Calls stimulate interdisciplinary research for groundbreaking innovative solutions with social and economic impact. Calls bring companies and knowledge institutions together and finance groundbreaking research based on impactful research proposals. On this page you will find an overview of our own calls and those of (inter)national partner organizations.
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MKB Call hightech 2024
In this call, we give the high-tech SME the lead in determining the direction of a research. As an entrepreneur, you determine which industrial research supports the wishes and needs of your company for research and innovation. This in the form of industrial research activities that are jointly carried out by an SME (or a consortium of SMEs) in collaboration with a research organization. In addition, the SME also receives a subsidy itself. A total budget of €5 million is available for the 2024 edition of the SME high-tech call. Project proposals can be submitted from 16 December 2024 to 19 December 2024. The deadline for submitting a detailed project plan is no later than 27 February 2025.
Perspectief Round 2024-2025 | 13 May 2025
Research proposals can now be submitted for the 2024/2025 round of the Perspectief financing instrument. This call for proposals is aimed at researchers from universities, colleges and TO2 institutions, companies and social organisations who want to work in consortia on technological innovations. The budget for the 2024-2025 Perspectief round is 26 million euros with a duration of 6 years for projects.
NWA Knowledge Security: scientific research in a geopolitical context | June 24, 2025
International research collaboration is of great social and economic value, but at the same time makes the Dutch knowledge sector vulnerable to unwanted appropriation, influence and unethical use of scientific knowledge and research. This NWA program promotes scientific and applied research into developments in knowledge security and inherent dilemmas with regard to knowledge security policy.
Venture Challenge fall round 2025 now open | 1 july 2025
NWO has opened the fall round of the Venture Challenge. This programme is for entrepreneurial Life Sciences & Health and MedTech researchers. Over a period of eight to ten weeks, they will receive guidance in developing their business plan and setting up their company. For this round, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZ) has increased the budget, allowing six additional teams with a specific focus on MedTech innovations to participate. This means that a total of twelve teams can participate in this round. For this call, NWO is collaborating with the top sectors Life Sciences & Health (Health~Holland) and High Tech Systems and Materials (Holland High Tech). A budget of €200,000 is available, full applications can be submitted until July 1, 2025.
Subsidy scheme KIA Circular Economy | 21 August 2025
Vanaf 6 mei is de nieuwe subsidieronde van de Kennis- en Innovatieagenda Circulaire Economie geopend voor de ontwikkeling van circulaire producten, diensten en processen. De regeling is vanaf dit jaar veranderd in EKOO: Circulaire Economie (anders dan circulaire plastics of biobased circular). In totaal is er 2,5 miljoen euro steun beschikbaar voor ontwikkelingen binnen de maakindustrie, de bouw en infrastructuur en voor consumptiegoederen. Op 8 mei is er een informatiebijeenkomst.
Unconventional information processing technologies: Cooperation Japan – The Netherlands | 9 september 2025
This NWO-JST Call for proposals aims to strengthen the relationship between Japan and the Netherlands in the high-tech sector and to stimulate the formation of transnational networks in the field of semiconductors, photonics, quantum and neuromorphic technologies. This call focuses on the development of unconventional information technologies for the advancement of computer science. A budget of €4,650,000 is available for this call, the closing date for full proposals is September 9, 2025 2:00 PM, the online information meeting and matchmaking is on June 3, registration is possible until June 2.
NXTGEN Hightech Call Strengthening the knowledge position of the Dutch high-tech equipment sector | 11 september 2025
To stimulate the development of a new generation of high-tech equipment, 10.6 million euros in research funding is available. The future-proof high-tech equipment focuses on sustainability, digitalization, health and the technological sovereignty of the Netherlands. This Call is the second call within the NXTGEN Hightech program, which is financed within the framework of the National Growth Fund. The matchmaking meeting is on May 14, 2025. The deadline for submitting applications is September 11, 2025.
Technology development for circular batteries | 16 september 2025
NWO, together with Battery Competence Cluster NL (BCC-NL), is making almost 14.5 million euros available. Researchers and companies may jointly submit a proposal for research into battery recycling, development of sodium-ion batteries and bulk batteries. This call is part of the National Growth Fund programme ‘Material Independence & Circular Batteries’. The deadline for submitting applications is 16 September 2025.
