The initiatives put forward are collected on a preliminary longlist. After approval by the faculties involved, they will be transferred to a definite longlist. This longlist will then be discussed by the rector and the vice-deans in May. Subsequently, the rector will decide which initiatives from our university will be nominated after the summer for respectively the Dutch Education Award (for an impactful educational innovation realised and scaled up in the past 4-6 years) and the Comenius Leadership Fellowship (for highly innovative education projects involving several faculties and/or institutions).

Furthermore, initiatives that are not selected for nomination or application on behalf of the university, may later still be eligible to be considered for the Grassfields funding scheme. This funding scheme has a separate internal process. Further information on the new Grassfields call will become available on the website around summer.  

Please note: Our slot to nominate for the Comenius Fellowship in round 2027 depends on the outcome of the current round 2026.

To submit an initiative, please send a brief description of 1-1½ page containing the following information to a.t.j.verhage@bb.leidenuniv.nl no later than 13 April 2026, 10.00 hrs. This may either be a new plan, or an already (partly) realised initiative. Please briefly address the following aspects in the description: 

• Is the initiative proposed to be considered for the university’s application to the Comenius Leadership Fellowship, or the university’s nomination for the Dutch Education Award?
• A brief summary of 100-150 words.
• The goal: What problem in current higher education does the innovation help solve? To what extent does this bring an improvement for students compared to the current situation?
  • If the innovation has already been or is being implemented: To what extent is this goal already realised? Is there demonstrable improvement in education or other impact on education?
• The target group: At whom is the innovation aimed? To whom else might it be relevant within and/or outside our university? 
• The current status of the innovation: At what stage is the initiative (e.g. idea-forming, in development, in implementation, already completed, or other)?
  • If the innovation has already been or is being implemented: In what context and on what scale is this happening (e.g., in which courses/ programmes/ faculties/ institutions) and how many students have been or are reached?  
• The intended development and/or scaling up: What (further) development and/or upscaling would become possible through a Comenius Leadership Fellowship or a Dutch Education Award?  
  • If the innovation has already been or is being implemented: What scale-up has already taken place? Has collaboration been established beyond the initiators’ own programme, faculty or university?
• The method and innovative nature: What does the innovation consist of? In what ways does the initiative bring an innovation compared to the prior or present situation in Dutch higher education? How does it differ from initiatives with a similar goal in the Netherlands or beyond? 
• Is the innovation evidence-informed? What theory, model, principles, literature, insights and/or existing relevant initiatives underpin the innovation? And how has it been or can it be evaluated whether the intended improvement is taking place? 
• Those currently involved: Who are the main stakeholders involved so far (names and in some keywords indicating their role in the initiative)? Who are or were the main initiator(s)? What shows they have the qualities and experience to take the initiative beyond its current scale and context? Who else should become involved to take the innovation forward (roles and/or expertise)
• Those to be involved: What other programmes, faculties and/or higher education institutions inside and/or outside Leiden could further be involved in this initiative if it were to be selected for the university’s nomination or submission? Do you know of any related initiatives with which you might join forces? 
  • If the innovation has already been or is being implemented: Is there existing collaboration with, for instance, other programmes, institutions, educational sectors, society or the labour market?

Every year the university is invited to nominate two exceptional educational innovations to NKO: In both cases, these are exceptional educational innovations by driven education teams that have the potential or already offer a promising improvement for higher education from an evidence-informed approach:

• one comprehensively composed team behind an exceptional, innovative initiative that has already been developed and scaled-up in an evidence-informed manner over the last six years and has achieved a demonstrable impact on higher education may be nominated for the Dutch Education Award; and
• one proposal led by an experienced and suitable positioned educational professional (individual or duo, in collaboration with a larger team) for a new, evidence-informed project that is be considered highly innovative for the higher education sector and which is to be implemented at several faculties and/or institutions, may compete for a Comenius Leadership Fellowship (unless the proposal from the current round 2026 is awarded, in which case we have to wait a year until we are allowed to submit again).

We start the inventory of initiatives early in the year - well before the official call and invitation for editions 2027 will be received. This allows us to start the preparation of the nominations in good time. Thanks to this broad call, initiatives that are promising, yet not widely known, can also be considered. So do not hesitate and submit your educational innovation!

Comenius programme

The Comenius programme is an innovation programme for higher education (research universities, universities of applied sciences, and vocational institutions). It offers three types of fellowships: Teaching, Senior and Leadership, which differ in level of innovation, scale and duration of implementation, and the minimum profile of the principal applicant(s). These grants enable teachers to work with a team to put their innovative vision on education into practice in an evidence-informed way. With the Comenius programme, the government also aims to recognise and value excellent and inspired teaching. The projects that have been awarded per fellowship in recent years can be found here.

Comenius Leadership Fellowship

The Comenius Leadership Fellow programme[AV1]  is intended for leading innovations led by experienced educational innovators (individual or duo). Leadership projects focus on ambitious innovations that involve several faculties or institutions. Leadership fellows receive €500,000 for a project with a duration of 36 to 42 months. When awarded, the lead applicant(s) also join(s) the ComeniusNetwork as a Fellow.

Only one proposal may be submitted per university. This selection is made by the rector after discussion with the vice-deans. An application must contribute to the educational vision and strategy of the university. The call for the upcoming round (2027) is expected in Summer, until then the call of the previous round (2026) offers a preview.

Please note: If the project submitted by our university in round 2026 is awarded, the university may only submit again in round 2028. In that case suitable initiatives will be kept on the list for consideration next year.

The Dutch Higher Education Award was introduced by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in 2021 to recognise and reward educational teams from research universities, universities of applied sciences and vocational institutions that have developed an exceptional initiative innovating education over the last six years.

Every institution may nominate one team. The rector makes this selection after a consideration of qualifying initiatives with the vice-deans. In each sector (mbo, hbo and universities) three prizes are awarded of €1.2 million, €800,000, and €500,000 respectively. The prizes are meant to further stimulate projects that innovate and improve higher education, to be determined jointly by the winning team with the faculty/faculties involved and the rector.

In last year’s call of the previous/current round (2026, now closed) you can find out more about this award. The teams that received awards in previous years can be found here.