Frequently Asked Question TOP/ECHO grants 2011-2012

4. When determining whether current NWO-grants are sufficiently committed, are the investment subsidies “NWO-large” and “NWO-medium” included?
No they are not. These types of grants do not include personnel-positions and are not included when determining whether current NWO-grants are sufficiently committed.

5. When determining whether current NWO-grants are sufficiently committed, how are grants treated in which both personnel and material was requested?
On grants where both personnel and material was requested, only the personnel-positions are taken into account. Commitment of equipment costs is not taken into account.

6. When determining whether current NWO-grants are sufficiently committed, how are different types of personnel positions counted?
All personnel positions are considered as a single position, independent of the type of position (PhD, postdoc or otherwise) or its duration. A one-year post-doc position and a four-year PhD-position are both counted as one position.

7. How is the requirement that 2/3 of the personnel positions must be filled applied if a researcher has received several grants from NWO?
If a researcher has received more than one grant from NWO, then this requirement is applied to the total number of personnel positions that are financed by NWO. It is not necessary that for each individual grant more than 2/3 of the positions is filled. For example, a researcher was awarded a grant three years in a row, in 2009, 2010 and 2011. In each grant (s)he requested one personnel position. The personnel positions of the 2009 and 2010 grants are filled, but the position of the 2011 grant is still open. In this case 2/3 of the personnel positions is filled and the researcher is allowed to apply for a TOP- or ECHO-grant, assuming all other requirements are met.

8. How is the requirement that 2/3 of the personnel positions must be filled applied if there are several applicants who have received different grants?
If several researchers apply for a grant together, the requirement is applied to the total number of personnel positions that are financed by NWO-grants awarded to all applicants individually. For example the main applicant has one current grant from which (s)he finances three personnel positions that are all filled. The co-applicant has one NWO-grant with which (s)he wants to finance one position. This position is still vacant. The percentage of filled personnel positions in this case is 75% and the two applicants can apply for a TOP- or ECHO-grant together, assuming all other requirements are met.

9. When determining whether the NWO-grants are sufficiently committed, are the personnel-positions of a running grant awarded to a researcher as a co-applicant included?
Yes they are. All grants awarded to a researcher both as a main applicant and as a co-applicant are included. For example researcher A was a co-applicant for a grant that was awarded. Researcher B was the main applicant of this proposal. Of the three positions that will be financed from this grant, only one is filled. Researcher A now wants to apply for an ECHO-grant together with researcher C. Assuming there are no further NWO-grants awarded to researchers A and C, only 1/3 of the personnel positions is filled and researchers A and C can not apply for a TOP- or ECHO-grant together.

10. How are personnel-positions counted if the people working on the project are/will be employed by different groups or universities?
CW considers each grant to be awarded to the entire team of applicants. Therefore, all personnel-positions of a proposal are included, independent of which university or research group (will) employ(s) the personnel. For example, a researcher working in Groningen and a researcher working in Utrecht applied for a grant together. The grant was awarded and according to the proposal each researcher will finance one PhD-position from this grant. The position in Utrecht is filled, but the position in Groningen is not. If the researcher in Utrecht now applies for an ECHO-grant, 50% of the personnel-positions is considered filled (assuming there are no further NWO grants), even if the researcher from Groningen is not a co-applicant on the new proposal. Thus, this researcher can not apply for a TOP- or ECHO-grant.

11. When determining whether NWO-grants are sufficiently committed, are the grants included that were awarded to other group members who are involved in the proposed research (other than the applicants themselves)?
No they are not. Only include grants that are awarded to the main applicant and the co-applicants. Grants awarded to group-members that are otherwise involved in the research, such as an advisor, are not included.

12. Is the condition that current NWO-grants must be sufficiently committed only valid for grants awarded by the council of Chemical Sciences?
No it is not. This condition is valid for all current grants awarded by NWO and all its councils. Besides Chemical Sciences, this includes among others: NWO-General, the NWO councils Earth and Life Sciences (ALW), Physical Sciences (EW), Physics (N), FOM, Health Sciences (ZonMW), Technological Sciences (STW), the National Genomics Institute (NGI) and ACTS.

