria. For more information on the qualifications, see Applying for funding, how does it work? | NWO.
4.2.7
Decision-making
Finally, the NWO Executive Board and the NSTC International Cooperation Strategy Board will assess the procedure followed as well as the advice from the assessment committee. They will subsequently determine the final qualifications and make a decision over awarding or rejecting the proposals. The decision is final when both organisations have come to the same decision.
4.3
Guidelines and frameworks for assessment
The following guidelines and frameworks apply during the assessment of a proposal.
4.3.1
Code for Dealing with Personal Interests
The NWO Code for Dealing with Personal Interests applies to all individuals involved in the assessment and/or decision-making process. NSTC’s conflict of interest framework is described on the NSTC website (Principles of Conflict of Interest Mitigation and Confidentiality for National Science and Technology Programs and Directions for Recusal and Confidentiality in the Review of Awards and Subsidies by the National Science and Technology Council). In case of doubt, the stricter rule between NWO and NSTC will prevail.
4.3.2
Generative AI
In this Call for proposals, the use of generative AI to assess proposals is completely prohibited.
More information about NWO’s policy on the use of generative AI can be found on the website (NWO policy on the use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) | NWO).
For more information about the NSTC's policy, please refer to the NSTC website.
4.3.3
Diversity and inclusion
NWO5Diversity and inclusion | NWO and NSTC strive to achieve an inclusive culture in which there is no place for conscious or unconscious barriers based on cultural, ethnic, or religious background, gender, sexual orientation, health or age). Guidance6Inclusive assessment | NWO is offered to joint assessment committee members on how to ensure an inclusive written assessment and joint assessment committee meeting.
4.3.4
Broad definition of scientific output (DORA)
NWO is a signatory to the ‘San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment’ (DORA). DORA is a worldwide initiative that aims to improve the way research and researchers are assessed. DORA contains recommendations for research funders, research institutions, scientific journals and other parties.
When assessing applicants’ scientific track records, NWO and NSTC apply a broad definition of scientific output.
NWO and NSTC ask the joint assessment committee not to rely on indicators such as the Journal Impact Factor or the h-index when assessing proposals. There should be no mention of such indicators in the proposal. It is, however, permitted to list other scientific products besides publications, such as datasets, patents, software, and code.
4.3.5
Ex aequo
NWO and NSTC define ex aequo as a situation in which it is not possible to distinguish between two or more proposals based on their weighted scores. An ex aequo situation is relevant when approaching the limits of the grant cap or selection threshold. The existence of an ex aequo situation is determined as follows. The starting point is the ranking by the joint assessment committee, with final scores rounded to two decimal places. The score for the lowest-ranked proposal within the limits of the grant cap or the selection threshold is used as a reference score. All proposals with scores within 0.05 of the reference score are taken into consideration. The result is a selection of proposals with scores within 0.10 of each other.
In the event of a tied ranking at the limit of the grant cap or selection threshold, the proposal with the highest score for the quality of research criterion will receive precedence. If this results in another tie, the proposal with the highest score for the potential for impact criterion will be given precedence. If this still does not resolve the situation, the joint assessment committee will determine the ranking by a majority vote, which may be anonymous, in accordance with Article 2.2.6, Subsection 5 of the NWO Grant Rules 2024. If this vote also fails to break the tie, or is deemed unacceptable, the ex aequo situation will be passed on to the NWO Executive Board and the NSTC International Cooperation Strategy Board.
5
After the grant award
This chapter lists the conditions and obligations that apply once the grant has been awarded. As such, it is mainly relevant to applicants with approved proposals.
Please note that project leaders based in the territory represented by NSTC will receive additional further instructions from NSTC regarding the monitoring of their project.
5.1
Start of the project
Once a proposal has been awarded funding, the main applicant based in the territory represented by NWO automatically becomes the project leader and point of contact for NWO. The project leader’s research organisation is designated as the main beneficiary and becomes the Netherlands-based grant administrator. The project leader based in the territory represented by NWO for the project receives an award letter on behalf of the NWO Executive Board. This letter also notes any specifically required forms and guidelines.
The main applicant based in the territory represented by NSTC automatically becomes the project leader and point of contact for NSTC. The research organisation of the project leader based in the territory represented by NSTC is designated as the main beneficiary for NSTC and becomes the Taiwan-based grant administrator. The project leader based in the territory represented by NSTC for the project receives an award letter on behalf of the NSTC. This letter also notes any specifically required forms and guidelines.
The project leader based in the territory represented by NWO and the project leader based in the territory represented by NSTC, with their respective grant administrators, share joint responsibility for the execution of the entire project. Co-applicants also play an active role in the project’s execution and are project co-leaders.
Start documents to be submitted to NWO
The project leader based in the territory represented by NWO must submit the following documents to NWO before the start of the project:
–
A start form;
–
A data management plan;
–
A consortium agreement.
Without these documents, work on the project cannot start. The grant will be paid out in instalments once all start-up requirements have been met.
5.1.1
Start form
A start form must be used to indicate the start of the project. The project leader receives this start form along with the award letter. Project leaders can authorise others to carry out administrative tasks relating to their project in the ISAAC system. For more information about the authorisation scheme for project leaders, go to: Authorisation scheme for project managers | NWO.
5.1.2
Data management plan
Good research goes hand in hand with responsible data management. Before the start of the project, the project leader must elaborate the data management section (see Subsection 3.7) into a data management plan. If the referees or joint assessment committee offered any advice on data management, this may be included. In the plan, the project leader indicates whether use will be made of existing data or whether new data collection will be involved, and how this collection will then be made FAIR, i.e. Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.
The data management plan should be checked by a data steward or similar officer at the organisation where the project is to be carried out. The data management plan must have been submitted to NWO via ISAAC before the project start date. NWO will assess the plan. The grant’s award is conditional upon approval of the data management plan by NWO and NSTC. The plan may be adapted in the course of the research.
5.1.3
Consortium agreement
The consortium agreement specifies the terms for intellectual property and publication, knowledge transfer, confidentiality, co-funding payments, progress reports and final reports. A model consortium agreement can be found on the funding page for this Call for proposals on the NWO website, but consortia can draft their own consortium agreements as long as the funding guidelines of NWO and NSTC are respected. The consortium agreement is concluded by all project partners and signed by authorised signatories for the relevant organisations. It must be submitted in ISAAC before work can be started on the project. The main applicants are responsible for setting up the consortium agreement.
NWO and NSTC aim to ensure that research results from projects funded by NWO and NSTC are made publicly available. In addition to that, NWO and NSTC seek to promote further development of the results by enabling parties to profit thereby. This can make it desirable to transfer or license the use of intellectual property rights to one or more private parties involved in a project. The basic premise is that all research results may be published, with due consideration for agreements concerning publication procedures. The terms are defined in the consortium agreement.
5.2
Joint monitoring and project management
The project leaders must keep NWO and NSTC informed of the project’s progress via an annual progress report. The projects will be evaluated at about the mid-term of the projects’ running time and at the end of the project (see Subsection 5.2.1).
Consortia are expected to attend the programme-wide mandatory meetings (kick-off, mid-term, and final workshops) and reserve budget for this. Apart from meetings on a programme level, consortia are expected to organise workshops (kick-off, mid-term, and final) for their own project, preferably in person. Consortia are also expected to virtually meet on a project level at least every 6 months and, when needed, more often on a work package level. Consortia should include a budget for these meetings accordingly (see Annex 7.2).
Additional project monitoring and reporting will be in accordance with the respective funding organisation’s rules. See further information in Annex 7.1.
An overview of the mandatory reporting and meetings can be found in Annex 7.2.
5.2.1
Progress report
Annual reports
NWO and NSTC request updates on the project’s progress at regular intervals. The project leaders will receive an email with a request to prepare and submit a progress report well beforehand, along with the relevant deadline. The project leaders will be provided with the progress report template. Due to the use of an Impact Plan approach for this Call for proposals, the project leaders should also report on societal impact in line with this approach.
The same reports should be submitted to NSTC and NWO. A draft version of the report should be used as input for a yearly (virtual) project meeting during which the progress of the research is discussed. A final version can be submitted to NWO and NSTC after that yearly project meeting. Annual reports will also be used any yearly virtual programme meeting during which the results of all the projects are shared.
For some projects the fourth annual, report rather than the final report, will act as input for the joint final workshop.
Mid-term report
The projects will be evaluated at about halfway of the projects’ running time, based on their mid-term report. In preparation for this report, consortia are expected to organise a project-specific workshop by the end of year 2. Consortia should include this workshop in their budget. During this workshop results will be shared and discussed with stakeholders from in and outside the project team. Together with the stakeholders, consortia should also review the impact plan, its underlying assumptions and indicators. Based on this self-assessment, consortia are expected to draft a mid-term report. This should include the conclusions of the workshop, and a reflection on, and if required a revision of, the impact plan, the underlying assumptions, and the indicators.
An international advisory committee, created by NSTC and NWO, will evaluate the progress of the projects based on mid-term reports submitted by the consortia. Interviews or field visits may be organised to evaluate the progress and impact of the projects. The advisory committee will give recommendations to the projects based on their evaluations and some members of the advisory committee will be invited to the kick-off, joint mid-term workshop and final workshop.
The mid-term reports of all the projects of this programme should be submitted at least 3 months before the joint mid-term workshop and will be used as input by NSTC and NWO for organising it. Both the members of the consortium based in the territory represented by NWO and the territory represented by NSTC are expected to contribute and participate in the mid-term workshop.
Final report
A substantive final report should be submitted within three months after the end of the project’s runtime, detailing the research done and the achieved results, as well as a reflection on the project’s impact plan and its indicators. Before writing the final report, projects will be asked to hold a final workshop to discuss the results with stakeholders from inside and outside the project team. The final substantive report will again be evaluated by the international advisory committee created by NWO and NSTC.
The final report (depending on the project length) will be used as input by NSTC and NWO for organising the joint final workshop. The final workshop should also be included in the consortium’s budget.
5.2.2
International advisory committee
After the proposal has been awarded funding, NWO and NSTC appoints an international advisory committee. This advisory committee will monitor each project and advise on progress. Some members will be invited to the kick-off, joint mid-term workshop and final workshop. More information about this committee is provided in the award letter.
5.2.3
Mandatory meetings
NWO and NSTC co-organise five mandatory meetings which at least the project leaders and the active research team are obliged to attend. Stakeholders are encouraged to join as well. NWO and NSTC advise project leaders to allocate a budget for the in-person meeting participation which will be held in either the Netherlands or Taiwan.
The following meetings are planned for this programme:
–
Joint in-person kick-off workshop;
–
Joint virtual programme meeting at the end of Year 1;
–
Joint in-person mid-term workshop;
–
Joint in-person final workshop;
–
Joint virtual programme meeting towards the end of all projects.
Apart from meetings on a programme level, the consortia are also expected to organise on a project level at least three in person meetings (kick-off, mid-term, and final). These in-person meetings with all consortium members and relevant stakeholders will facilitate and stimulate active involvement of all partners throughout the entire project. Consortia should budget for these meetings accordingly. These meetings may be organised adjacent to the joint programme activities if planning allows it.
5.2.4
Research output
NWO and NSTC want to be kept informed of all the output resulting from the research, both scientific and for a wider audience.
The NWO website offers more information on various forms of output. Project leaders can use the ISAAC system to submit such output to NWO.
5.2.5
Project changes
In the event of any changes occurring on the NWO represented side of the consortium during the course of the project compared to the approved proposal and budget, the project leaders must submit the changes to NWO for approval in advance using a request for change form. See also Article 3.4 of the NWO Grant Rules 2024.
Changes occurring on the NSTC represented side during the course of the project are generally not allowed. However, NSTC will review how the projects are being conducted taking the specific circumstances of each project into account.
5.3
Guidelines and frameworks for project execution
The following describes the guidelines and frameworks applicable to the project’s execution.
5.3.1
Ethical statement or licence
It is the project leader’s responsibility to determine whether execution of the proposed project requires an ethical statement or licence. The presence or absence of an ethical statement or licence at the time of application will not impact the proposal’s assessment. If an ethical statement or licence does prove necessary for all or part of the research, the project leader must provide NWO and NSTC with a copy of this statement or licence once the project has been approved and before starting work on the relevant project components. Naturally, the statement or licence must have been issued to be able to work on these components.
Applicants have to act in accordance with the internationally accepted standards of scientific activity as well as the standards accepted in the territories represented by NWO and NSTC, as set out in the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and the TRUST Code – A Global Code of Conduct for Equitable Research Partnerships. In case research is conducted in fragile contexts, it is advised to consult the Security Guidelines for field research in complex, remote and hazardous places.
