The Off Road program focuses on curiosity-driven, fundamental research at the beginning of the knowledge chain. It aims to explore a promising idea into a proof of concept within the biomedical and health sciences field.
Who can apply
ZonMw Off Road challenges creative and adventurous researchers, between 2-6 years after their PhD, to explore their promising, innovative and risky ideas.
The aim is to realise new insights and unexpected breakthroughs in medical and/or health research. Due to the absence of a funding round in 2023, researchers who obtained their PhD between 1 January 2017 and 4 June 2018 can also submit a one-off application within this round. Additional conditions for applicants can be found in section 3.1.1 of the Call for Proposals. Information regarding the extension scheme can be found in the appendix Extension scheme Off Road.
What for
By focusing on high-risk, high-reward research, ZonMw is responding to the global need for out-of-the-box ideas to promote new insights and unexpected breakthroughs in all scientific disciplines.
The focus of Off Road is on groundbreaking research within the biomedical and/or health field, with a high-risk character that is not on the beaten path of research. The emphasis of the applications is mainly on developing a promising but risky out-of-the-box idea into a proof of concept. This means that, although the developed idea may be of a long-term nature, the project is mainly aimed at testing the hypothesis behind the concept/idea. The outcome may be negative, but what counts is that every result, whether or not it has an effect, helps science move forward.
What to request
The total available grant budget in this funding round is €1,500,000,-. The maximum ZonMw grant per application is € 100,000,- for a duration of a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 18 months. For further specification of the costs, see 'Financial conditions' in the call for proposals.
When
| Deadline for submitting a grant application | Tuesday 4 June 2024, 14:00h CEST |
| Receipt of the proposed pre-selection decision | 2 September 2024 |
| Deadline submission motivated response | 9 September 2024 |
| Interviews* | 15 and 16 October 2024 |
| Decision | November 2024 |
| Latest start date | May 2025 |
These dates are subject to change. You will be informed about the exact deadlines closer to date.
* An interview is part of the assessment process of your grant application. An audio recording will be made of the interview. At the end of the assessment procedure, the sound recording will be destroyed.
Download all information
Do you want to submit? All necessary files can be downloaded under the heading 'preparation'. You can find specific information about this round in the full call for proposals.
The full Call for Proposals can be downloaded as a pdf. It contains all the specific information about this call. All the documents you need for your application can be found here. You can submit your grant application through the My ZonMw digital portal until June 4, 2024, 14.00h CEST.
Downloads for your application
- File
Checklist for applying for your grant:
- the applicant can submit the grant application until June 4, 2024, 14:00h CEST.
- a completed application form must be submitted via MyZonMw. The applicant should comply with the questions, procedure and conditions as indicated in theform.
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Features
- Opening date: 4 April 2024
- Budget subsidy round: € 1.500.000,-
- Budget per application: € 100.000,-
- Part of programme: