Chances of getting a Vidi grant haven't been this low in years

NWO cannot yet say why the number of grant applications was so high this time. It may have something to do with the new application procedure which made it less time-consuming to apply. However, NWO has not investigated the matter yet and other factors may have influenced the increase.

In any case, 102 grants of up to 850,000 euros have been awarded, five more than in 2022. The Vidi grants are part of NWO's Talent Programme. Experienced researchers can use them to set up their own line of research. Most of the 86.7 million euros that NWO is awarding in this round will go to scientists from the University of Amsterdam, closely followed by Radboud University and Leiden University.

Utrecht-based winners
Utrecht University scored fourteen grants. Four went to the Faculty of Geosciences, three for the Faculty of Science, one for the Faculty of Law, Economics & Governance, one for the Faculty of Humanities and five for UMC Utrecht. The Princess Máxima Center, the Hubrecht Institute and NIOZ also have laureates.

The research topics vary. For example, Edwin van Leeuwen is researching the cultural life of monkeys, while Pooyan Tamimi Arab is researching non-religiosity and atheism in Iran, and Jaap Nienhuis is researching the risk of the Netherlands being underwater. UU's website lists all winning researchers and their research topics.

Women
This summer, NWO announced that women will have a slightly better chance of receiving a Vidi grant in the next round (2024). In the 2023 round, there were fewer applications from women compared to men, but women were slightly more successful: 13.2 percent of them obtained a grant, compared to 12 percent of male applicants.

Judith Verweijen van Geowetenschappen kreeg een beurs en werkt zowel in Groningen als in Utrecht.