For complex questions related to ethical issues, NWO and NSTC reserve the right to consult an external adviser. If after consulting the applicant, NWO and NSTC are of the opinion that an ethical assessment is needed for the application, then the applicants are obliged to take the necessary measures for such an assessment. If the applicants fail to obtain the necessary statement of approval from an ethics review committee then the grant shall be immediately withdrawn.
5.3.2
Scientific integrity
Research must be conducted in accordance with the standards set out in the 2018 Netherlands Code ofConduct for Research Integrity. In the case of an actual or suspected violation of these standards, the project leader must immediately inform NWO and NSTC and submit all relevant documents.
Researchers can also report complaints to their research organisation’s Scientific Integrity Committee or to the NWO Scientific Integrity Desk.
NWO and NSTC place a high value on the scientific integrity of the research they fund and exerts themselves to prevent and detect any integrity violations. Research irregularities can cause damage directly, for example to the environment or to patients, and prejudice public trust in scientific research as well as trust between individual researchers.
5.3.3
Principles of socially responsible licensing
A project may generate knowledge that is applicable in society. When entering into licensing or transfer agreements for research results developed in this Call for proposals, due consideration must be given to the ten principles of socially responsible licensing provided on the UMCNL website.
5.3.4
Genetic resources and the Nagoya Protocol
Researchers must take whatever measures are necessary to ensure compliance with the Nagoya Protocol. The Nagoya Protocol aims to ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the utilisation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources (Access and Benefit-Sharing; ABS). Researchers who make use of such resources, including in or from other countries, should familiarise themselves with the tenets of the Nagoya Protocol (ABS Focal Point).
5.3.5
Intellectual property
NWO’s policy on intellectual property (IP) can be found in the NWO Grant Rules 2024. Project leaders based in the territory represented by NSTC should furthermore ensure that any IP emanating from NSTC funding is managed in accordance with NSTC guidelines.
Project leaders must execute a project funded by NWO and NSTC during their period of employment with the beneficiary research organisation. If a project leader or researcher funded by NWO and NSTC has multiple employers, the non-beneficiary employers must waive any IP rights arising from the project.
5.4
Completion
5.4.1
Completion of the project at NWO
Project leaders must submit a substantive (see Subsection 5.2.1) and a financial final report to NWO within three months of the project’s completion. Failure to submit these reports or to submit them in time can lead to the grant being reduced or withdrawn altogether. The project leader will receive a request by email, along with the relevant deadline. Templates for a basic final report and a financial final report are available at Completing a project | NWO. If a different final report template applies for the project, the project leader will be provided with this information in due course.
Independent auditor’s report on financial statements
To obtain the necessary assurances on the grant’s proper expenditure, NWO requires an independent
report from an external auditor to arrive at its decision in the following cases:
–
the beneficiary of a project grant is not subject to the Education Audit Protocol of the Ministries of Education, Culture and Science and of Economic Affairs (OCW/EZ) and the grant exceeds € 125,000.00;
–
a project funded by NWO and NSTC involves a different provider of public funding than the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and this provider requires an auditor’s report. In such cases, applicability of the Education Audit Protocol is not pertinent.
The OCW/EZ Education Audit Protocol applies to legal entities funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in the following sectors: primary education, secondary education, secondary vocational education and training (MBO) and higher education.
The grant administrator is responsible for arranging an auditor’s report within the appropriate time frame. This responsibility remains fully applicable even if the grant administrator has spent part of the grant on another party. Arrangements with the external auditor should be made in good time.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, contact NWO and NSTC well in advance (see Chapter 6), preferably at the start of the project.
5.5
Research results – Open Science
Open Science is the movement aimed at more open and collaborative research practices in which publications, data, software and other types of academic output are shared at the earliest possible stage and made available for reuse.
Scientific publications about the project must be made available in an Open Access format in accordance with NWO’s Open Access Policy Framework. See the NWO website for a list of options to provide open access to various types of publications such as scientific articles, books or book chapters and dissertations. More information on the use of licences is also available on the NWO website. Any costs for Open Access publication should be included as part of the proposal’s budget.
NWO and NSTC funded research can lead to publications or other relevant research output. If so, the grant administrator must note NWO’s funding in the acknowledgements.
5.6
Evaluation
NWO and NSTC may approach applicants or project leaders to ask them to complete an evaluation of the procedure and/or research programme.
