Violence against Psychiatric Patients

The programme Violence against Psychiatric Patients has the objective of discovering risk factors for psychiatric patients so that interventions can be designed which can be implemented to reduce the violence against these patients. This subsidy round is not directly targeted at these last aspects. Instead this subsidy round is targeted at setting up epidemiological research into the prevention of violence against psychiatric patients.

In this subsidy round a call is being made to submit research proposals that focus on answering the following five questions:

1. In terms of reliability and validity what is a suitable method in various relevant settings for assessing the nature, prevalence, incidence, risk factors and consequences of the so-called victimisation of patients who suffer from an SMI? In any case attention should be devoted to the relationship between discrimination, stigmatisation and the perpetration of violence. The development of a good set of measuring instruments seems to be extremely important for this.
2. What are the nature, prevalence, incidence and risk factors of the victimisation of patients with SMI in the Netherlands in the various relevant settings?
3. What is the relationship of the variables stated in question 2 with (experienced) discrimination, self-stigmatisation and perpetration?
4. What are the consequences of victimisation of patients with SMI in the Netherlands?
5. Which clarifying model is most appropriate for the data obtained from the research indicated in questions 1, 2, 3 and 4?

Further information can be found in the subsidy brochure.

Who can apply

Proposals can be submitted by researchers with a doctorate from both Dutch institutes for scientific education and research as well as institutes recognised by NWO.

What can be applied for

A subsidy can be requested to cover both personnel and material costs that shall be incurred for the research. The maximum amount that can be applied for per project is 400,000 euro. Further information can be found in the subsidy brochure.

When can be applied

Closing date for submitting applications was 3 November 2009, 12:00 hrs.

Extra Information

The collection of data acquired with the investment should be archived in a sustainable manner after the completion of the project, disclosed and made available for further scientific research. How this shall be realised should be stated in the proposal. At the start of the project a data contract shall be concluded between the applicant and DANS, in which it shall be described under which conditions and when the data shall be handed over to DANS or another trusted digital repository.

Criteria

The proposals submitted under the programme Violence against Psychiatric Patients will be assessed according to the following criteria:

a Scientific quality

The criterion scientific quality concerns the following aspects:

• Quality of the research to be carried out with the subsidy;
• The originality of the innovative character of the research to be carried out with the subsidy;
• The technical feasibility of the research proposed;
• Effectiveness of the approach;
• Quality and competence of the researchers or the research team submitting a proposal;
• The theoretical, methodological or descriptive importance of the research.

b Programmatic importance

The criterion programmatic importance concerns the following aspects:

• Importance of the research for the research programme;
• The relevance of the proposed research for the issues described in the programme;
• Whether or not the research will lead to insights for policy or can lead to interventions;
• Contribution of the research to determining the social agenda;
• Whether the research contributes to the scientific development of the problem that forms the basis for this programme.

 c Financial/technical criteria

For this last criterion the proposal shall be tested for: − Soundness of the budget; − Reasonable estimate of the requested personnel and material resources.

Procedure

For the subsidy round Violence against Psychiatric Patients, preproposals shall not be used. The application procedure starts with the submission of full research proposals. The NWO office shall subsequently assess the proposals for admissibility.

A separate evaluation committee shall be appointed that shall assess the proposals that come in and issue a recommendation to the programme committee. The evaluation committee shall assess the research proposals declared admissible. This assessment shall take place on the basis of the scientific quality, the importance for the programme and the financial/technical criteria. Based on a recommendation from the evaluation committee the programme committee shall decide which research proposals shall be granted.

The members of the evaluation committee shall assess the research proposals according to the assessment criteria included in this brochure. For each research proposal one external referee shall be asked to write an assessment report and an assessment report shall also be written by a member of the committee. Both assessment reports shall be sent to the applicant for rebuttal.

During the meeting, the evaluation committee shall assess the research proposals according to the criteria, the assessment reports and the rebuttal. Each proposal shall receive a designation: fundable, fundable after modification or not fundable. The committee shall them jointly prioritise the fundable research proposals, in other words the preferred sequence for realising the proposals. The assessment criteria also provide the basis for this. Research proposals of insufficient scientific quality shall not be eligible for realisation with the aid of a subsidy.

The evaluation committee's recommendation - the assessment and the prioritisation - shall be passed onto the programme committee by the chair of the evaluation committee. Based on the prioritisation in the recommendation of the evaluation committee, the programme committee shall decide which proposals to grant, taking into account policy aspects such as balance in the programme and the available budget.

Committees

The programme committee Violence against Psychiatric Patients consists of the following four members: Emeritus Prof. W. van Tilburg (VU University Amsterdam), Prof. E. van Leeuwen (Radboud University Nijmegen), Prof. J.J.M. van Dijk (Tilburg University), Prof. C. Schuengel (VU University Amsterdam).

The composition of the evaluation committee is not yet known.

Budget

For the research into the questions as described in the brochure, Chapter 2 Objective, a maximum amount of 1,000,000 euro is available. The research must have started within six months after granting and be completed in the summer of 2011.

Financiers

NWO Division for the Social Sciences, Stichting tot Steun VCVGZ

Contacts

• Mw. drs. F.J. Duijndam
  phone: +31 (0)70 349 43 12, e-mail: f.duijndam@nwo.nl
• Ms. J. de Graaff
  phone: +31 (0)70 344 09 47, fax: +31 (0)70 383 28 41, e-mail: j.degraaff@nwo.nl