Funding Opportunity for Dutch-German Basic Research Projects in Fields of the Sciences (NWO Domain Science – DFG)
In July 2024, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Dutch Research Council, NWO) signed an agreement on a three-year pilot for a joint Lead Agency Procedure (open from 6 August 2024 until 30 July 2027).
Information about the funding opportunity
Dutch-German research teams are invited to submit their joint research proposals within the scope of basic research in the remit of NWO Domain Science (Astronomy, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physics) and the corresponding DFG review boards.
Regarding the review boards within the scope/remit of NWO-DFG funding opportunity, please refer to the document “NWO-DFG Pilot Scop”.
Please note that proposals outside the scope/remit cannot be considered. In case of questions regarding the scope, please contact the funding organisations beforehand. Especially when planning a proposal with the DFG as Lead Agency, it is strongly recommended to contact NWO to ensure the proposal is also within their scope.
NWO and DFG Lead Agency cooperation is applied to existing funding programmes, i.e. NWO: “Open Competition Domain Science - M“; DFG: “Research Grants Programme”.
The joint NWO-DFG Lead Agency procedure in a nutshell
This bilateral funding opportunity is managed via a joint Lead Agency Procedure.
The Lead Agency can be chosen by the team of applicants. The team of applicants selects a coordinating applicant who submits the joint proposal to the respective funding organisation in their country. This organisation acts as the Lead Agency for the proposal. The other applicant/s (co-applicant/s) must submit a copy of the proposal documents to their respective funding agency (the Partner Agency) within 7 days. Please note that the Partner Agency may request additional information (for details, please refer to the Partner Agency’s information).
The Lead Agency is responsible for the evaluation process in compliance with its internal rules set out for the respective programme. Following the assessment, the results will be shared with the Partner Agency, which uses the results for its own decision process. Funding recommendations by the Lead Agency will be subject to approval by NWO and DFG decision bodies (for the DFG: involvement of the responsible DFG review board and Joint Committee), taking into account the availability of funds.
Funding of the joint research projects is contingent upon positive assessment and decision by both funding organisations. If granted, each organisation supports the researchers for whom it is responsible. Unilateral funding of only one part of the project is not possible
Duration of the pilot phase
As a rule, proposals can be submitted any time during the three-year pilot phase (from 6 August 2024 until 30 July 2027).
Please note that NWO might temporarily not accept proposals as Lead Agency at the end of each of their yearly call.
The DFG´s main information document with details on the joint funding opportunity (incl. eligibility, proposal requirements and preparation as well as submission details) is available at:
Overview of the main steps to submit a joint proposal
Please make sure to carefully review the DFG Information for Researcher prior to submission. In addition, the research partners from the Netherlands should familiarise themselves with NWO requirements. Respective links can be found below.
Your project must fall within the scop of the joint NWO-DFG funding opportunity.
You need to comply with the usual eligibility rules of the DFG and NWO.
For the DFG, see the general eligibility rules for Individual Research Grants
If applicable to you, the duty to cooperate (Kooperationspflicht) for members of non-university research institutions has to be fulfilled with universities in Germany, i.e. it cannot be fulfilled by the Dutch applicant.
The eligibility requirements on the side of NWO are documented on their website. See links under Further Information below.
Chose a Lead Agency (NWO or DFG) and prepare your joint project proposal based on the structure defined by the guidelines and template of the Lead Agency. Also note the page limits mentioned within the respective templates, which are strict.
For the DFG as Lead Agency, the rules and template of the DFG Research Grants Programm, apply.
For NWO as Lead Agency, the template etc. of NWO apply. Please refer to NWO´s website for information (see links under Further Information below).
Please note that the project description must always describe the whole project (Dutch and German sides, and their interaction) and justify all funds requested, both from NWO and from the DFG, respectively. All budget items must conform to the national rules applicable to each applicant. The maximum project duration is 36 months (independently of whether the DFG or NWO is chosen as Lead Agency).
