In short
- In 2020 NWO received 7,098 research proposals, of which 1,778 were granted.
- The acceptance rates differ substantially between the various programmes.
- In recent years, the award percentage has varied between 25% and 30%.
What are the acceptance rates of the different groups of NWO programmes?
2019 | 2020 | |
Basic research | 23 | 15 |
National Science Agenda (NWA) | 14 | 18 |
Talent programmes | 20 | 18 |
Research facilities and equipment | 90 | 39 |
Other | 44 | 40 |
Taskforces | 48 | 48 |
Analysis
In 2020 NWO received 7,098 research proposals. 1,778 were granted. 38% of all proposals received are in the categories 'Talent'. The acceptance rates differ substantially between the various programmes. The acceptance rate for the category 'Research infrastructure' is about four times higher than the acceptance rates for 'Talent advancement programmes'.
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 | 26.6 |
2017 | 30 |
2018 | 27 |
2019 | 29 |
2020 | 25 |
Analysis
Between 2006 and 2011, the overall acceptance rates strongly declined, from 37 to 22 percent. Thereafter the acceptance rate stabilizes at about a quarter of the proposals. In recent years, the award percentage has varied between 25% and 30%.
facts and figures
37% Award percentage in 2006
22% Award percentage in 2011
27,5% The award percentage in the last couple of years is around 25% to 30%
For an explanation of the used definitions and acronyms we kindly refer to the web page Definitions for Science in Figures.