Starting new evaluation NWO’s Talent Programme
For 25 years, NWO's Talent Programme has been helping researchers across the entire spectrum of science to advance their scientific careers with funding. The Veni, Vidi, Vici, and Rubicon grants give researchers the opportunity to develop their own line of research or to gain experience abroad.
New insights will help NWO to optimize the programme
The aim of the programs is to create space for talented and pioneering researchers to conduct research of their choice, develop their own line of research, and further develop their talents. This is done through the Veni, Vidi, and Vici grants, which are tailored to the different phases of a scientific career: from recent PhD graduates to (more) experienced researchers. In addition, there is the Rubicon programme, which allows scientists who recently obtained their PhD to gain experience at a foreign research organisation
Evaluation of the Talent Programme
The Veni, Vidi, and Vici grants have been in existence since 2002, and NWO regularly evaluates its instruments. In the past, for example, NWO investigated whether a reorientation would be desirable, after which a slight course correction followed. The last full evaluation dates from 2012, followed by only smaller process evaluations of single adjustments that were implemented. By conducting a new evaluation covering the period 2017 to 2024, NWO can measure the effect of several adjustments that have been implemented in recent years and also examine the role of the Talent Programme in the current scientific landscape. New insights will help NWO to optimize the programme and keep it future-proof.
Scope of evaluation
The Talent Programme is open to all scientific fields and is implemented in a similar manner across the NWO domains of Science (ENW), Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), Applied and Engineering Sciences (AES), and Medical Sciences (ZonMw partnership). In addition to the Talent Programme, the entire NWO Talent Scheme includes other forms of personal funding: from the Spinoza and Stevin prizes and the Doctoral Grant for Teachers programme to several NWO diversity programmes, such as Hestia, Aspasia, and Mosaic. However, these programmes are different in nature and also have different procedures. Moreover, some of them have recently been evaluated internally. This evaluation therefore focuses exclusively on the Veni, Vidi, Vici, and Rubicon grants.
Evaluation agency and sounding board groups
NWO is a self-learning organisation, in which monitoring, evaluation, and learning are important steps in the primary process. This evaluation is therefore carried out on NOW’s own initiative, as is the case with many NWO policy themes and funding instruments. NWO works together with the independent research and consultancy firm Dialogic for this purpose. An internal and external sounding board group, consisting of researchers and management or board members of research and interest organisations, will be actively involved in the design of the evaluation process and the validation of the draft report.NWO is a self-learning organisation, in which monitoring, evaluation, and learning are important steps in the primary process. This evaluation is therefore carried out on NOW’s own initiative, as is the case with many NWO policy themes and funding instruments. NWO works together with the independent research and consultancy firm Dialogic for this purpose. An internal and external sounding board group, consisting of researchers and management or board members of research and interest organisations, will be actively involved in the design of the evaluation process and the validation of the draft report.
Topics to be evaluated
In the evaluation, stakeholders, such as (representatives of) applicants and committee members, will be questioned on a wide range of topics. These will include the evidence-based CV and the two-phase structure, in which a preliminary application is assessed first, followed by the full application. The role of scientific and societal impact and the application pressure on researchers and research organisations will also be reviewed. The current NWO strategy, ‘Science Works!’, sets out several ambitions in this regard: from striving for a 25% success rate and reducing the workload of researchers to a broader recognition and reward of scientific talent within the assessment system. By conducting the evaluation, NWO can learn how policy and processes can be improved in these areas.
Additional research into evidence-based CVs
In addition to the evaluation, another study is currently underway that focuses on evidence-based CVs, which will be an important addition to this evaluation. It is expected to be completed in September 2026. With the project ‘Non-traditional key output in evidence-based CVs for applicants’, NWO is investigating the extent to which applicants use non-traditional key output in their narrative CVs. This is being done on the basis of NWO's unique dataset containing thousands of (anonymised) applications and is funded by the EU and CoARA Boost.
Final report
The final report, with an executive response, is expected before the summer of 2026 and will be published in Dutch and English on the NWO website. It may serve as a basis for any future adjustments to the Talent Programme.
Questions
Do you have any questions about the evaluation? Please send them to the following email address evaluaties@nwo.nl
Background information