6
Contact
For specific questions about this Call for proposals, please contact:
NSTC:
Mr Shawn H.H. Ma
Secretary of Division of Science and Technology
Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium (Brussels)
E-mail: shawnma@nstc.gov.tw
Ms Dr Ching-Mei Tang
Researcher, Programme Director
Department of International Cooperation and Science Education (NSTC)
E-mail: cmtom@nstc.gov.tw
NWO:
Ms Jennifer Faber
Programme officer, Domain Applied and Engineering Sciences
E-mail: nstc-energytransition@nwo.nl
Tel: +31 6 57720656
Ms Arina Ermakova
Policy officer, Domain Social Sciences and Humanities
E-mail: nstc-energytransition@nwo.nl
Tel: +31 6 10813991
For general questions about NWO funding procedures, please see Applying for funding, how does it work? | NWO.
6.1
Technical questions about the ISAAC electronic application system
For questions about ISAAC, use the ‘Help’ button in ISAAC to consult the ISAAC manual. You can also contact the ISAAC helpdesk. The ISAAC helpdesk can be reached Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 17:00 CET/CEST at +31 (0) 70 34 40 600. You can also submit your questions by email to isaac.helpdesk@nwo.nl. You will receive a reply within two working days.
6.2
Technical questions about the web application Academic Research Service Portal
For technical questions about the use of the Academic Research Service Portal, please refer to the detailed instructions in the Chinese version of the Call for proposals published on the NSTC website.
6.3
Reference version of the Call for proposals
Please note that the English version of the Call for proposals is always leading.
7
Annexes
7.1
Information Funding Organisations’ Annexes
National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Section
Contact point
Name
Mr Shawn H.H. Ma, Secretary of Division of Science and Technology, Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium (Brussels)
E-mail: shawnma@nstc.gov.tw
Ms Dr Ching-Mei Tang, Researcher, Programme Director, Department of International Cooperation and Science Education (NSTC)
E-mail: cmtom@nstc.gov.tw
Email
see above
Phone
contact via email only
Funding commitment
NT$ 3,000,000.00 per project per year for a maximum of 5 years; the total funding commitments is dependent on the number of awarded projects
Anticipated number of projects to be funded
3
Maximum funding per awarded project / per partner
NT$ 3,000,000.00 per project per year for a maximum of 5 years
Who can apply?
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution
In compliance with the NSTC’s regulation ‘Operation Guidelines for NSTC Research Grants’:
• Applicant institutions (i.e., research conducting institutions) shall be approved by NSTC to be eligible recipients of subsidisation in accordance with the ‘Operation Guidelines for Institutions Applying for NSTC Grants’. The eligible institutions are classified into three categories as follows:
1. Taiwanese public/private colleges and universities;
2. Taiwanese public/private research institutions;
3. Taiwanese medical institutions.
• In principle, NSTC does not directly subsidise industry.
In compliance with NSTC’s regulation ‘Operation Guidelines for NSTC Research Grants’: Principal Investigator(s) must meet several qualifications. For more information about the qualifications please refer to: https://www.nstc.gov.tw/folksonomy/list/f6d5c23c-b3ce-438e-911b-12a705dbac5a?l=ch
Eligible costs
What type of activities are eligible for funding?
About budget requirements of the projects based on which applicants can apply to NSTC for funding, please refer to: https://www.nstc.gov.tw/folksonomy/list/f6d5c23c-b3ce-438e-911b-12a705dbac5a?l=ch
Submission of financial and progress reports
Please refer to Subsection 5.2 and Annex 7.2 for the joint reporting. Additional information for the projects reporting to NSTC can be found on https://www.nstc.gov.tw/folksonomy/list/f6d5c23c-b3ce-438e-911b-12a705dbac5a?l=ch.
Additional information
–
Website with additional information
–
Dutch Research Council (NWO) Section
Contact point
Name
Jennifer Faber and Arina Ermakova
Email
nstc-energytransition@nwo.nl
Phone
See chapter 6
Funding commitment
€ 2,100,000.00
Anticipated number of projects to be funded
3 projects
Maximum funding per awarded project
€ 700,000.00 for a project of 48 to 60 months
Who can apply?
Eligibility of a partner as a beneficiary institution
An application for funding from NWO may contain the following roles:
– Main applicant (mandatory): the applicant who submits the application to NWO and is the foreseen Netherlands-based project leader, in case a project is granted.
