Deadline: 13-Jan-2026
The NWO and CNPq invites Dutch and Brazilian researchers and societal partners to form a consortium to conduct research into the balance between agriculture and biodiversity in the Brazilian Cerrado from a socio-ecological point of view.
The programme focuses on four themes, two of which should be addressed in the application: land-use design scenarios which support biodiversity and ecosystem services; social, economic and environmental impacts of land-use redesign strategies; developing agricultural systems more resilient to climate change while protecting biodiversity; co-creating governance approaches to support more sustainable land-use practices.
This Call for proposals aims to develop strategies for a balanced approach towards conserving the biodiversity of the Cerrado, mitigating climate change, and ensuring social justice, while simultaneously driving food and nutrition security and economic development by safeguarding agricultural productivity. The Matopiba region in the northern part of the Cerrado, along with its border areas with the Amazon, is the principal geographical focus of this initiative.
The programme seeks to strengthen bilateral cooperation between Brazil and the Netherlands in scientific and technological areas of strategic importance to both countries. It requires the formation of consortia composed of knowledge institutions and societal partners that work in an inter and transdisciplinary manner. Proposals must have a knowledge-chain-wide composition, connecting fundamental, applied, and practice-oriented research with the knowledge needs of societal stakeholders.
The budget available for this Call is €2.860.000,00 from NWO and R$ 4.000.000,00 from CNPq, with a maximum project duration of four years. Proposals may request up to €715.000,00 from NWO.
Consortia must include main applicants and co-applicants from both the Dutch and Brazilian sides, along with at least one cooperation partner from a practitioner organisation such as a business, government body, or non-governmental organisation. All partners, including relevant stakeholders, are expected to actively engage in all project phases, from inception to knowledge-sharing.
Applications will be assessed based on problem definition and analysis, envisaged impact and route to impact, quality of the consortium, and quality of the research. Applications must be submitted in English via the NWO web application ISAAC by the Dutch main applicant, including compulsory annexes such as separate budgets for NWO and CNPq, declarations of commitment, and project supervision guarantees where applicable.
The deadline for application is 13 January 2026.
For more information, visit NWO.