Innovational Research Incentives Scheme Vidi - Social Sciences and Humanities

Vidi is part of the NWO Talent Programme. Vidi is for researchers who have carried out several years of postdoctoral research after their Phd and have demonstrated the ability to independently generate and effect innovative ideas

The Vidi target group consists of researchers in transition to leadership, i.e. ready for the establishment of a research group or the expansion of a recent research group. The Vidi can contribute to the researcher's development in this area. The Vidi grant is aimed at researchers with academic qualities that clearly exceed what is customary and demonstrate the development of leadership and mentorships skills.

Purpose

The aim of the NWO Talent Programme is to provide creative space for adventurous, talented, pioneering researchers to do research of their choice, develop their own line of research and further develop their talent.

Who can apply

Applications can be submitted by candidates who have obtained their PhD, irrespective of whether they hold tenured positions and of whether they come from the Netherlands or abroad. Candidates may only submit an application if they have obtained their PhD in the eight years preceding the reference date of this round, 1 October 2023. An extension to the above career-dependent submission period may be possible under specific circumstances (see Section 3.4.2 of the Call for proposals).

What can be applied for

For an application in this Call for proposals, a maximum of € 800,000 can be applied for. The maximum duration of the proposed project is five years. If the proposed research is of shorter duration, the maximum amount will be reduced accordingly. It is also possible to carry out the research part-time without extending the duration of the project.

When to apply

• The deadline for submitting pre-proposals is 2 November, 2023, before 14:00:00 hours CET.
• The deadline for submitting full proposals is 26 March, 2024, before 14:00:00 hours CET.

Assessment

Criteria

The pre-proposal submitted within this Call for proposals will be substantially assessed on the basis of the following criterion:

1. Quality of the researcher

The applications submitted within this Call for proposals will be substantially assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

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

Procedure

• submission of the pre-proposal;
• admissibility check of the pre-proposal;
• assessment of the pre-proposal;
  • provisional advice assessment committee;
  • opportunity to submit a motivated response ‘zienswijze’ in the case of a negative initial assessment;
• decision-making pre-proposal;
• submission of the full proposal (only possible if you have received a positive decision on the pre-proposal);
• admissibility check of the full proposal;
• assessment of the full proposal;
  • peer review by referees;
  • rebuttal ;
  • provisional advice assessment committee (all domains);
  • interview selection (for ZonMw only);
  • interview and meeting of the assessment committee (all domains);
• decision-making

The assessment of pre-proposals and full applications within SSH takes place in six panels. The allocation of proposals to a panel is determined by the applicants themselves. Please note that candidates submit their proposal to one of these panels in ISAAC. You can find the panel structure under ‘prepare’.

The panels assess the applications in all phases. In the SSH domain, NWO does not ask external reviewers to assess applications. Therefore, applicants are adviced to take notice of the interdisciplinary character of the evaluation committees.

More explanation on the procedure and the timeline per domain can be found in the Call for proposals.

More information

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

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

As of 2023, the Vidi uses an optional literature list of max. ten pieces of relevant scientific literature closely related to your research idea. NWO will use the literature list - along with your research idea, key words and specified discipline(s) - to search for potential external reviewers for your full proposal. Your literature list will not be submitted to the committee.

• Embedding guarantee
• Optional literature list