Update NWO Computer hack

As you probably already know the NWO network has been hacked and the application process has been suspended indefinitely. Our Funding Advisor Vivian Braeken informs you about the consequences for calls and awarding grants.

The hacking of the network servers has made it impossible for NWO, the NWO-I office, the Task Force for Applied Research (SIA) and the Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO) to perform their primary functions – organising the funding of science. All of the related activities, from opening new calls for proposals up to and including the assessment procedures, have therefore been suspended until further notice. ZonMw is not directly affected by the hack, but programmes that work in conjunction with NWO's systems might experience delays.

The ISAAC grant application system appears to be unaffected, but in the interests of security it has been closed to all users until such time as NWO is certain that the data is clean. It is not yet clear how long this situation will last. The priority is to start up the granting procedures.

More information and a FAQ list about the hack are posted on the NWO website: https://www.nwo.nl/en/frequently-asked-questions-about-nwo-network-hack.
Questions that are not yet included in the FAQ can be submitted via a form on the NWO website.
NWO friendly request to look first at the FAQ before submitting a question via the form. This prevents many questions from being asked that have already been answered on the website.
It is not recommended to contact the program secretaries directly, because they cannot provide more information than the NWO publishes on the website. Moreover, e-mails sent to the employees of NWO are not reaching them and can therefore not be answered.

In case of problems or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Vivian Braeken, funding advisor
v.braeken@maastrichtuniversity.nl