13. Why are researchers who meet the requirements for applying for a Veni or Vidi grant excluded from applying for a TOP- or ECHO-grant?
To ensure that the administrative load of researchers (applicants, referees, committee-members etc.) remains acceptable, NWO strives to keep the percentage of applications that is awarded around 20-25%. In recent years the number of applications received in the Chemical Science’s Open Program became so high that this percentage could no longer be guaranteed. One of the measures taken by the board of the Council for Chemical Sciences is to exclude some groups of researchers from applying for a TOP- or ECHO-grant. Researchers who meet the requirements for the “Vernieuwingsimpuls” are encouraged to apply for a Veni, Vidi or Vici-grant.

14. Why are researchers who do not have a contract for the full duration of the application process and the research-project the grant is applied for, excluded from submitting a TOP- or ECHO-grant?
NWO wishes to ensure that researchers working on NWO research-grants are ensured of adequate supervision for the full duration of the research project. Therefore, a guarantee that the applicant will be employed by the institution where the research will be performed for the full duration of the research project is required.

15. Can a researcher who does not have a position for the full duration of the project for which the grant is applied, be a co-applicant on an application if the main applicant of this proposal does have a position for the full duration of the project?
In principle (s)he can not. Sometimes an exception can be made for co-applicants, if the applicants can prove that adequate supervision of all researchers for whom funding is applied can be guaranteed for the full duration of the grant.
Example 1: the following situation is considered adequate supervision: Funding is requested for two PhD students. The main applicant has a permanent contract at the university where both PhD students will be employed and is the promoter of both students. A researcher has a contract at the same university for the majority of the grant period. Then supervision of both PhD students is considered sufficient and this researcher can be a co-applicant on the proposal.
Example 2: in the following situation supervision is not considered adequate: Funding is requested for two PhD students, one in Nijmegen, the other in Leiden. The main applicant has a permanent contract at Nijmegen. The co-applicant at Leiden does not have a contract for the full duration of the grant. In this case supervision for the PhD student at Leiden is not considered adequate and these two researchers can not submit the proposal. Please note that the main applicant must always have a contract for the full duration of the project.

16. Can a researcher who has a tenure-track position apply for a TOP- or ECHO-grant?
Yes, in principle (s)he can, as long as (s)he meets the requirement that the tenure-track position is guaranteed for the duration of the application-procedure plus the duration of the research project for which the grant is applied. See also question 15.

17. Can a researcher who has recently received a Veni-grant apply for an ECHO-grant?
Yes, formally (s)he can, as long as all other requirements mentioned in the call for proposals are met, such as sufficient commitment of the Veni-grant, having a position for the duration of the envisioned research-project and not meeting the requirements for applying for a Vidi-grant. Starting the second year of his/her Veni-research, a researcher can apply for a Vidi-grant. It should be noted, however, that for such junior researchers, the competition from the senior researchers who usually apply for an ECHO-grant, will be fierce.

18. Can a research-group apply for a TOP-grant if it has already received a TOP-grant in the past three years?
No, a research-group that has received a TOP-grant awarded by any of the NWO councils in the past three years (2009-2011) can not apply for a CW TOP-grant. A researcher can, however, apply for an ECHO-grant if (s)he received either a TOP- or an ECHO-grant in the past three years, as long as all other requirements are met.

19. Can a researcher apply for an ECHO-grant if (s)he has already received a TOP- or ECHO-grant in the past three rounds?
Yes (s)he can, as long as all other requirements mentioned in the call for proposals are met. A research-group that has received a TOP-grant in the past three years, can not apply for another TOP-grant.

20. Can a researcher who is the main applicant for a TOP- or ECHO-grant also be a co-applicant on another TOP- or ECHO-application?
No (s)he can not. Between 1 July 2011 and 1 January 2012 a researcher may submit only one application either for a CW TOP-grant, a CW ECHO project grant or an ECHO-STIP grant.

