34 researchers awarded with Vici grant

NWO has awarded 34 researchers with a Vici grant. This form of grant is directed at senior researchers who have shown that they have the ability successfully to develop their own innovative lines of research and to act as coaches for young researchers. Each researcher receives € 1,500,000 for a period of five years. 235 researchers submitted a pre-proposal for a Vici. The next closing date for submitting the Vici pre-proposals is 23 March 2017.

Click here for a full list of all the awarded researchers.

The Innovational Research Incentives Scheme has been set up in 2000 by NWO, KNAW and the universities jointly. The aim is to promote innovation in the academic research field. The scheme is directed at providing encouragement for individual researchers and gives talented, creative researchers the opportunity to conduct their own research programme independently and promote talented researchers to enter and remain committed to the scientific profession. The Scheme includes three forms of grant: Veni (for researchers who have recently completed their doctorates), Vidi (for experienced researchers) and Vici (for researchers of professorial quality).

NWO will be changing its evaluation procedure starting the next Vici round. In the rounds from 2012 to 2016, the evaluation of Vici pre-proposals and full proposals was largely handled by three 'domain committees', and the final step in the evaluation process, the interview phase, was assessed by a science-wide committee. From 2017 onwards, the entire procedure, including the interviews, will be allocated to five committees: four committees corresponding to the new NWO domains. The fifth committee will handle applications that transcend the boundaries of NWO's domains.