It’s known that NWO likes to fund world-class science. For example, every year a number of top consortia obtain funding through the NWO Gravitation program, which allows them to work on a groundbreaking research idea for ten years. After those ten years it is often difficult to continue this cooperation due to a lack of structural funding. NWO now wants to support these consortia with the Summit Grant to ensure continuity in groundbreaking research. The Summit Grant was initiated by minister of Education, Culture, and Science Robbert Dijkgraaf who, since his time at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, emphasizes the importance of fundamental, long-term collaborations.
Healthy environment, tranquility, and team science
Summit has two meanings. It doesn’t just refer to the (world)top, but also to meeting up. The importance of team science is reflected in the fact that for the pre-application phase of this grant, assessment is mainly focused on the consortium (80%, versus 20% science). Furthermore, the values “healthy science” (i.e, respect, security, mutual trust, and scientific integrity), tranquility, and space to explore return. This conforms with the new NWO strategy that states that top science entails more than competitiveness and the publish-or-perish culture.
Quick response
Now, it is up to the Board of Directors of the several Dutch universities and research institutions to, just like NWO Gravitation Program, select two consortia that can apply. These consortia have to submit a pre-application on 20 June for a 10-year research program of €15 – 40 million. This is a short period of time, so we are available to provide support quickly. Evers + Manders has a lot of experience with large consortia applications like Gravitation and NWA-ORC and we are familiar with the new NWO-strategy.
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