Comprehensible Language and Effective Communication

The aim of the research programme Comprehensible Language and Effective Communication is to consolidate and expand existing expertise in the area of effective communication, and the fundamentals underlying this, and to render the relevant scientific expertise more accessible.

An important aim of this call is to initiate public-private partnerships – collaboration between researchers and public organisations and companies – to realise a coordinated and effective approach to comprehensibility problems.

In this funding round, a financial contribution can be requested for projects aimed at five key research themes.

• I. Text: what is the influence of content, structure, style and design on the comprehensibility of paper and digital documents?
• II. Readers: how do prior knowledge, education, reading ability, literacy, language background, interest, motivation and reading objective influence the comprehension of texts?
• III. Multimodality: what are the possible solutions for comprehension problems that arise in texts with a multimodal context; which additional possibilities does the same context offer to tackle comprehensibility problems?
• IV. Effect: what are the effects of comprehensibility (or the lack thereof) on the attitudes of citizens, their trust in public institutions, healthcare, politics and the government, and on their behaviour?
• V. Utility: how can the knowledge acquired from answering the aforementioned research questions be optimally utilised and disseminated in society, for example, in the form of advisory reports and instruments?

A more detailed elaboration of the themes is given in the brochure, the call for proposals and in the programme document, all of which can be found on the website www.nwo.nl/begrijpelijketaal (in Dutch).

Who can apply

Proposals can be submitted by senior researchers, i.e. experienced researchers with a doctorate, employed at a Dutch research institution. It can be a tenured or temporary appointment for the duration of the application process and the research. Articles 2.1 and 2.2 of the General Terms and Conditions of NWO Grants state from which organisations a grant proposal to NWO can be submitted. In principle, these are Dutch universities and research institutes and/or researchers from institutions recognised by NWO. Applicants not employed at an institution recognised by NWO can submit a proposal in collaboration with senior university researchers.

An important aim of this call is to initiate public-private partnerships so as to realise a coordinated and effective approach to the issue of comprehensibility. All project proposals must have active input from and a serious collaboration with one or more social partners.

What can be applied for

Grant proposals elaborate on the themes of the research programme Comprehensible language and effective communication. In this funding round proposals can be submitted for the following five key themes: (1) Text characteristics, (2) Reader characteristics, (3) Multimodality, (4) Effect and (5) Usability. A proposal can concern one or more of the themes and/or sectors of application (public sector, health sector (special rules apply here; see under Extra information), or comprehensible communication in the financial, legal or educational sectors).

Project grants for long-term research

For long-term research proposals with a maximum duration of 4 years, a maximum of € 250,000 can be requested from NWO. At least two researchers (full or part-time) should collaborate on a project. A specified matching contribution should also be made by one or more social partners. Proposals for individual projects (PhD or otherwise) may not be submitted. The size of projects can be increased by means of cofinancing.

Project grants for short-term research

For short-term research a maximum of € 50,000 can be requested from NWO. For this type of proposal a contribution from a social partner is required and this should be explicitly included in the project budget. This contribution should always be at least 25% of the amount requested from NWO (i.e. for a requested amount of € 50,000 the budgeted costs must be at least € 62,500).

When can be applied

• Closing date for the submission of applications was 18 October 2011, 23:59 hrs

After the deadline, applications cannot be improved or amended.

Extra Information

Projects concerning health improvement (‘prevention’) must satisfy several specific additional conditions from ZonMw: (1) it must be applied research, (2) aimed at developing measures and interventions that yield health gains, (3) which is related to prevention and (4) connects with subjects from the Public Health Status and Forecast Report (http://www.zorggegevens.nl/kennisplatform/producten/vtv-2010).

Furthermore, special attention is requested for groups that are difficult to reach such as the less literate (low socioeconomic status) and ethnic minorities. For the prevention sector it is particularly important that research outcomes contribute to the independence and resilience of citizens (patient empowerment). Other medical sectors are excluded from this call for proposals. A definition and detailed description of the theme prevention can be found in the documentation for this call: definition of prevention.

Criteria

Proposals must fit within the aim and definition of the programme Comprehensible language and effective communication and elaborate on at least one of the themes selected for this funding round. The evaluation criteria for the proposals are:

I Relevance

• Project’s contribution to the aims of the research programme
• The innovative character
• The social and scientific importance
• Costs-benefits ratio
• Attention for knowledge dissemination and implementation of project results

II Quality

• Aim and definition of task or problem
• Approach
• Project group
• Feasibility

Evaluation criteria I and II carry equal weighting. Extra attention will be given to the following points:

• the extent to which a proposal contributes to the aims of the research programme Comprehensible language and effective communication and - if relevant - also the extent to which the proposal contributes to health gain;
• the extent to which social partners participate and the level of cofinancing from academic and non-academic partners.

A more detailed elaboration and explanation of the research criteria can be found in the call for proposals.

Procedure

The steering group will appoint an international scientific evaluation committee and a social council to evaluate the grant proposals. In accordance with NWO’s Code of Conduct on Conflicts of Interest, members of these committees who are involved in an application will not take part in the assessment of the application concerned.

The programme office will establish the administrative eligibility of the proposals by checking whether these satisfy the required format, including the financial framework. The scientific eligibility will be determined by the international evaluation committee.

The evaluation committee will assess the proposals using the evaluation criteria. The social council will advise the committee about the social relevance. The provisional assessment of the evaluation committee will be submitted to the applicants for a rebuttal. Based on the entire dossier the evaluation committee will establish a) a final evaluation regarding the quality and relevance of the proposals and b) a ranking of the proposals. Then using this information it will send a reasoned advice to the steering group.

The steering group will test the evaluation procedure and establish the final evaluation and ranking of the proposals. The steering group can modify the advice on the basis of policy considerations and the financial boundaries set.

A more detailed explanation of the evaluation procedure can be found in the call for proposals.

Committees

The steering group is composed of representatives from the joint funding organisations of the programme. The steering group is responsible for

• the general coordination of the development of the research programme, especially the knowledge exchange activities;
• the appointment of the international scientific evaluation committee and the social council;
• taking the formal decision about the funding of grant proposals.

International Scientific Evaluation Committee and Social Council

The evaluation committee is made up of independent experts who together cover the area Comprehensible language and effective communication. The social council is made up of representatives from public organisations and companies. Both are chaired by a technical chair.

Budget

2 million euro

Financiers

NWO Divisions for the Humanities (GW) and Social Sciences (MaGW), ZonMw

Contacts

• Ms drs. A. Dijkstra
  phone: +31 (0)70 344 07 36 / +31 (0)70 344 08 36, e-mail: a.dijkstra@nwo.nl
• Ms drs. B. van der Pas
  phone: +31 (0)70 344 05 67, e-mail: b.vanderpas@nwo.nl