The Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) of the Dutch Research Agenda (NWA) will be the large NWO instruments for the coming years, alongside the “Open Competition” which includes the Talent Scheme. Research programmes and calls will only be realised within these instruments. They offer many opportunities for Responsible Innovation research. The first calls in the context of the new KIC will soon open.

 

KIC 2020-23
Via the Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) 2020-2023, NWO will contribute to the Dutch government’s mission-driven innovation policy. The focus of this policy is four major societal themes (Energy transition & sustainability, Agriculture, water and food, Health & care and Safety), key technologies and societal earning capacity. For each of these six subjects, a Knowledge and Innovation Agenda (KIA) has been written. The KIAs form the substantive basis for the NWO programming.­­

 

 

First calls expected
For the programming, NWO will deploy a set of funding instruments that consists of four main lines (MISSION, DEMAND, STRATEGY and PRACTICE). Within main line 1 (Mission) the first seven calls are expected to open in July 2020.

These are:

Energy transition & sustainability

• Circularity – the transition to a circular carbon system
• Innovations for wind and solar energy

Agriculture, water and food 

• Aquatic food production
• Climate-robust production systems and water management

Health & care

• Living with Dementia
• Lifestyle and living environment

Key technologies

• KIA-wide call
   

Click here for the pre-announcement. After the summer, more calls will be published, including a call in the area of Human Capital.

Interdisciplinary collaboration
All seven calls for proposals focus on complex societal issues and interdisciplinary collaboration is vital in this regard. NWO therefore invites researchers to submit interdisciplinary project proposals in which researchers from the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences work together on the issue, approaching the problem coherently and from the perspective of different disciplines.

Other developments within the KIC 2020-2023
The mission-driven calls that will open in July are one of the forms of funding within the KIC. Within main line 2 (DEMAND) NWO opened a Partnership desk at the end of June, for public and/or private parties that wish to initiate demand-driven research with impact and with support from NWO. Within main line 4 (PRACTICE) the call KIEM is now open, a low-threshold scheme to encourage collaboration between knowledge institutions and SME partners. University researchers may also submit proposals in this call. Other funding instruments will open in the autumn.

More information
See the NWO website for more information about NWO’s contribution to the KIC 2020-2023. More information about interdisciplinary collaboration within the KIC can be found here.

Stay up-to-date with the latest developments via nwo.nl/kic, @NWOnieuws and LinkedIn! If you have questions about a specific call then please contact that call’s project leader. Contact details will be published when the call is opened.