– Co-applicant (optional): Netherlands-based applicants in addition to the main applicant with an active role and responsibility in realising the project and requesting funding from NWO.
To be eligible to submit a proposal, researchers must be employed for an indefinite period (with the associated employment contract) or have a tenure track appointment at any of the following research organisations:
• universities and universities of applied sciences, as described in Section 1.8, Subsection 1 of the Dutch Higher Education and Research Act, or universities referred to in the Policy Rules for Universities in the Kingdom of the Netherlands;
• university medical centres, as described in Section 1.13, Subsection 1 of the Higher Education and Research Act;
• KNAW institutes and NWO institutes;
• Netherlands Cancer Institute;
• Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen;
• Naturalis Biodiversity Center;
• Advanced Research Centre for NanoLithography (ARCNL);
• Princess Máxima Center.
Lectors employed at a university of applied sciences and researchers employed at a TO2 institute may also submit as a main or co-applicant provided that they have at least a salaried position for the duration of the project.
Individuals with a zero-hour or fixed-term employment contract (other than a tenure track appointment) cannot submit a proposal. Applicants with a part-time appointment must ensure adequate supervision of the project and all project members for whom funding is requested.
It may be that the main applicant or a co-applicant’s tenure track employment contract ends before the intended completion date of the project for which grant funding is being requested, or that the main or co-applicant’s tenure agreement ends before this date due to their reaching retirement age. In such cases, the proposal must include a statement from the employer. In this statement, the research organisation in question guarantees that the project and all project members for whom funding is being requested will receive adequate supervision for the full duration of the project.
Additional conditions (applies to both the main applicant and co-applicants):
Applicants must be affiliated with a research organisation referred to in this Subsection (‘Who can apply?’, NWO section of Annex 7.1) or with other research organisations as described in Article 1.1, Subsection 4 of the NWO Grant Rules 2024 that comply with the following cumulative conditions.
The organisation must:
• be established in the Netherlands;
• be a foundation, organisation or legal entity established and governed by public law (in Dutch: publiekrechtelijke rechtspersoon) (all other legal forms, including private and public limited companies, are excluded);
• have as its primary goal the independent conduct of its own fundamental research, industrial research or experimental development or with widely disseminating the results of those activities through teaching, publications or knowledge transfer;
• be able to state that the organisation keeps separate accounts with regard to economic/non-economic activities and that undertakings with decisive influence on the organisation do not enjoy preferential access to the organisation's results.
Note: Prior to submission of a proposal, NWO will assess whether an organisation complies with Article 1.1, paragraph 4 of the NWO Grant Rules 2024 and is thus eligible to participate as co-applicant based on the above conditions. This assessment also helps to ensure NWO’s compliance with regulations prohibiting state aid.
To enable the assessment to be carried out, the intended co-applicant’s organisation must submit the following documents by email to nstc-energytransition@nwo.nl before 21 January 2027, 14:00:00 CET:
– a recent extract from the Chamber of Commerce;
– a deed of establishment and/or current articles of association;
– the most recently available annual accounts, including an audit report;
– a completed Research Organisation Statement, which is available on the funding page of this Call for proposals.
Other relevant documents may also be included. NWO may also request additional information if the above documents do not allow for adequate determination of the organisation’s eligibility to act as applicant.
If the intended applicant’s organisation has already been assessed and found to comply with these conditions as part of a different NWO Call for proposals, please contact NWO at the above email address well before the applicable deadline to determine whether further assessment is necessary.
If the intended applicant’s organisation fails to submit the documents required for assessment on time, NWO will not accept the organisation as co-applicant.
Eligible costs
What type of activities are eligible for funding?
The available budget for this Call for proposals is € 2,100,000.00. Per project, it is possible to apply for a grant with a maximum of € 700,000.00. The project’s proposed duration cannot exceed 60 months. The applicant and co-applicants can include costs for personnel, materials, knowledge utilisation, and project management. The available budget modules are given below. Request only the amounts of funding necessary to complete the project. Rates and explanations of these budget modules are given on the funding page for this Call for proposals on the NWO website.
