Dutch science funder goes horizontal with gender equality measures

16 Jul 2024 | News

Dutch Research Council to prioritise women researchers if proposals get a similar score in its Vidi grants programme

Photo credits: CalypsoArt / BigStock

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) is introducing a new pilot rule to its Vidi grants this autumn: if two proposals get a similar score, preference will be given to women candidates.

The funder, which puts €1 billion into research, hopes the measure will lead to more women winning Vidi grants, which award up to €800,000 for researchers to develop new innovative lines of research.

The aim is to get more women at mid-career to lead projects at the stage when women are most likely to the drop out of academia.

 “For us, diversity is very important because we believe it improves science in general and that’s why we chose to stimulate women in science as a specific group,” says Tamara van Mölken, programme…