TOP Grants

Launch   2005
Duration Unspecified
Budget       € 8,000,000 a year
Deadline    Ongoing submission of applications

TOP grants are intended as a form of support for innovative lines of research to be performed by research groups with an outstanding track record. They are intended to give strong groups the opportunity to innovate in their research lines, in terms both of content and of collaboration. The attendant risks are acknowledged and indeed encouraged in the context of this programme.

The funding, up to € 675,000 per grant, can be used to pay for several scientific research posts, plus equipment loans and possibly support staff for a number of years (the guideline is five years). Several projects funded in this way can give a group’s research a new direction.

Twelve grants can be awarded each year. TOP grants attract the best research groups in the Netherlands. With the introduction of ongoing submission in 2006 we noticed that the pressure of applications reduced. This effectively means that applications now have more chance of being granted. Nevertheless, ZonMw is not able to fund all proposals that meet the strict quality criteria.