21. Can a researcher who has submitted a pre-proposal for a Vici-grant in the 2011-round or who is planning to submit a pre-proposal for a Vici-grant in 2012 also apply for a TOP- or ECHO-grant in the 2011/2012 round?
Yes (s)he can as long as the researcher has not submitted a full proposal for a Vici-grant in the 2011 round. Between 1 July 2011 and 1 January 2012 a researcher may submit only one application either for a CW TOP-grant, or CW ECHO project grant or submit a full proposal for a Vici-grant to one of the divisions of NWO. Therefore, if a researcher submitted a Vici pre-proposal in 2011 but did not submit a full proposal (s)he can apply for a TOP- or ECHO-grant in the 2011-2012 round. Also, a researcher planning to submit a Vici pre-proposal in 2012 can apply for a TOP- or ECHO-grant in the 2011-2012 round. A researcher, however, can not submit a regular TOP/ECHO-proposal in the 2011-2012 round if (s)he has submitted a full proposal in the Vici 2011-round.

22. Can a researcher who has submitted a full proposal for a Vici-grant in the round of 2011, apply for a regular TOP- or ECHO-grant in the 2011/2012 round?
No (s)he can not. Between 1 July 2011 and 1 January 2012 a researcher may submit only one application either for a CW TOP-grant, or CW ECHO project grant or submit a full proposal for a Vici-grant to one of the divisions of NWO. A researcher who has submitted a full proposal for a Vici grant in the 2011-round can not apply for a regular TOP/ECHO-grant in the 2011-2012 round.

23. How much money is available for the TOP- and ECHO-grants in the 2011/2012round?
In the 2011-2012 round a total of approximately € 10 million will be available for the TOP-, ECHO- and ECHO-STIP-grants together. The Board of the Council for Chemical Sciences will decide upon the exact distribution of the budget over the TOP-, ECHO- and ECHO-STIP-grants and over the focus areas in April/May 2012.

24. Why are there three focus areas?
In 2004, the Board of the Council for Chemical Sciences has decided to introduce three focus areas within chemical sciences: chemistry in relation with biological/medical sciences; chemistry in relation with physics/materials and chemistry in relation with technology/sustainability. A description of each of these focus areas can be found on www.nwo.nl/cw. For each focus area, one or more committees will be composed, that will rank the TOP- and ECHO-(STIP) applications within its focus area and will advise the Board of the Council for Chemical Sciences. In this way, it is ensured that sufficient expertise is present within each committee to judge the TOP- and ECHO-(STIP) proposals.

25. Who will be a member of the TOP/ECHO Committees?
The board of the Council for Chemical Sciences composes the TOP/ECHO-committees based upon suggestions by the study-teams (“studiegroepen”). There will be one or more committees for each focus area. These committees will be composed in November 2011. The members of the TOP/ECHO committees in the 2010-2011-round can be found here. Each year approximately 1/3 of the committee is replaced.

26. Is an interview part of the TOP selection procedure?
No, neither the TOP- nor the ECHO-procedure involves an interview with the applicant.

27. What is the budget that can be applied for in a TOP- or ECHO-grant?
The maximum budget for an ECHO(-STIP)-grant is k€ 260 and the maximum budget for a TOP-grant is k€ 780

28. Can consumables and equipment be included in a TOP- or ECHO-application?
Yes they can. TOP-, ECHO- and ECHO-STIP-grants can be used for personnel costs as well as consumables and small equipment that is used for the project.

29. How much should be budgeted for personnel costs?
Personnel costs should be budgeted according to the most recent agreement between the VSNU and NWO. An estimation of the maximum amounts (including a bench fee for among others travel and promotion costs): PhD student (4 yr) - k€ 208, post-doc 1 yr - k€ 68, post-doc 2 yr - k€ 137, post-doc 3 yr - k€ 205. Consult the NWO-website (in Dutch) for a complete overview of personnel-costs that can applied for in a TOP- or ECHO-grant.