Note that academic CVs must be based on the DFG’s template 53.20.
For the DFG, academic CVs of all applicants need to be prepared according to the DFG´s template, i.e. for the principal investigators from Germany and the Netherlands (independently of whether the DFG acts as Lead or Partner Agency).
You need to prepare the compulsory “NWO-DFG “Project Data For” and check if any other explanations and attachments are necessary (i.e. ethics votes etc.).
| DFG as Lead Agency | NWO as Lead Agency |
Proposals must be submitted by the the Germany-based principal investigator to the DFG via elan, the DFG’s electronic proposal processing system
Only one Germany-based applicant should upload the proposal to elan. Please note that this person will have to enter address details and funds for the other Germany-based applicants as well as address details for the cooperation partners.
Submission via elan is only possible if all applicants on the German side have a valid account with up-to-date contact information. Please generally allow one working day to process your request for access. You will be notified by e-mail once your account is activated.
Please submit your proposal under Proposal Submission – New Project as a “Proposal for a Research Grant” in the Individual Grants Programme. Within the submission process, you need to select the call “NWO-DFG Pilot 2024-2027 DFG-Lead”.
The proposal should indicate that it is to be considered under the pilot call by prefacing the title with “NWO-DFG”.
Only the funds requested from the DFG need to be entered in the elan web forms (for every German applicant).
The corresponding Dutch applicants need to be entered as “cooperation partners” in the elan web forms.
Please note that an academic CV for each of the applying individuals in the Netherlands and Germany should be provided, formatted according to DFG guidelines (see DFG template 53.20). Please upload the CVs of all principal investigators combined in one PDF document.
Upload the compulsory “NWO-DFG “Project Data For” in elan under “Other Attachments” and - if relevant - all other necessary attachments (i.e. ethics votes etc.). | For proposal submission details please refer to NWO website (see link below). |
| DFG as Lead Agency (= NWO as Partner Agency) | NWO as Lead Agency (= DFG as Partner Agency) |
The principal investigator from the Netherlands submits the copy of the joint proposal that was submitted to the DFG to NWO within 5 working days.
For proposal submission details, please refer to NWO website (see link below under Further Information).
| A copy of the proposal submitted to NWO must be submitted by the German principal investigator to the DFG within 7 days via elan, the DFG’s electronic proposal processing syste. Only one Germany-based applicant should upload the proposal to elan. Please note that this person will have to enter address details and funds for the other Germany-based applicants as well as address details for the cooperation partners.
Submission in elan is only possible if all applicants on the German side have a valid account with up-to-date contact information. Please generally allow one working day to process your request for access. You will be notified by e-mail once your account is activated.
Please submit your proposal under Proposal Submission – New Project as a “Proposal for a Research Grant” in the Individual Grants Programme. Within the submission process, you need to select the call “NWO-DFG Pilot 2024-2027 DFG-Partner”.
Only the funds requested from the DFG need to be entered in the elan web forms (for every German applicant).
The proposal should indicate that it is to be considered under the pilot call by prefacing the title with “NWO-DFG”.
The corresponding Dutch applicants need to be entered as “cooperation partners” in the elan web forms.
An academic CV for each of the applying individuals in the Netherlands and Germany should be provided, formatted according to the DFG guidelines (see DFG template 53.20). Please upload the CVs of all principal investigators combined in one PDF document.
Upload the compulsory “NWO-DFG “Project Data For” in elan under “Other Attachments” and - if relevant - all other necessary attachments (i.e. ethics votes etc.) |
Please note the DFG’s data protection notice on research funding, which can be viewed and downloaded at
If necessary, please also forward this information to those persons whose data the DFG processes because they are involved in your project.
Further Information
| DFG: | NWO: |
|
|
Contact Information
| DFG: | NWO: |
General questions:
For DFG applicants with general and administrative
Scientific questions:
Scientific contacts can be found on the following |
|