NWA Reducing Drug Harm — Pre-applications Phase 1 (Drugsschade terugdringen)
Funds Dutch research and societal consortia investigating drug-related harm and testing interventions to improve public policy outcomes.
NWA Drugsschade terugdringen — Pre-applications Phase 1 is a competitive pre-proposal round administered by ZonMw on behalf of the Dutch National Research Agenda (NWA). The programme targets the full spectrum of drug-related harm: health impacts, economic consequences, safety implications, and damage to the living environment arising from drug use, production, and trafficking in the Netherlands. The call invites consortia of researchers and societal organisations to investigate the mechanisms underlying drug-related harm and to develop effective policy interventions. The total budget for Phase 1 is €4,270,951, divided among a maximum of four selected pre-proposals at up to €1,067,737.75 each.
Eligible applicants are Dutch research institutions, universities, non-profit organisations, and societal partners. Each consortium must include at minimum a main applicant, one or more co-applicants, and at least one cooperation partner; for-profit entities may not lead. Individual researchers cannot apply as main applicants acting alone. The pre-proposal submission window opened 6 May 2026, with a hard deadline of 7 July 2026 at 14:00 Netherlands time. Successful Phase 1 consortia advance to Phase 2 to develop full proposals; maximum total project duration across both phases is five years. Budgets may cover personnel, materials, investments, and knowledge-utilisation activities.
Applications are submitted via Mijn ZonMw: applicants download the pre-proposal form from Mijn ZonMw or the NWO website, complete and save it as a PDF, attach a mandatory budget appendix, and submit the package through the portal. The main applicant must commit to participating in all synergy workshops during Phase 2 if selected. Only four consortia advance — competition is high.
Drug-related harm reduction — health, economic, safety, and living-environment impacts of drug use, production, and trafficking, including mechanisms and effective societal interventions.
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