In collaboration with the Dutch Research Council (NWO), we are opening a new call to support Principal Investigators.
The call ‘Principal Investigator (PI) support’ aims to support researchers in the Netherlands with a PI role for a space mission, experiment or instrument to better fulfill that role. Also, the funding aims to make the Dutch scientific field benefit more from existing Dutch PI positions.
This funding instrument is a joint call from NWO and the Netherlands Space Office.
Call 2025 - how to apply
Download the call text here
The grant ceiling for this Call for proposals totals €711,000.
To apply you should first send in a letter of intent. The deadline for submitting Letters of Intent is Tuesday, May 20, 2025, by 14:00:00 CEST.
The deadline for submitting a full proposal is Thursday, July 3, 2025, by 14:00:00 CEST. For the full application, you are required to send in the application form and a PI declaration:
For whom
This Call for proposals is open for PI roles for space instruments, experiments and/or missions in the prevailing themes of OCW space policy, namely Earth observation, planetary research and astronomy.
Due to the budget available, for this Call for proposals, only PI roles are allowed for missions in the following ESA programmes:
For more informationa and prerequisites, see the full call for proposals.
Background
'PI support' falls under the 'Partnerships for Space Instruments & Applications Preparatory Programme' (PIPP). The PIPP is part of Dutch space policy. Strengthening the Netherlands' international position in the development and use of space instruments, which is the focus of this Call for proposals, is a priority of this policy.
Previous funding rounds of the PIPP focused on supporting Dutch researchers to become Principal Investigator (PI) of a space instrument or mission (period 2010-2013) and on the formation of Expertise Networks (KNW) around the development and use of space instruments (period 2017-2022; the Expertise Networks Scheme). From 2022, the PIPP was further developed to remain effective in the future. The PIPP, together with the 'Use of Space Infrastructure for Earth Observation and Planetary Research' (GO) programme, has since fallen under the umbrella 'Strengthening Space and Science Synergy' funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) as part of the national space research policy. Under the PIPP, two variants of funding
rounds will be offered in 2025: 'Strengthening Knowledge Cooperation in Space' aimed at already existing Expertise Networks and 'PI Support', to strengthen PI roles already fulfilled by Dutch researchers and their exploitation.