NWO sends young researchers into the big wide world
7 April 2010
33 young researchers set to gain experience abroad with the help of Rubicon
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded Rubicon grants to 33 young and promising researchers. Dutch researchers who have recently gained a doctorate can use the grant to gain research experience abroad. Foreign researchers can use it to undertake research in the Netherlands.
The majority of the successful candidates have obtained their doctorates in the Netherlands and will go abroad. Most of the young researchers are going to the United States. The United Kingdom is the second most popular destination. Other winners are leaving for Germany, China, Sweden and Belgium.
Three foreign researchers shall use Rubicon to carry out research at a Dutch institution. NWO hopes to attract more foreign researchers to undertake research periods in the Netherlands over the next few years, with a view to stimulating the circulation of knowledge.
Experience abroad
A total of 144 young researchers submitted an application and 33 of them have now received a Rubicon grant. The candidates were mainly awarded the grant due to the quality of their research proposal, the quality of the host institute and their quality as a researcher. The feasibility of the research and the mobility of the researcher also played a role in the evaluation.
Dutch institutions offering a year’s accommodation to a foreign researcher receive up to 55,000 euro. Dutch researchers spending between six months and two years abroad receive a payment to defray their expenses, which depends on the destination they choose. NWO makes 1.7 million euro available for each Rubicon funding round.
Rubicon
The campaign during which Julius Caesar crossed the River Rubicon can be seen as an important preparation for a series of victories that culminated in him saying 'veni, vidi, vici'. Rubicon (www.nwo.nl/rubicon) is a good springboard to a Veni Grant from NWO’s Innovational Research Incentives Scheme.
NWO recently commissioned an evaluation of the Rubicon programme. This positive evaluation revealed, for example, that there is certainly a demand for such a programme within science. It also revealed that Rubicon does indeed provide a suitable springboard to a Veni grant. NWO therefore hopes it can continue the programme in the future.
An alphabetical list of researchers awarded grants is provided here.
About NWO
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) is the principal Dutch science funding body and its mission is to facilitate excellent scientific research in the Netherlands by means of national competition. Each year NWO spends more than 700 million euro on grants for top researchers, on innovative instruments and equipment, and on institutes where top research is performed. NWO funds the research of more than 5300 talented researchers at universities and institutes. Independent experts select proposals by means of a peer review system. NWO facilitates the transfer of knowledge to society.
..............................For further information please contact:
- NWO, Information and Communication Department
- t: +31 (0)70 344 07 13
- voorlichting@nwo.nl
- www.nwo.nl/rubicon
