Innovational Research Incentives Scheme Vici - Social Sciences and Humanities

call illustration

The Innovational Research Incentives Scheme offers personal grants to talented, creative researchers. The funding enables applicants to do their own line of research. This boosts innovative research and promotes mobility within scientific research institutes.

The Innovational Research Incentives Scheme comprises three grants geared to different stages in a researcher’s scientific career:

  • Veni, for researchers who have recently obtained their PhD
  • Vidi, for researchers who have gained several years of research experience after their PhD
  • Vici, for senior researchers who have demonstrated an ability to develop their own line of research

Vici is part of the NWO Talent programme. The Vici target group consists of researchers at the stage of consolidation and further development of their leadership/research group.

Purpose

The Vici target group consists of researchers at the stage of consolidation and further development of their leadership/research group. The goal of the Vici grant is to contribute to the researcher's development in this area.

Who can apply

Vici is aimed at senior researchers with academic qualities that clearly exceed what is customary within the international peer group, as well as established leadership- and mentorship skills.

What can be applied for

The maximum grant is 1.5 million euros.

When to apply

  • The deadline for pre-proposals is March 14, 2023, 14:00:00 hours CET.
  • The deadline for full proposals is September 12, 2023, 14:00:00 hours CEST.

Assessment

Criteria

The assessment criterion for the pre-proposals is:

  • Quality of the researcher

The assessment criteria for the full proposals are:

  • Quality and innovative character of the research proposal (75%)
  • Scientific and/or societal impact (25%)

Procedure

There is a single submission point for the Domain Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). Applications from all disciplines within social sciences and humanities can be submitted to the SSH Domain.

Vici applications are assessed in a broadly composed panels. This means that applications from different disciplines will be compared in competition. The domains use broad-based assessment committees of academics to advise on the merits and prioritisation of the applications. The disciplinary composition of the assessment panels within the SSH domain is determined on the basis of the number of applications submitted and the underlying disciplines. In the previous year, the assessment took place in two panels, namely a Social Sciences panel and a Humanities panel.

Applicants must first submit a pre-proposal. These are assessed by the assessment committee, which then makes a recommendation on whether or not to submit a full proposal. Full proposals are sent to external referees. Applicants are given the opportunity to respond to the referees’ reports (‘rebuttal’). Next, the full proposals, the reviews and the rebuttals are assessed by the respective assessment committees. Based on the application, the referees’ reports and the rebuttal the assessment committee advises the accredited board of NWO.

All proposals must be submitted via ISAAC, NWO's electronic application system. The only exceptions to this rule are applications to the Health Research and Development domain. These applications can only be submitted via Mijn ZonMw.

Applications must be submitted through the ISAAC application and reporting system. If you do not have an ISAAC account yet, then please create one at least one workday in advance. More information about writing a proposal and which forms you need to use can be found in ISAAC. Please download and use the forms in ISAAC. Below you will find examples of the required forms.

Institution
Application date
Duration
Up to 5 years
Discipline
Humanities
Social sciences