NWO acceptance rates
The Dutch Research Council (NWO) is a major funder of competence-based research programmes and projects within the scientific system. In this data publication we look at the funding percentages of a number of groups of NWO programmes and the development of the funding percentage for all programmes together. The funding percentage is the proportion of applications that receive funding.
In short
- The acceptance rates differ substantially between the various programmes.
- In 2024, these varied between 15% and 100% between the various programmes.
- In recent years, the overall award percentage has varied between 25% and 30%.
What are the acceptance rates of the different groups of NWO programmes?
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Research facilities and equipment | 90 | 39 | 70 | 67 | 100 | |
| Other | 44 | 40 | 53 | 50 | 49 | 60 |
| Taskforces | 48 | 48 | 50 | 45 | 43 | 40 |
| National Science Agenda (NWA) | 14 | 18 | 35 | 22 | 33 | 58 |
| Basic research | 23 | 15 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 20 |
| Talent programmes | 20 | 18 | 22 | 17 | 19 | 15 |
Analysis
In 2023 NWO received 8,040 research proposals, of which 2,078 were granted. In 2024 NWO received 7,504 research proposals of which 2,151 were granted. The number of proposals therefore rose by 7% while the number of proposals granted decreased by 3%.
In 2021, 4,919 applications were submitted, of which 1,527 were granted. This difference is due to the fact that NWO was hit by a cyber attack in 2021. The subsidy processes have been suspended for five weeks and have therefore been rescheduled. The long-term planning of various grant programmes has also been delayed due to the cyber attack.
In 2024, as in 2023, most applications were submitted in the 'talent' category (37%). This category also had the lowest rate of applications granted (15%). This was the lowest rate in the years between 2019 and 2024. This is also the case for the categorie 'open competition', at 20%, and for the task forces, at 40% in 2024.
At the same time, the differences in award percentages between the programs are substantial. The rate of proposals granted in the 'scientific infrastructure' category was at an all-time high at 100% in 2024. However, this is also the smallest category, at 55 proposals.
How have the acceptance rates of NWO programmes developed?
| Acceptance rate | |
| 2004 | 35 |
| 2005 | 33 |
| 2006 | 37 |
| 2007 | 32 |
| 2008 | 30 |
| 2009 | 30 |
| 2010 | 25 |
| 2011 | 22 |
| 2012 | 24 |
| 2013 | 25 |
| 2014 | 24 |
| 2015 | 25 |
| 2016 | 27 |
| 2017 | 30 |
| 2018 | 27 |
| 2019 | 29 |
| 2020 | 25 |
| 2021 | 31 |
| 2022 | 28 |
| 2023 | 29 |
| 2024 | 26 |
Analysis
Between 2006 and 2011, the overall acceptance rate strongly declined. The rate decreased from 37% to a low of 22% in 2011. After 2011 the acceptance rate rose slightly. Since then it has been fluctuating between 25% and 30%, with a small peak at 31% in 2021. In 2024 the acceptance rate was 26%, a slight decrease with respect to the previous year.