TDCC LSH Challenge Call 2025
Submitting project ideas
The Dutch Research Council (NWO) will open the second TDCC project call in 2025 (closing date November 20, 2025 at 14:00:00 CET, call budget 800K euro per TDCC) to further support the TDCC network and support the digitalization of science as a whole. In most cases, this is not about developing new scientific knowledge, but about finding and disseminating the right knowledge, and agreeing on its joint application. The projects resulting from this call will therefore mainly focus on the ambitions and challenges as defined in the TDCC-LSH roadmap, for an overview of existing project see the TDCC-LSH project page. Applicants can apply for a minimum total of €50,000 and a maximum of €400,000 for project proposals with a maximum duration of 24 months. Please note, that in 2025 a percentage of cofinancing is required (25%, to be confirmed by NWO), more information will be available on the NWO website. This TDCC call differs from other NWO open calls, due to the fact that a submission letter from the responsible TDCC domain is required before one can apply for project funding at the Dutch Research Council (NWO). More information on how to obtain the submission letter for TDCC-LSH can be found below.
The TDCC-LSH has developed an application and assessment process, which focuses on connecting initiatives to strengthen project applications and prevent defragmentation of project funding. The TDCC-LSH is building on the working relationships and collaborations it has established with various stakeholders in the health and life sciences domain and aims to utilize the TDCC-LSH network to develop community-driven projects. Once new project ideas are submitted to TDCC-LSH, the TDCC-LSH team will explore similar projects and provide matchmaking opportunities that hopefully result in stronger community-driven projects. As a first step, we ask interested applicants to share their project idea via a short expression of Interest statement (see details below). The TDCC-LSH therefore asks all members of the LSH research community to submit community-driven project ideas!
The TDCC-LSH will conduct one project round in 2025. For more information about the process itself, please refer to the guideline below.
The TDCC-LSH will also organise information meetings on the project call for the life sciences and health communities on the following dates:
- 31 March 2025 15:00-16:00h - TDCC-LSH call 2025 Q&A session: Online Teams meeting
TDCC-LSH Challenge project process:
Step 1. Submit your idea to the TDCC-LSH using the Expression of Interest form
Timeline: March – April 2025
Deadline: 28 April 2025
On the 3th of March 2025 the Expression of Interest form will be available on the TDCC website. Applicants can submit their idea by filling in the Expression of interest form. Here you will be asked to write a short description about your project ideas, collaborating partners and which TDCC-LSH roadmap challenges your project addresses. In addition, a breakdown into work-packages and an estimate of the budget needs to be described.
*Please note that while the NWO call remains open till the 20th of November 2025, the deadlines for obtaining a TDCC submission letter will be closing sooner due to the review process involved! Hence, make sure to submit an idea before the deadline and the Expression of Interest form closes.
Step 1,5: EOI review, decision and feedback by TDCC-LSH programme board
Timeline: May 2025
Applicants can expect a response: 16 Jun 2025
After submission the TDCC-LSH will do a limited criteria check (domain relevance, addressing roadmap challenges, collaboration potential, etc.), to see if the submitted Expression of Interest idea is potentially eligible for a TDCC-LSH submission letter.
The TDCC-LSH programme board will then evaluate the scope and approach described in the application, suggest other potential partners and provide overall feedback on the proposal. Applicants will receive confirmation by the TDCC-LSH team that the proposals will either be: rejected, revisited for future calls or approved and thus allowing applicants to proceed to the following step: writing the full proposal.
The TDCC-LSH programme board consists of several representatives in the LSH field including Large-scale Research Infrastructures domains, Bioinformatic and System Biology communities, etc. Currently the TDCC-LSH Programme Board consists of representatives in the following domains:
- Green life Sciences
- Life Sciences & Enabling Technologies
- Medical Sciences
- Health Sciences
- Bioinformatics and System Biology communities
Step 2: Refine project ideas and write Final Proposal
Timeline: June – September 2025
Deadline: 29 Sep 2025
Once writing teams have obtained the approval of the TDCC-LSH programme board they will write the full proposal. Project teams will facilitate their own project meetings and conduct their own process to align ideas and make sure that the submitted project is in line with the community needs, resulting in a proposal that combines ideas and connects different initiatives. The full project proposal needs to be written following the format of the application form provided by NWO, available in ISAAC. Finally, the project teams will be asked to submit their proposal before the deadline indicated above to the TDCC-LSH team, after which they will be reviewed by the TDCC-LSH programme board.
*More information about the forms, the TDCC call, or ISAAC can be found on the NWO website.
Step 2,5: Final check and decision by TDCC-LSH programme board.
Timeline: October 2025
Applicants can expect a response: 10 November 2025
The TDCC-LSH programme board will review the final versions of the proposals. Applicants will receive confirmation that the proposals will either be rejected or approved. Applicants whose final proposals have been approved can proceed to step 3 & 4: submitting the full proposal to NWO.
Step 3. Obtain letter of Submission by TDCC-LSH
Timeline: November 2025
Applicants can expect a response: 10 November 2025
Once the project proposal has received positive feedback from the TDCC-LSH programme board, the applicant(s) will receive a support letter or letter of submission per email of TDCC-LSH that is needed to complete the NWO submission in ISAAC.
Step 4. Applicants submit the proposal to NWO through ISAAC.
Timeline: November 2025
Deadline: 20 Nov 2025 - 14:00:00 CEST
After obtaining the letter of submission from the TDCC-LSH, the applicant can submit their proposal and submission letter to the NWO call through ISAAC.
Step 5: NWO Approval Process
Timeline: December - February
After the proposal submission deadline, NWO will perform an internal check for all applications and have the proposals assessed by an international evaluation committee. We expect this process to take up roughly three months, counting from the submission deadline. Projects must start within 6 months after receiving a positive NWO decision to allocating funding. Please, keep this in mind for your project starting date.