Personnel
– Personnel at a university in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, university medical centre or research organisation as referred to in Article 1.1, first paragraph, subparagraphs c to h of the NWO Grant Rules 2024 salary costs can be claimed for the following positions:
– PhD: no minimum number of positions, for at least 48 months, for at least 1.0 fte, according to UNL or UMCNL rates, a bench fee is available; an equivalent of 48 full-time months is also possible, e.g. an appointment for 0.8 FTE of 60 months;
– Postdoc: at least 1 position, for at least 12 months, for at least 0.5 fte, according to UNL or UMCNL rates, a bench fee is available;
– Non-scientific personnel (NWP): according to UNL or UMCNL rates;
– Research leave: max. 10% of the grant amount, according to UNL or UMCNL rates.
– Personnel at universities of applied sciences, educational institutions, TO2 institutes, and other organisationsusing the Government Tariff Manual (HOT), Table 2, under 2.2 ‘average total salary cost per salary scale’, column 'Hourly rate productive hours, excluding VAT'.
– Students
Costs for students can be included as material costs, as long as the students are working on the project and study at one of the research organisations listed in the Subsection ‘Who can apply’ of the NWO section of Annex 7.1. There is no maximum number of students who may work on a project.
– Scientific personnel at foreign research organisation
It is possible to include salary costs for scientific personnel at foreign research organisations who are co-applicants. A maximum 25% of the grant amount may be requested for personnel of foreign research organisations. Please note this module may not be used for personnel based at research organisation in the territory represented by NSTC. Funding for personnel based in the territory represented by NSTC may only be requested from NSTC, in accordance with their regulations.
Materials
For project-specific material costs, up to 25% of the grant amount. Subsequently, up to 50% of the material budget can be used for work by third parties. A maximum of 25% of the grant amount for material costs can be requested for foreign research organisations. Please note: funding for material costs for research organisations in the territory represented by NSTC may only be requested from NSTC, in accordance with their regulations
Knowledge utilisation
Funding may be requested for activities that promote the use of knowledge generated by the research, increasing the research’s societal impact.
It is mandatory to allocate a specific amount for knowledge utilisation. These costs must be between 5% and 20% of the grant amount. Up to 25% of the grant amount for knowledge utilisation may be requested for foreign research organisations.
Project management
Up to 5% of the grant amount.
Accountability of cash or in-kind co-funding
The percentage of co-funding, both cash and in-kind, compared to the grant awarded by NWO in this Call for proposals applies from the time of a proposal’s submission until the grant has been determined. Cash co-funding affects the grant amount provided by NWO, as both NWO’s contribution and the co-funded cash are being used for the same project-specific costs, unlike co-funding in-kind.
Official indexation (see Annex 7.3) due to the applicability of other rates after submission will not affect the percentages or co-funding requirements for the NWO contribution. These are calculated based on the percentages in the proposal budgets approved by NWO.
Once a project has been completed, the final grant amount is determined based on the final financial statement, the financial conditions and the co-funding percentages included in the proposal’s budget.
In case of partial cash co-funding payments due to unexpected events such as bankruptcy, NWO will base its contribution on the originally awarded grant, taking into account the co-funding payments received and any applicable minimum co-funding requirements.
Calculations of the co-funded percentage compared to the grant awarded by NWO will also take any cash co-funding in excess of requirements into account. In the event of a project with cash co-funding in excess of the co-funding requirements and partially received co-funding payments at the time of determination, NWO’s contribution will never exceed the original amount awarded in the grant. In that case, the percentage contributed by NWO will be limited to the maximum amount dictated by the co-funding requirement.
NWO should always be notified of any problems regarding anticipated co-funding, cash and/or in-kind. Along with financial consequences for a project, NWO may also ask for sufficient changes to be made to the project to enable the research to continue as well as possible by means of a change request.
Knowledge security
Together, the Dutch knowledge sector, including NWO, and various branches of government have created the National Knowledge Security Guidelines as guidance on how to weigh opportunities and security risks for anyone involved in international cooperation at research organisations. The approach to knowledge security in the Netherlands relies heavily on self-regulation by the knowledge sector.
NWO expects applicants to adhere to the research organisation’s knowledge security policy. In case of signs that a proposal or awarded project may present risks to knowledge security, NWO can ask the applicant or project leader to provide insight into risk mitigation measures.
Additionally, NWO may impose further conditions to protect knowledge security in the award letter.
The National Knowledge Security Guidelines are available on the central government website at: Home | National Contact Point for Knowledge Security
Submission of financial and progress reports
Please refer to Subsection 5.2 and Annex 7.2 for the joint reporting.
