ZonMw Open Competition is intended for excellent research teams to innovate their research lines in terms of both content and collaboration. The goal is to create space for team science leading to synergistic, groundbreaking science of exceptional quality in the field of fundamental research into health care and innovation.
Who can apply
Please note: You can only submit a full application if you previously submitted a project idea in the ZonMw Open Competition 2025 round.
ZonMw Open Competition is specifically designed to initiate and establish new lines of research by encouraging original and creative pooling of expertise that do not naturally enrich each other. For such innovative and curiosity-driven team science, it is important to properly describe the synergistic composition and diversity of a team with respect to experience, gender, and affiliations. Here complementarity in (technical) skills and expertise of individual team members is also important. (Additional) conditions for principal and co-applicants can be found in section 3.1 of the Call for proposals).
What for
The goal of ZonMw Open Competition is to create space for curiosity-driven, creative collaboration leading to groundbreaking science of exceptional quality in the field of health research. ZonMw Open Competition has no thematic restriction and focuses on potentially groundbreaking research proposals in all scientific disciplines with a question or problem in the (frontier) area of fundamental (bio)medical research into health care and innovation.
The expected outcome of a research proposal is primarily fundamental scientific deepening (knowledge advancement, model and theory building) within an innovative collaboration between research groups (team science). In addition, knowledge utilization/participation are important criteria (see also Call for proposals section 4.3).
What to request
A maximum of €800.000 can be requested for an application in this Call. In addition, it is possible to submit an optional investment module of minimum €100.000 to maximum €250.000 on top of the maximum grant that can be applied for. The maximum subsidy amount to be applied for applications with an investment module is therefore € 1.050.000. The duration of a project is a minimum of four to a maximum of five years.
When
| What | When |
|---|---|
| Deadline for submitting detailed grant application | 11 September 2025, 14.00 uur CEST |
| Referees comments received | Mid November 2025 |
| Deadline for submitting a rebuttal | Mid- end November 2025 |
| Interview selection and decision category ‘highest ranking proposals' | End of January 2026 |
| Interview days (Utrecht) | 4 and 5 February 2026 |
| Decision | End of March 2026 |
| Latest start date | No later than 6 months after decision |
An interview is part of the assessment process for your grant application. The interview will be audio recorded. The audio recording will be destroyed after the assessment procedure is completed.
For more information, consult the frequently asked questions (FAQ) about ZonMw Open Competition for applicants (see section 2. To prepare).
Important: As of June 24th, MijnZonMw will be available for submissions, as announced via email. We look forward to receiving your applications!
Would you like to submit? The complete 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 window until 11 September 2025, 14.00h CEST.
Please note: You can only submit a full application if you previously submitted a project idea in the ZonMw Open Competition 2025 round.
Downloads voor uw aanvraag
- Bestand
- Bestand
Checklist for applying for your grant:
- The complete application includes at least:
- The complete full proposal form (in pdf)
- Required when applying for investment module (in-cash): signed Matching Declaration for Investment (in pdf)
- Required in case of co-financing (in-kind or in-cash): signed Letter of Commitment for co-financing (in pdf)
- Optional: Completed budget form (in Excel)
- It is not necessary to submit a printed and signed grant application or statement of agreement
- The main applicant can submit the preproposal until September 11, 2025, 14.00h CEST
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Features
- Opening date: 24 June 2025
- Budget subsidy round: € 25.000.000
- Budget per application: € 800.000
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For whom:
By invitation
- Part of programme: