Overview
NWO's Rubicon mobility fellowship gives promising recent PhD researchers with a scientific link to the Netherlands funding for 12–24 months of postdoctoral research, normally at a research organization abroad.
Complete fellowship details
Round 3 has a €3.145 million funding ceiling. The maximum grant is calculated from an €84,000 annual base amount adjusted by host-country correction coefficient and FTE, plus €276 per month for research costs. Eligible travel costs are also supported. The final grant is a contribution toward salary, research and travel costs and may not cover every cost.
Eligibility requirements
At the Round 3 deadline, applicants must generally have obtained their PhD no more than one year earlier or be completing the PhD with supervisor approval confirming expected completion before the project starts. Applicants must demonstrate the required scientific link to the Netherlands through an eligible PhD-awarding research organization. A Rubicon application can normally be submitted only once. Additional mobility, host-institution and extension conditions in the call apply.
Tips for this fellowship
Practical Job and Scholarship guidance. These tips do not replace official rules or create new eligibility requirements.
- Choose the correct submission desk before applying: ISAAC for NWO domains or MijnZonMw for health and medical sciences.
- Start the online submission at least one day before the deadline because additional online data must be completed.
- Check eligibility, funding coverage, study/project level and every required document before investing time in the application.
- Prepare transcripts, references, language tests, proposal/motivation statement and proof documents early.
- Separate the scholarship deadline from any university/program admission deadline; they may be different.
- Treat “fully funded” as a source fact only when the official provider explicitly confirms the covered costs.
Verification notes
Verified against the official Dutch government publication of NWO's Rubicon 2026 call. Round 3 closes 1 December 2026 before 14:00 CET, normalized to 13:00 UTC. NWO-domain applications use ISAAC; health/medical (ZonMw) applications use MijnZonMw according to the call.
Job and Scholarship is the discovery and verification layer. Confirm eligibility, dates, salary/funding and application instructions on the original source before submitting anything.
Dutch Research Council (NWO) / Staatscourant ↗Browse current Job and Scholarship listings from Dutch Research Council (NWO) / Staatscourant →