NWO may add questions directed only at the Netherlands-based side of the consortium in the annual and final substantive reports. These questions should addressed alongside the sharing of the joint reports with NSTC and NWO.
Final accountability to NWO
The Netherlands-based project leader and the controller/financial manager of the Netherlands-based project leader’s institution should submit a signed financial end report, organised according to the budget lines of the approved NWO budget. The report should detail, among others, the effective duration (period) and size (fte) of the personnel appointed to the project, and, if applicable, how eventual replacements were arranged. The realised cash and in-kind co-financing should also be accounted for.
If the Netherlands-based project leader is not based at a knowledge institution that is subject to the education accountants protocol of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, an external audit report must also be submitted. NWO reserves the right to conduct an external financial audit.
NWO reserves the right to externally evaluate projects financed under this Call for proposals. The project ends with the issuing of the grant settlement decision. This decision is taken after approval of the final document(s) by NWO.
Additional information
For NWO funded research the NWO Grant Rules apply.
In accordance with the NWO Grant Rules, the project that NWO funds must be carried out in accordance with the nationally and internationally accepted standards for scientific conduct as stated in the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (2018) and the Global Code ofConduct for Equitable Research Partnerships. By submitting the proposal, the applicant commits to these codes. In the case of a (possible) violation of these standards during a project funded by NWO, the applicant should immediately inform NWO of this and should submit all relevant documents to NWO. More information about the code of conduct and the policy regarding research integrity can be found on the website: Scientific integrity | NWO
Information about lodging an objection at NWO is available on our website.
For full details of the general NWO funding process, please refer to the NWO website.
NWO strives to achieve an inclusive culture in which there is no place for conscious or unconscious barriers due to cultural, ethnic or religious background, gender, sexual orientation, health or age (www.nwo.nl/en/diversity-and-inclusion).
The NWO data management protocol applies to projects funded by NWO.
Website with additional information
https://www.nwo.nl/en/nstc-energytransition-ports
7.2
Overview on mandatory reporting and meetings
There will be several moments and meetings throughout the duration of the projects centred on monitoring, evaluation and learning. The reporting and meeting summary below gives an overview of these moments and more information about what they entail.
Reporting and meetings summary (dates to be confirmed by NSTC and NWO)
6 months after awarding
Projects start
Beginning of Year 1
Joint in-person kick-off workshop with at least the research team of each project, NSTC and NWO, members of the Advisory Committee, and interested external stakeholders.
(Each project should also organise their own kick-off workshop as soon as most researchers are hired and the project is ready to start.)
End of Year 1
Annual report 1
Joint virtual programme meeting with all the project consortia, NSTC and NWO, and possibly some members of the Advisory Committee.
It is expected that each consortium has separate intermittent online project meetings every 3 to 6 months at a project level.
End of Year 2
Annual report 2
Virtual or in person workshop on a project level with relevant stakeholders to discuss progress, test assumptions, and exchange thoughts on the next steps.
Halfway the project duration
Joint in-person mid-term workshop with at least the research teams of each project, NSTC, NWO, international advisory committee members, and external stakeholders. Consortia are also expected to organise their own mid-term meeting before at the end of year 2.
End of Year 4
Annual report. NB: For projects that last 48 months, this will be the final project report.
Joint in-person final workshop with at least the research team of each project, NSTC and NWO, international advisory committee members, and external stakeholders. Consortia are also expected to organise their own final meeting.
End of Year 5
Joint virtual programme meeting with all the project consortia, NSTC and NWO. It is expected each consortium also has separate intermittent online meetings every 3 to 6 months. Consortia are also expected to organise their own final meeting.
Three months after projects end
Final report
7.3
Indexation of project budgets submitted to NWO
Applicable rates are based on the date of the decision. If indicated, NWO may conduct an official one-time indexation of salary costs when awarding a grant. This indexation is based on the date on which the rates go into force. If rates are announced later than the date of entry into force, the announcement date is used. Generally speaking, rates go into force on 1 July for the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), on 1 August for the University Medical Centres of The Netherlands (UMCNL) and on 1 January for the Manual tariffs Dutch Government (HOT).
The official indexation does not affect the grant cap or the maximum amount per proposal. The grant cap and maximum amount will remain unchanged during the assessment procedure. The grant amount is indexed at the time of the award.
If co-funding is required or permitted, the official indexation will not affect the requirements regarding supporting contributions and co-funding, nor any IP rights arising from the co-funding.