KIC call Long-term programmes 2024 | 15 oktober 2025
The KIC call Long-term programmes 2024 is open for applications. Through a Long-term programme (LTP), NWO offers ten years of funding for strategic research by public-private consortia. Such a programme provides a powerful stimulus for the development of a scientific field in the Netherlands. For this call, a minimum of €9,000,000 and a maximum of €25,000,000 can be requested with mandatory co-financing. Projects have a duration of 10 years. The deadline for submitting applications is Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
KIC-Call: High performance materials for defence and safety | 16 october 2025
The KIC call “High performance materials for Defence and security” invites researchers, public and private organisations to submit research proposals on new materials for use by Defence. Reducing the ecological footprint of materials and production techniques plays an important role in this. The subsidy ceiling for this Call for proposals amounts to a total of € 7,000,000. The deadline for submitting initiatives is Thursday 19 June and the deadline for submitting applications is Thursday 16 October.
Pre-announcement: Smart tech for everyone, everywhere | 2025
This research program focuses on developing supporting technology (concepts, products and services) that is available and affordable for everyone and based on the wishes of the user (demand articulation/technology pull), with a focus on people with a low Socio-Economic Position (SEP). The goal is to gain insight into which preconditions for the development and acceptance of the technology are necessary, such as behavior, marketing and communication. It is also important to investigate why and under which conditions it is interesting for the business community to develop Smart Tech for Everyone, Everywhere.
Pre-announcement: Data spaces for the energy transition | 2025
The transition to sustainable energy ensures that more and more energy is generated, consumed and stored decentrally. Due to the far-reaching digitalisation of the energy system, we see that these decentralised systems also generate, store and process decentralised/distributed data. There is also an increasing number of interactions between the decentralised data. In short, there is a shift from a centrally organised system to more decentralised control. In the new system, more interactions are created than before between European, national, regional, local and even hyperlocal systems. With this distribution of data to (hyper)local level, there is also a greater need for interaction with other types of data in the built environment.
Pre-announcement: Unconventional Information Processing Technologies | 2025
To further strengthen the relationship in the high-tech field and stimulate the formation of new transnational networks, JST and NWO are starting a joint research programme in the field of semiconductors, photonics, quantum and neuromorphic technologies. The call is expected to be published in the spring of 2025.
Learning communities as drivers for the green hydrogen economy | 2025
The HCA programme of GroenvermogenNL will enter its second phase this fall. A lot of new knowledge is needed for the success of the hydrogen transition. In order to effectively use this new knowledge on the labor market, it is of great importance that knowledge development is connected to regional learning communities.
Cybersecurity for digital resilience | 2025
With an investment of 10.5 million euros, six projects are starting aimed at increasing Dutch digital resilience. These studies, resulting from the Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC), focus on knowledge development and innovations to counter cybercrime and harmful actions by foreign actors. Researchers collaborate with public and private parties, with private investors contributing 1.5 million and NWO financing almost 9 million. In practice, the projects strengthen the availability, integrity and confidentiality of digital systems, essential for a safe and autonomous digital Netherlands.
Openings KIEM Schemes and New: KIEM D | 2025
The KIEM regulations of Regieorgaan SIA are being expanded with KIEM D (Defence). This is in line with the joint ambition of Regieorgaan SIA and the Ministry of Defence to have universities of applied sciences make a sustainable contribution to the practice-oriented research questions of Defence. KIEM D offers opportunities for 1-year, exploratory practice-oriented research with defence components. The thematic demarcation is broad. Research topics can be in the field of sustainability, technology, socio-cultural, healthcare and strengthening the resilience of society. A subsidy ceiling of € 1,000,000 applies to KIEM D. As with all KIEMs, a maximum of € 40,000 can be financed per application. It is expected that 25 applications will be submitted according to the old, well-known principle of first come, first served.
Innovation fund: European funding available for innovations in decarbonisation | 2025
The European Commission has launched a new round of the Innovation Fund, making a total of €4.6 billion available for innovations that contribute to reducing emissions. This amount is intended to support net-zero technologies, such as the production of battery cells for electric vehicles and sustainable hydrogen.
Open Technology Programme 2024 | Continuously open
The Open Technology Programme offers funding for application-oriented technical-scientific research that is free and unfettered and not hindered by disciplinary boundaries. The programme offers companies and other organisations an accessible way to join scientific research that should lead to social and/or scientific impact. A maximum of €900,000 can be requested for an application. The maximum duration of the proposed project is 6 years.
Digital Europe Programme | 2025
Are you looking for funding for innovative projects in AI, data, cloud, cybersecurity or developing digital skills? Then the Digital Europe Programme is interesting for you! On 28 March, the European Commission published the new work programmes for the period 2025-2027 with a total budget of €1.7 billion. Applications for the first call can be submitted from 3 April 2025.