The Dutch Data Prize
Every two years, RDNL awards the Dutch Data Prize to recognize researchers who make their research data, or research output that combines data and code/software, Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR). The prize celebrates good research data management and highlights the value of making research data available for verification, reuse and new scientific discoveries.
Know a researcher or research team that deserves to be recognized? Nominate them today — or nominate yourself!
The Dutch Data Prize is awarded in three categories:
- Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH)
- Natural and Engineering Sciences (NES)
- Life Sciences and Health (LSH)
Each winning researcher or research team will receive €3,500 to further improve the FAIRness of their research data. The prize money may, for example, be used to organise a workshop or symposium, enhance documentation or metadata, or improve online access to the dataset.
The deadline for nomination is 30 September 2026.
Why participate?
The Dutch Data Prize is a recognition of excellent research data management and highlights the contribution that researchers make to open science through FAIR data. Winning the prize increases the visibility of your research and showcases good practices that can inspire others.
Curious to know what winning the Dutch Data Prize meant for previous recipients? Read the interviews with Maarten Marx, one of the first winners of the prize, Joaquin Vanschoren, who received the award at a pivotal moment in his research career, and Antica Culina, who believes that making research data more FAIR is a collaborative effort essential to advance science.
Award ceremony
The Dutch Data Prize will be presented on 3 December 2026 at the Trippenhuis of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in Amsterdam.
As part of the ceremony, the finalists will briefly present their research and share how they applied FAIR data practices in their work. These presentations offer an opportunity to learn from a variety of approaches to research data management across disciplines.
Selection criteria
There is no single way to make research data FAIR. The Dutch Data Prize recognises a variety of approaches that demonstrate good research data management and promote the reuse of research data.
The jury will assess all nominations using a published set of criteria.
Who can be nominated?
You can nominate your own dataset or a dataset produced by another individual or research group. Nominations are limited to research led or primarily conducted by research-performing organisations in the Netherlands.
Jury
The winners of the Dutch Data Prize are selected by an independent jury, consisting of the chair and six members, who are divided into pairs per category.
- Rianne Fijten (UM), Chair
- Marcel Ras (VU), jury member SSH
- Mariëlle Prevoo (UM), jury member SSH
- Liz Guzman Ramirez (TUe), jury member NES
- Bjorn Bartholdy (TUD), jury member NES
- Kristina Hettne (LU), Jury member LSH
- Ellen Carbo (ZonMw), jury member LSH
Help us celebrate FAIR data!
Submit a nomination