Funding Opportunity for Dutch-German Basic Research Projects in Fields of the Sciences (NWO Domain Science – DFG)
Pilot for a joint NWO-DFG Lead Agency Procedure
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) are pleased to announce a funding opportunity for joint Dutch-German research projects. The funding opportunity is planned as a three-year pilot for a joint Lead Agency Procedure with the NWO Domain Science. It is open for proposals that fit the scope of the NWO Domain Science and the corresponding DFG review boards.
Scope
Dutch-German research teams are invited to submit their joint research proposals within the scope of basic research in the remit of the NWO Domain Science (Astronomy, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physics) and the corresponding DFG review boards.
Please note that proposals outside the scope/remit cannot be considered. Regarding the review boards within the scope of the NWO-DFG funding opportunity, please refer to the document “NWO-DFG Pilot Scope” (see link below) and – in case of questions – contact the funding organisations beforehand. Especially when planning a proposal with the DFG as Lead Agency, it is recommended to contact NWO to ensure the proposal is within their scope/remit.
NWO and DFG Lead Agency cooperation is applied to existing funding programmes, i.e. NWO: “Open Competition Domain Science – M“, DFG: “Research Grants Programme”.
Eligibility
Each research project must be conducted jointly by a team of applicants from the Netherlands and Germany. The principal investigators on each side must be eligible to apply to their respective funding organisation: applicants in the Netherlands must meet the eligibility requirements of NWO Open Competition Domain Science – M programme, applicants in Germany must meet the eligibility requirements of the DFG’s Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01). Please note that the rules for funding eligibility apply to all applicants from Germany, including the duty to cooperate for non-university researchers. Any duty to cooperate for DFG applicants at non-university research institutions can only be fulfilled through cooperation with a partner at a German university (see DFG form 55.01).
The funding organisations retain the right not to process or to reject proposals if they fail to comply with any requirement stipulated for this bilateral funding opportunity or any national rules.
Project Requirements
Applicants should demonstrate how bringing together researchers based in the Netherlands and Germany will add value and advance their research. It is expected that each partner contributes substantially to the common project. Projects should be integrated but do not have to be symmetrical in terms of funds applied for. However, work packages are expected to be delivered with a reasonably equal distribution between the partners and schedules should be well coordinated. The teams of applicants should ensure there is a plan for effective delivery and coordination of research among the partners.
Please note that the duration of the projects must not exceed 36 months. Proposals must be written in English. Commercial companies must not be included as research/cooperation partners.
Please make sure to carefully review this Information for Researchers as well as the DFG guidelines for proposal preparation prior to submission. In addition, the research partners from the Netherlands should familiarise themselves with NWO requirements. Respective links can be found under Further Information below.
Lead Agency Procedure
This bilateral funding opportunity will be 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 seven 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.
Please note that there are no separate funds available for this joint initiative. These opportunities follow the general funding lines and budgets of NWO and DFG. Proposals must succeed on the strengths of their intellectual merit and teams in competition with other proposals. The funding organisations aim to support the proposals among the top 20 percent in the respective evaluation.
Duration of the Pilot Phase
As a rule, proposals can be submitted at any time during the three-year pilot phase (6 August 2024 until 30 July 2027). Please note that NWO might temporarily not accept Lead Agency proposals at the end of each yearly call (for more information, please refer to the website of NWO Domain Science, link below).
In case the pilot is evaluated positively, it is expected that the NWO-DFG funding opportunity is continued either bilaterally or within the Weave Lead Agency Initiative.
Submission of Proposals to the DFG as Lead Agency (NWO as Partner Agency)
Please note that if you are using the elan system for the first time, you will need to register in the elan portal prior to submitting your proposal, stating your personal data and address details. Please generally allow one working day to process your request for access.
When the DFG is chosen as Lead Agency, the proposals have to be prepared in accordance with the DFG guidelines. The DFG will be in charge of organising the review and evaluation of the proposals.
- Please prepare the proposal according to the guidelines for the Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01, see link below).
- The proposal should indicate that it is to be considered under the pilot call by prefacing the title with “NWO-DFG”.
- The proposal must include a description of the joint research programme, the research team and the total resources for the joint project (i.e. the funds requested for the Dutch and for the German side). All budget items must conform to the national rules applicable to each applicant. Please note that the duration of the projects must not exceed 36 months.
- Proposals must be submitted by the German principal investigator via elan, the DFG’s electronic proposal processing system. Please select “NWO-DFG Pilot 2024-2027 DFG-Lead” under “Proposal Data”.
- 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.
- For each module in elan, please only enter the funds requested from the DFG. Note that only Germany-based applicants should be entered as “applicants”. Dutch partners (and potential further international partners) should be entered as “cooperation partners”.
- 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 53.200, link provided below). Please upload the CVs of all principal investigators combined in one PDF document.
- It is compulsory to submit the “NWO-DFG Project Data Form” to the DFG (see link below). Please upload the form in elan under “Other Attachments”.
Submission of copies of the proposal documents to NWO (as Partner Agency)
- At the time the proposal is submitted to the DFG, the project partner from the Netherlands is required to submit a copy of the proposal documents to NWO (within 5 working days after proposal submission to the DFG; otherwise the joint proposal may be declared ineligible). NWO may request additional documents. For submission details, please view the NWO website (see link below).
