How does complexity arise? How can simple ingredients, local interactions or microscopic rules give rise to worlds, structures, patterns, materials, behaviours and forms of collective life? How did space and time emerge in the first place?

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These are the kinds of questions explored in Emergence at All Scales (EAAS), a Dutch research consortium bringing together researchers across mathematics, physics, astronomy, chemistry and related fields funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). Together with The Science & Cocktails Foundation, Stichting Paradiso and NWA Route Kunst, EAAS invites artists, makers and collectives to propose new works inspired by the theme of Emergence. Selected projects will be developed in dialogue with EAAS researchers and will premiere at the first Emergence Festival in June 2027. The festival is part of EAAS’s wider societal programme, which uses art, debate, film, music, performance and education to create a two-way conversation between research and society.

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Across EAAS, researchers study emergence at many scales: from quantum spacetime and the early universe, to hydrodynamics, quantum matter, collective behaviour, social segregation, networks, and intelligent materials (see more information about the projects here as well as our educational hub for popular explanations of some of the research). We welcome proposals that connect to a single EAAS research project, to several projects, or to the theme of emergence more broadly. We are especially interested in works that can make complex ideas tangible for a broad public and that may continue to travel, be exhibited, or be reused after the festival.

 

You can register for the information session taking place in May 19 2026 here to hear more about the fellowships and to ask the questions you may have.
 

​We invite proposals for

• visual art, digital art, film, video, documentary, installation, exhibition or sculpture

• performance, theatre, dance, music, sound art, and hybrid or interdisciplinary forms

• projects that translate research questions, concepts, data, simulations, methods, ambitions or early findings into a public experience

• works conceived for presentation at the Emergence Festival, ideally with potential for a life beyond it

Selected fellows receive

• a production budget of up to €20,000 including VAT per project

• access to dialogue with EAAS researchers, with applicants encouraged to identify prospective hosts during proposal development

• support from the EAAS curator, who will help facilitate artist–researcher exchange

• where feasible, access to office or meeting space at universities

• presentation of the finished work at the Emergence Festival in June 2027

• possible inclusion in the EAAS digital education and art database, helping give the work a longer public afterlife

What we ask from applicants

• a clear and credible connection to the theme of Emergence and to research being pursued within EAAS

• a proposal that can speak to non-specialist audiences

• a presentable output at the Emergence Festival in June 2027 in Amsterdam

• evidence of contact with EAAS researchers during the proposal development stage, and an explanation of how that exchange shaped the proposal

• readiness to develop the project through dialogue with hosting researchers and festival partners

• participate in meetings with festival partners with updates on the development of the fellowship

• attendance at the EAAS annual meeting in March 2027 in Nijmegen to present the status of the project

• a realistic technical plan for festival presentation, including safety, build-and-break time (preferably as close to 'same day' as possible), and spatial or sound requirements

Timeline

• Call opens: 31 March 2026

• Information session: 19 May 2026, 13:30–14:30, Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam

• Submission deadline: 1 June 2026

• Shortlist interviews/discussions: June 2026

• Projects start: August 2026

• Presentable output ready: late May 2027

• Premiere at the Emergence Festival: June 2027

Budget

• maximum total budget per project: €20,000 including VAT

• budgets should include all costs needed to produce and present the work at the festival, including artist fees, materials, equipment, rehearsal space, travel, accommodation, installation and performance costs, etc

• the call has a total available budget of €80,000

What is needed to apply

• a project proposal of up to 3 pages, including the concept, research connection, proposed researchers/hosts, intended audience and work plan

• a budget of up to 1 page

• a CV

• a portfolio of previous work

Selection criteria

• the strength and clarity of the artistic concept

• the credibility of the connection to EAAS research and the theme of Emergence

• the potential to translate complex research questions, answers or concepts into something accessible to a broad audience

• evidence of exchange with EAAS researchers during proposal development stages

• clarity about the audience or audiences addressed

• feasibility for festival presentation

• potential for the work to be presented elsewhere after the festival

Selection process
A shortlist of applicants will be invited for interviews in June 2026. The panel will include EAAS researchers, representatives of The Science & Cocktails Foundation and Stichting Paradiso, and an external art-sector representative who will also help facilitate artist–researcher exchange. 

A note on scope
Projects can respond to concrete research outputs, but they do not have to. Because EAAS research is ongoing, proposals may also engage with the questions, ambitions, simulations, methods and future directions of the consortium’s work. We are not looking for illustration alone. We are looking for ambitious artistic work that opens up emergence as a theme for shared public reflection. EAAS and its partners also aim for diversity and inclusivity in both the artistic programme and the audiences reached.

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More info?

Feel free to write to info@d-iep.org​