Privacy Statement

NWO’s core task is to award funding for scientific and other research. In performing that task, NWO processes the personal data that it needs to assess and make a decision on grant applications submitted to it and to manage research projects for which it has awarded funding. In principle, the relevant data includes in any case the name, address and contact details of the main applicant and any co-applicants, as well as details of their education, career and other relevant qualifications for the particular research project. Whether additional personal data are processed depends on the purpose of the funding instrument concerned. In that context, NWO also processes the names and positions of any co-financiers or collaborating partners, as well as those of the personnel appointed for a project. NWO acquires these personal data from the documentation submitted by the applicant. NWO occasionally processes special personal data in connection with funding programmes aimed at promoting participation in projects by members of particular minority groups (such as Mosaic 2.0 and Hestia- Impulse for Refugees in Science).

Retention periods

NWO retains and deletes the data in accordance with the retention periods stipulated in the Dutch Public Records Act.

• For grant applications that have been rejected, NWO is obliged to retain the relevant documentation (including the personal data contained therein) for five years from the date of the decision to reject the application.
• For grant applications that have been awarded, the retention period is ten years from the date of the decision to award the grant.

NWO is further obliged to permanently retain the key registration data of every application submitted to it. The key registration data include the names of the main applicant and co-applicants, the title of the proposal, the application and dossier number, the name and year of the funding round and the decision on the application (the awarding or rejection of a grant).

In the performance of its statutory task, NWO compiles lists of names of potential members of assessment committees, juries or advisory committees. To this end, NWO processes the names, addresses, contact details and relevant qualifications of persons who could be eligible to participate in an assessment committee, a jury, an advisory committee or a complaints committee.

If you submit an objection or a complaint to NWO, or if you make a request to inspect your personal data or to have them deleted, or if you ask NWO to disclose documents (a request for information under the Open Government Act), NWO needs your personal data and contact details to handle the objection, complaint or request. NWO retains and deletes these data in accordance with the retention periods stipulated in the Dutch Public Records Act as they apply to NWO.

Retention periods

The retention period for documentation relating to an objection, an appeal or a complaint (including the personal data contained therein) is two years from the date of the relevant judicial ruling or decision by NWO on the objection or the complaint. NWO retains documentation relating to requests for disclosure of information under the Open Government Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for a period of five years.

NWO not only provides grants for scientific and other research projects on the basis of calls for proposals, but also commissions scientific and other research necessary to perform its public task. It can occur that the personal data of particular individuals are processed in the course of this research. If so, NWO determines the purpose for which and the method by which these personal data will be processed. In such cases, the personal data are seldom processed by NWO itself, but by the party carrying out the research on behalf of NWO.

NWO always concludes written agreements with the party concerned to guarantee that the personal data are processed in compliance with the privacy legislation. Pursuant to the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, the personal data collected for a specific study are retained for a period appropriate to the discipline and methodology concerned.

The NCO is carried out under the auspices of the NRO. For the privacy statement relating to this large-scale cohort study on education, see the NCO website.

NWO analyses the applications submitted to it and research projects funded by it (including the personal data of applicants) for the purpose of evaluating and improving the performance of its public task. In addition to the name of the main applicant and any co-applicants, such analyses make use of data such as the title and research domain of the application, the organisations involved with the application, the gender and the positions held by the applicants, the name of the funding instrument, the year in which the application was submitted and whether the application was granted or rejected. NWO may outsource such analyses and evaluations to an external party, such as a university or a commercial research bureau. In that case, NWO always makes agreements in writing with the contracted party to guarantee that the personal data provided are processed with due regard for the privacy legislation. In accordance with the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, the personal data collected for a specific study are retained for a period appropriate for the relevant discipline and methodology.

As a governmental body, NWO is obliged to be as transparent as possible about how it carries out the tasks that have been assigned to it. In light of that requirement, NWO publishes key data of projects that have received funding on its website. These data include the name of the main applicant, the title of the proposal and the lay summary of the project. The names of any co-applicants and co-financiers are sometimes also published.

The publication of key data is necessary for the performance of NWO’s statutory task and the policy is set out in the NWO Grant Rules 2017. When submitting the application for funding, the beneficiary may express an objection – with a statement of the reasons – to the publication of some or all of the lay summary on the website.

The personal data (name, address, date of birth and curriculum vitae) of individuals applying for a job vacancy are not retained for longer than four weeks after the close of the application procedure. If the applicant has consented to their personal data being retained for longer, we retain the data for a maximum of one year after the close of the application procedure. The personal data of applicants are processed exclusively by the NWO employees directly involved in the application procedure. Their personal data are not used for any other purpose or shared with third parties.

Anyone completing and submitting an online form on the NWO website provides NWO with their name, address and contact details. These forms always state the purpose for which NWO processes those personal data.

A subscription to the NWO newsletter can be cancelled at any time. There is an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every online newsletter. To unsubscribe from our magazines, send an e-mail to magazine@nwo.nl. On receipt of your message, NWO will immediately delete your personal data.

We investigate any situation in which we suspect the occurrence of fraud. In the course of that investigation, we may also process personal data. The categories of personal data that are processed depend on the circumstances of a particular case. For example, we may process names and contact details, but also records of requests made to log on to a system (access log) or IP addresses that were used if it is necessary for the purpose of the investigation. If the investigation reveals the existence of fraud, we will report the incident and may possibly share the personal data with the law enforcement authorities.

Retention period

The personal data that we process in the course of an investigation into fraud are retained for seven years, as prescribed by law.

There is camera surveillance at the entrances to NWO’s offices in The Hague and Utrecht. The purpose of the surveillance is to protect the health and safety of the employees and visitors, to control access to the buildings and to record and investigate incidents.

Retention periods

The images from the cameras are retained for two weeks unless an incident has been recorded, in which case the camera images are deleted after the incident has been dealt with and there is no longer any need to preserve the images.