Following submission, both funding organisations will conduct their regular formal checks, including eligibility and scope, and exchange the results.
Submission of Proposals to NWO as Lead Agency (DFG as Partner Agency)
- Proposals with NWO as Lead Agency must be submitted by the principal investigator from the Netherlands to the NWO submission system.
- The proposal must include a description of the joint research programme and the research team as well as the total resources for the joint project (meaning the funds requested for the Dutch and for the German side). All budget items must conform to the national rules applicable to each applicant. Please note that the duration of the projects must not exceed 36 months.
- Funding requests to the DFG must be made in accordance with the rules and requirements applicable to the Research Grants Programme and relevant funding modules. Please refer to the programme guidelines (DFG form 50.01, see link below).
- Details on NWO´s proposal preparation, submission und evaluation process can be found on the NWO website (see link below)
Submission of copies of the proposal documents to the DFG (as Partner Agency)
- Please note that if you are using the elan system for the first time, you will need to register in the elan portal prior to submitting your proposal, stating your personal data and address details. Registrations must be done no later than one week prior to submission. In addition to the application to the NWO, a copy of the proposal that was submitted to the NWO must be submitted to the DFG via the elan portal by the principal investigator of the German team within seven days after proposal submission to the NWO (or the proposal may otherwise be rejected for formal reasons). To do this:
- Select the “NWO-DFG Pilot 2024-2027 DFG-Partner” call under “Proposal Data” in the DFG´s elan portal.
- The proposal should indicate that it is to be considered under the pilot call by prefacing the title with “NWO-DFG”.
- For each module, please only enter the funds requested from the DFG in the elan portal. Note that only Germany-based applicants should be entered as “applicants”. Partners from the Netherlands (and potential further international partners) should be entered as “cooperation partners” (please select “participating individuals”, “cooperation partners”). At least one cooperation partner from the Netherlands must be specified.
- Please upload a full copy of the proposal that was submitted to NWO as one file (including any appendices, etc.) in elan.
- In addition, an academic CV for each of the applying individuals (the German and the Dutch applicants) should be provided. Please upload the CVs of all PIs combined in one PDF document.
- It is compulsory to submit the “NWO-DFG Project Data Form” to the DFG (see link below). Please upload the form in elan under “Other Attachments”.
Ethics Votes
If an ethics vote is required for the German or the Dutch part of the project, it must be submitted together with the proposal to the DFG (regardless of whether the DFG acts as Lead or Partner Agency). However, in exceptional cases, an ethics vote by the responsible local German ethics committee can be submitted no later than three months after proposal submission. Otherwise, the funding organisations may stop processing the application.
Please note that the submission of an ethics vote of the local German ethics committee is also necessary if only the project part abroad is affected, as it is a cooperation project.
Notification of Results
Applicants will be informed in writing of the decision and, where applicable, of the subsequent administrative steps according to the respective national regulations.
Funding will be provided according to the funding rules (incl. reporting requirements) of the respective funding organisation.
Grant holders are requested, where possible, to synchronise their project components and initiate their grants in a timely manner.
Equity and Diversity
The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness.
Acknowledgement
Due acknowledgement of support received from NWO and the DFG should be made in any publication relating to any research resulting from this Lead Agency procedure according to usual practices.
Further Information
“NWO-DFG Pilot Scope”
DFG´s NWO-DFG Pilot Website (please check for current news and updates)
DFG as Lead Agency
Proposal Preparation:
General Information on the DFG’s Research Grants Programme:
Guidelines Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01) – includes eligibility requirements:
Project Description Template (DFG form 53.01 elan):
CV Template (DFG form 53.200):
“NWO-DFG Project Data Form”
Proposal Submission:
Joint Proposals are to be submitted by the German principal investigator via the DFG´s proposal submission system, which can be accessed at https://elan.dfg.de/e.
For information on the submission of a copy of the proposal (and selected additional documents) to the NWO, the Dutch partners should refer to the NWO website at:
For call 2024/2025:
- www.nwo.nl/en/calls/open-competition-domain-science-m-2024/202
- www.nwo.nl/en/researchprogrammes/open-competition-enw/weave-research-funding-for-international-collaboratio
- www.nwo.nl/en/researchprogrammes/open-competition-en
NWO as Lead Agency
For details on proposal preparation, please refer to the NWO´s website and the respective yearly Open Competition Domain Science-M call document at
For call 2024/2025:
- www.nwo.nl/en/calls/open-competition-domain-science-m-2024/202
- www.nwo.nl/en/researchprogrammes/open-competition-enw/weave-research-funding-for-international-collaboratio
- www.nwo.nl/en/researchprogrammes/open-competition-en
“NWO-DFG Project Data Form” (to be submitted to the DFG as additional information)
Copies of joint proposals are to be submitted by the German principal investigator via the DFG´s proposal submission system, which can be accessed at https://elan.dfg.de/e
General Information
DFG´s review and decision process:
Guidelines for the Review of Research Grants (DFG form 10.206)
Arriving at a decision in individual grants programmes
DFG´s data protection notice:
Please observe 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 individuals whose data will be processed by the DFG due to their involvement in your project.
Good research practice:
Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice – Code of Conduct:
Information on the implementation of the Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice (Code of Conduct):
Contact of the DFG´s Research Integrity Team (Good Research Practice):