It is a familiar problem in Dutch academia: researchers spend a great deal of time and effort applying for an NWO grant, while their chances of success are slim. What can be done about it?

“I continue to draw attention to this problem and how to address it,” Science Minister Rianne Letschert writes in a letter to the House of Representatives and Senate. But solutions are not easy to find.

The minister is putting the issue off for a year. She wants universities and research funder NWO to work on it together. They are expected to have an action plan ready by summer 2027.

Chances

The pressure to submit applications actually consists of three problems: the low chance of success, the administrative burden of submitting an application, and the influence a grant has on scientists’ careers, which critics  say is too great.

In 2025, 2,526 researchers applied for the coveted Veni, Vidi and Vici grants, of whom 558 actually received funding. That amounts to 16 percent. For every successful application, five researchers therefore go through the entire process for nothing.

The chances are higher in NWO’s so-called Open Competition. There were 2,845 applicants, of whom 753 were awarded funding: 26 percent. That is roughly the success rate NWO is aiming for.

Measures

NWO has already taken measures to reduce the administrative burden. For example, the organization uses “pre-proposals,” in which researchers briefly outline their plans. Only those who make it through the first selection round have to develop their application in greater detail. After that first round, 43 percent of applicants receive funding.

A recent evaluation mentions several other options for reducing the application burden, such as better communication about the application processes. That may be useful, but it does not solve the underlying problem.

Budget cuts

NWO President Marcel Levi summed it up four years ago in an interview: “You can do two things: either add more money or submit fewer applications. There really aren’t any other levers.”

More money is indeed coming to NWO, but it will not go toward the Veni, Vidi and Vici grants. The new government is mainly reversing some budget cuts and investing in specific areas of research. That leaves the other lever: submitting fewer applications.

Why are more and more researchers turning to NWO for funding? A recent evaluation points mainly to causes outside NWO. Institutions, for example, have grown significantly: there are more researchers, and therefore more applicants.

At the same time, universities themselves have less money available because of declining student numbers and the budget cuts introduced by the previous government. Researchers often have to look elsewhere for funding.

Fewer applications

Perhaps simply fewer people should submit applications, you might think. But how would you arrange that?

Since 2019, NWO has required an institutional commitment: researchers can only submit an application with the support of their intended Dutch research institution. This drew criticism, but initially it did seem to ease the pressure somewhat. By now, however, it apparently no longer helps enough.

But what can NWO do about it? “We are not going to put a lock on our mailbox,” Levi said in that same interview four years ago. “Universities could decide to send only their very best research to NWO. They do intend to do that, but it hardly happens anywhere yet.”

In other words, universities would have to preselect applicants and allow only those with a strong chance of success to submit an application. Right now, they apparently too often think, “you never know what might happen.”

The idea is not new, but it is not happening. And if it did, criticism would be inevitable. The selection would not disappear; it would simply become less visible. In that scenario, the decision would shift from NWO to the universities themselves.

Plan

All these problems are well known, and now universities and NWO are expected to come up with a plan together over the next year. At least, that is what Minister Letschert is asking them to do.

Universities association UNL is taking up the challenge, its spokesperson says. “We see this as an important joint responsibility for us and NWO. The application burden affects our researchers, after all.”

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor