TDCC-NES Call for Proposals 2026

"Stimulating connection to coordinate strategic action that benefits the whole domain"

This page contains NES-specific information related to the NWO TDCC call 2026. For general information about the NWO call, click on the button:

From 2026, the TDCC-NES Governing Board is looking for projects that are embedded within the strategic plans of communities or stakeholder groups to address shared challenges. The TDCC-NES staff team can help with this process on topics that have been prioritised for 2026 (see the current work programme). If your project is not embedded in such a way, then you should explain in your submission the urgency to work on the topic without such embedding, or you should make the community embedding part of the project plan. TDCC-NES staff can advise on the best approach.

The NWO TDCC calls are intended for mid-sized, collaborative projects that address key challenges and ambitions of each thematic domain. These projects can have a budget between €50,000 and €400,000 and last up to 24 months.

To submit a proposal to the NWO for the natural and engineering sciences (NES) domain, you must first have your project proposal approved by the NES Governing Board. If you would like to be considered for funding, please see the process below.

Step 1. Submit idea

Do you have a project idea that you would like to request funding for? Or do you have a suggestion for a new challenge topic?

At anytime of the year, you can use the form below to tell us about:

• your idea for a project that requires funding, either that relates to the prioritised challenge topics in the work programme of 2026-2027, or to other challenges in the NES roadmap;
• a challenge topic from the current NES roadmap that you would like to become a priority for exploration;
• a challenge topic that is not yet mentioned in the current NES roadmap that you think should be explored in future.

Once you submit a project idea or a proposal for a priority challenge topic, the TDCC-NES staff will get in contact with you to discuss the details and possibilities.

Although you can contact us with an idea at anytime, if you are aiming to receive funding from the current (2026) NWO call, then you should submit your initial idea as soon as possible so that the staff team can discuss the details with you. We expect initial funding allocations to be made by the Governing Board each year before summer, with final allocations decided in September for the anticipated NWO deadline in November.

If you submit a suggestion for a new challenge topic, it will be considered by the Governing Board when planning the next work programme. The TDCC-NES office can work with you to shape how the challenge topic might be explored with the relevant communities or stakeholders. If the challenge topic is already part of the work programme, funding will be available to support this process.

Step 2: Refine idea

After a preliminary screening, a funding request, will be considered by the Governing Board. Depending on the funding allocation available, time constraints for development (if necessary), and annual priorities, a funding request may be fast-tracked for submission in that year, or held over for anticipated funding in a future year.

If you receive a positive decision from the Governing Board to move onto step 3, you are required to consider the feedback from the Governing Board, and refine your idea by engaging the NES community and offering opportunities for relevant stakeholders to be involved.

We expect there to be only a few projects being actively developed into funding proposals each year, so the TDCC-NES office will work individually with each project team to define specific dates and actions as necessary.

Step 3: Proposal Writing

Next, you develop your idea into a full project and write up a proposal using the NWO application template and guidelines that are published on the NWO call page. Once completed, the full project proposal should be submitted to the TDCC-NES office before the Governing Board decision moment in September.

You may receive comments and suggestions from the Governing Board, indicating conditions for approval. When the feedback has been addressed and implemented into the final project proposal to the satisfaction of the Governing Board, the proposal can move onto step 4.

Step 4: Submission letter

All proposals submitted to NWO for TDCC-NES project funding must be accompanied by a submission letter from the TDCC NES Executive Team. As long as the project meets the conditions for TDCC-NES funding and you have completed the open project development process to the Governing Board’s satisfaction, you will be provided with a letter in time for the submission deadline in November 2026.

Although NWO will perform a review of the project to ensure it aligns with the relevant TDCC roadmap and is eligible for funding, there is no competitive element in the funding decisions at this stage. The TDCC-NES submission letter indicates that the TDCC-NES Governing Board advises NWO to fund the project from the funds available at that time.

Step 5. Proposal Submitted to NWO

Once your final proposal and submission letter are ready, you submit both to NWO through the ISAAC online platform. Submissions for TDCC NES project funding will be accepted by NWO from the opening of the call in May 2026 until 12 November 2026, 14:00 CET.

After Step 5: NWO Approval Process from November 2026

NWO will check all applications via an international review committee and then confirm and prepare the NWO approval. We expect this process to take 3 - 4 months, counting from the closing date of the call.

Please contact the TDCC NES team with any questions that may remain, by sending an email to nes@tdcc.nl.