Top young researchers from ethnic minorities receive PhD grants

20 July 2010

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded 21 young, talented graduates from ethnic minorities a grant from the Mosaic programme. The budding scientists can use this grant to carry out their PhD research over a period of four years. On 4 October 2010 the certificates will be awarded at a special ceremony.

Each candidate will receive 200,000 euro for a PhD position at a university. With this the total budget for the programme in 2010 exceeds 4 million euro. That amount will be jointly financed by NWO and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

More variation

With the Mosaic programme, NWO wants to encourage more graduates from ethnic minorities to enter scientific research. NWO hopes that in the longer term, the successful candidate will continue to play an active role in Dutch science and will serve as a role model for others.

The winners of a Mosaic grant are ambitious young scientists. Many of them have already won prizes or have already contributed to scientific publications during their studies. Some of the candidates have also graduated in more than one subject.

Just as in previous years the winners come from all corners of the globe: from Suriname to Morocco and from Afghanistan to China. This year, the Erasmus University Rotterdam has the most laureates: five of their students have won a grant.

A total of 150 students and graduates responded to a call for research ideas. The best candidates were allowed to follow workshops at NWO and to further elaborate and present their research ideas to an expert evaluation committee. Twenty-one of the 42 full proposals were awarded a grant.

Go to the list of awarded researchers

Award ceremony

On 4 October 2010 the 21 laureates will receive a certificate from NWO Chairman Prof. Jos Engelen during a special award ceremony. This will take place at NWO. Journalists are most welcome to attend.

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.

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last modified on 10 September 2010