NWO Rubicon Research Programme 2026

📖 About NWO Rubicon Research Programme

Rubicon aims to encourage talented researchers who recently received their PhD to spend time at research institutes outside the Kingdom of the Netherlands to further their scientific career.

Sponsor Organisation:

• NWO (Dutch Research Council)

🎁 Benefits of NWO Rubicon Research Programme

• A budget of €3,145,000 is available for this submission round.
• The available budget will be divided proportionally among eligible applications across the units Science, SSH, AES, and ZonMw.

✅ Eligibility Criteria

General Requirements:

• Postgraduates currently engaged in doctoral research or those awarded a doctorate within 12 months preceding the deadline can submit a proposal.
• Applicants still engaged in doctoral research must provide a written declaration from their supervisor approving their thesis.

Additional Criteria:

• Women are especially encouraged to apply.
• Applicants must have received a PhD from a research organisation mentioned under Article 1.1, Paragraph 1 of the NWO Grant Rules before the project starts. The complete list of research organisations can be found in the Call for Proposals.
• Applications must be submitted by individual researchers (not pairs or teams).
• Applicants may submit an application for a Rubicon grant only once.

📅 Application Date and Process

• Applications must be submitted via the application website.

⏰ Application Deadline

• 24 March, 2026

🌐 Scholarship Application Portal

• View details of the NWO Rubicon Research Programme here.
• Apply for the programme using the application form.

This opportunity is ideal for researchers looking to advance their scientific careers internationally. Don't miss the chance to apply!

• A budget of 3,145,000 euro is available for this submission round. The available budget will be divided in proportion to the number of eligible applications between the units Science, SSH, AES and ZonMw.