Inside NWO-I November 2025

Newsletter for NWO-I employees

November 2025

Getting to know Anka Mulder: "My visits to the institutes have confirmed my view of how important our research is."

Anka Mulder took up her position as Vice-President of NWO on 1 May and is therefore also a member of the NWO-I Foundation Board. In this role, she bears, among other things, final responsibility for all operational management aspects of the NWO institutes and frequently consults with the institute managers and institute directors. Inside NWO-I is keen to hear her impressions of NWO-I. Time to get better acquainted.

Anka Mulder, Vice President of NWO

Read the interview with Anka Mulder

Credits: shutterstock.com

NWO-I will be introducing a system for registering the ancillary activities of all employees. These are activities that you perform – paid or unpaid – in addition to your main job at NWO-I. You can easily register these yourself via the Youforce staff portal. If you have any ancillary activities, we ask you to register them in Youforce before 15 December 2025. You can read all about this registration process on the NWO-I website.

Recognition and Rewards within NWO-I: milestones and movement

With the Recognition and Rewards (R&R) programme NWO-I aims to fundamentally renew the way in which we assess, support and value research and researchers within NWO-I. Based on the 2022 vision, we set to work on an action plan based on five pillars: National role, Leadership, Research, Impact and Education. Now that we are a few years along on this journey, it is time to reflect on the steps we have taken together so far.

Read more about Recognition & Rewards

Final agreement on collective labour agreement 2025-2026

Credits: shutterstock.com

On 6 November 2025, the WVOI and employee organisations FNV, CNV Onderwijs and AOb converted the previously reached negotiation result on a new collective labour agreement for research institutes into a final collective labour agreement after positive consultation with their members. The new collective labour agreement runs from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026. In total, this collective labour agreement provides for a structural wage increase of 4.9% over twelve months.

Read the news item

Make the most of your vacation leave

Whether you are a world traveler or prefer to stay closer to home, vacation helps you to relax. By taking a vacation every now and then, or just a day off, you give yourself the space to recharge and stay balanced. At NWO-I, you accrue a considerable amount of vacation leave each year. This leave is intended to be taken in the calendar year in which it is granted. Don't feel the need to take all your vacation days off? Then you can also use your leave for other things, such as purchasing a bicycle, via ArbeidsVoorwaarden Op Maat (AVOM) (Tailor-made Terms of Employment). You can also use the Leave Savings Scheme. For example, for a sabbatical or to stop working six months before your retirement. It's important to take a break from work every now and then!

Credits: shutterstock.com

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) – what was that again?

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are NWO/NWO-I employee networks, which are organised around different themes. ERGs provide a place where historically underrepresented groups can meet. Such networks provide support, create awareness and promote policy regarding equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) through education and by involving allies. NWO/NWO-I has the following ERGs:  

ERG LHBTIQA+
ERG Neurodiversity 
ERG WOMEN+ 
ERG Cultural Diversity 
These ERGs regularly organise NWO/NWO-I wide meetings.

Keep an eye on the website for updates

Highlight NIOZ: “Paris” greenhouse gas reduction limits sea level rise significantly

If we continue to follow the agreements made in the Paris Climate Agreement , sea levels will rise significantly less in 2300 , rising by only 0.2 metres instead of 0.8 metres. This is according to international research by the Austrian research institute IIASA (International Institute for for Applied Systems Analysis) – in collaboration with Dutch scientists from NWO-institute NIOZ (Netherlands Institute for Marine Research) and Utrecht University (UU). According to co-author and climate researcher Tim Hermans (UU), reducing this rise will lessen the consequences of saltwater intrusion and the increasing risk of flooding flooding in the Netherlands.

Credits: Pexels