NWO introduces award for collaboration

The scientific community boasts a large number of prestigious awards: from the Nobel Prize to the Spinoza and Stevin Prizes, which the NWO awards itself each year. These are intended for pioneering researchers in their field, serving both as recognition and as an incentive to take their research a step further.

However, there are also themes within science - and researchers working on them - for which a relevant platform for recognition and encouragement is still lacking. The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) is therefore introducing the NWO Awards.

With these new awards, NWO honors inspiring researchers working on themes of great importance to science. The aim is to highlight groundbreaking initiatives and the individuals or teams behind them who contribute to remarkable developments in science - from research culture to the relationship between research and society.

The four awards cover the themes of a healthy research culture, societal impact, collaboration and open science.

Award for Collaboration

One of the four new awards is the Agora Award for Collaboration. This award is intended for initiatives that have approached collaboration in a surprising, innovative and distinctive way and have thereby achieved demonstrable results.

This encompasses collaboration in the broadest sense of the word: interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, thematic, team science, and so on. By presenting the Agora Award for Collaboration, NWO aims to recognise exceptional collaborative initiatives and inspire science and society to establish out-of-the-box partnerships. The award comes with a cash prize of €50,000.

What can be nominated?

The awards support or strengthen initiatives that can increase the impact of research. The awards deliberately focus not only on individuals but also on research groups, as many outstanding achievements are the result of collaborative efforts.

In addition to the Agora Award for collaboration, there is the Arete Award for a healthy research culture. This award is intended for initiatives or individuals who contribute to or exemplify a healthy research culture. With the Atlas Award for societal impact, NWO aims to highlight initiatives that have established an effective connection with society through knowledge utilisation or science communication. Finally, the UKB Leo Waaijers Open Science Award is for initiatives that have made a lasting contribution to the open science movement.

Who can nominate?

Anyone may submit a nomination. Researchers and research teams may nominate themselves and each other. However, support staff, societal partners, or people not working in science may also nominate an initiative or individual. View the nomination procedure and criteria.

The deadline for nominations is 23 June 2026 for the UKB Leo Waaijers Open Science Award and 10 September 2026 for the other three awards.

“Science has initiatives that we do not highlight enough,” says Marcel Levi, chair of the NWO Executive Board. “With the NWO Awards, we want to change that. We recognise the people and teams who make science more open, more collaborative and more socially relevant, and we invite everyone to submit exceptional initiatives.”

Please also read: NWO launches new awards for impact, open science and team science | NWO