Grant Opportunities for PhD’s General introduction into European and Dutch research grants PROUT-meeting, February 9 th 2011 by dr. Esther Stiekema, Academic Affairs, Corporate Offices

Introduction Who are you?

October 17, 2015 Introduction Presentation outline > General remarks on grant opportunities and your academic career > Opportunities: NWO: VENI and Rubicon EU: Marie Curie actions > Questions & more information

Grant opportunities in general By far the majority of grants must have a Principle Investigator as applicant who has several years of research experience Your best chance is to network, network, network...

Don’t forget At Utrecht University there are: More than 6000 first-year bachelor students Approx. 500 PhD degrees each year Approx. 40 new professors appointed each year

October 17, 2015 Introduction NWO Innovational Research Incentives Scheme Aim of the Scheme: -to promote innovation in research; -to create research opportunities for individual postdoctoral researchers at various stages in their careers

October 17, 2015 Introduction NWO Innovational Research Incentives Scheme: VENI Target group Best 10-20% of the peer group: recent PhD graduates / junior postdocs, must have completed PhD within the last 3 years Nature of the award Own research (incl. salary) and technicians to be engaged Grant amount€ 250,000 Grant period3 years DeadlineJanuary 2012 Total number of awards150

October 17, 2015 Introduction Assessment criteria VENI 1. Researcher quality: outstanding talent for academic research, persuasiveness and 10-20% of peer group 2. Proposal: a. quality: content is challenging and proposed methodology is appropriate b. innovative nature: an original research question or other innovative elements c. academic impact

October 17, 2015 Introduction Assessmentcriteria VENI 3. Optional criteria: cultural, social, technological or economic impact - Has the potential to help solve a problem - Has the potential for practical application - Has cultural, social, technological or economic impact Extra opportunity to influence the final rating!

October 17, 2015 Competition - Every year about 1000 researchers apply for a VENI- grant, only 150 are awarded (15 %) - UU receives about % of the awards (23-24) - Procedure (4 stages): preselection, peer review, interviews, division/domain panels. Moments of influence: 1.) submission of application 2.) response to (assessment by) referees 3.) interview by the division

October 17, 2015 Research Advice of VENI-laureates 1.) Have others read the proposal, experts as well as outsiders (the first NWO selection round is conducted by a broad-based committee). 2.) Hold a mock interview with colleagues. 3.) Have a native speaker of English screen the proposal. 4.) Start in time. You are welcome to contact a laureate for an example of a successful application!

VENI-laureates Please find a list of VENI-laureates in your discipline at: s/venividivici/Pages/default.aspx (homepage > onderzoek > Utrechtse toponderzoekers > Veni-vidi-vici-laureaten)

October 17, 2015 Research Planning to apply for VENI 2012? > Contact the contact person of your Faculty in an early stage (contact the Grant office at your Faculty) > When offered: participate in a VENI- workshop in Oct/Nov (register at

October 17, 2015 Research Prior to VENI: RUBICON Target group Postgraduates (or PhD’s with approved thesis) Women especially are urged to apply ! Nature of the award (mobility) A research period at an institution other than the one where he or she graduated or that awarded his or her doctorate (salary, travel and accomodation costs for congress visits). Grant period months Deadline 31 March 2011 (this may be the last opportunity!)

October 17, 2015 Research Procedure - Multidisciplinary advisory committees will assess the applications. - The views of external referees will not be sought. - The final award decisions will be made by the boards of the relevant divisions/foundation. - The entire assessment procedure will take approximately 4 months.

October 17, 2015 Research European Union: Marie Curie Actions (part of 7 th framework People Programme) Mobility! To take part in most of the Marie Curie Actions, a researcher must be prepared to move country. Mobility is defined using the following criteria: 1.) the researcher should not be a national of the state in which they plan to move and carry out their research; 2.) the researcher should not have lived, worked or studied in that country for more than 12 months out of the three years immediately prior to either the time of application, or the start of their work.

October 17, 2015 Research 7th Frame Work Programme: People (Marie Curie actions) Information: - Europe4Researchers Newsletter -

October 17, 2015 Research Questions?

More information - Corporate website UU: - diesenfondsen/Pages/default.aspx -Search engines (funding): - ResearchReseach - Community of ScienceResearchReseachCommunity of Science - More info on Marie Curie actions,