Frequently Asked Questions Spinoza Prize
1. Why is the NWO-Spinoza Prize so special?
The NWO Spinoza Prize is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. An NWO-Spinoza Prize is not only an accolade, but above all an incentive for further research. The awarding of the NWO-Spinoza Prize is a mark of appreciation for what the laureate has already achieved and a demonstration of confidence in what he/she could achieve in the coming years. Another unique aspect is that the laureates are entirely free to decide what they will spend the prize on, as long as this is research related.
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2. Why did NWO inaugurate the Spinoza Prize?
NWO inaugurated the Spinoza programme in 1995 with the aim of identifying and stimulating the leading lights in research. Initially, the programme was aimed at top talent in recognised research schools. In 1997 NWO relinquished this element and the person-specific character of the prize took centre stage. Spinoza is now an instrument for identifying top research and for rewarding this via person-specific grants. Although the environment in which an NWO-Spinoza candidate works is of course important, the emphasis is on the person.
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3. Why does the prize bear Spinoza's name?
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was an internationally famed Dutch scientist. Moreover, Spinoza is a striking example of freedom of research.
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4. What does laureate mean?
The word laureate literally means 'the laurel-crowned'. In Greek mythology the god Apollo is portrayed with a laurel crown on his head. A laureate is somebody who is honoured for his/her outstanding achievements in a certain field. In the case of the Spinoza laureates that is in the field of science. NWO uses the word laureate instead of winner, as the awarding of a Spinoza Prize is not the result of a competition or lottery with winners and losers. The Spinoza laureates receive their prize as an accolade and as an incentive for further excellent research.
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5. What do the laureates receive?
The laureates receive a certificate, a bronze statuette and a payment of 2.5 million euros.
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6. What are the laureates allowed to spend their prize on?
They may spend the prize as they wish, as long as this benefits science. For example: personnel (scientific and non-scientific), material, investments, travel and accommodation costs, stay of foreign researchers, et cetera. However, the laureates must submit a brief expenditure plan to the Governing Board of NWO for approval. In principle, they have five years to spend their money, but they may extend this period of five years with new periods of five years until they retire.
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7. When was the prize first awarded?
The NWO Spinoza Prize was first awarded in 1995.
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8. Who were the first laureates?
The NWO Spinoza Laureates from 1995 are:
- Prof. Frank Grosveld (1948), professor of Molecular Cell Biology at Erasmus University Rotterdam
- Prof. Ed van den Heuvel (1940), professor of Astronomy at the University of Amsterdam
- Prof. Gerard ’t Hooft (1946), professor of Theoretical Physics at Utrecht University
- Prof. Frits van Oostrom (1953), professor of Antiquities and Medieval Culture at Utrecht University
9. How many laureates are there?
In 2011, the number of laureates had reached 62. Please consult the statistics for how these are distributed across universities and disciplines.
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10. Who was the first female laureate?
Prof. Anne Cutler, professor of Comparative Psycholinguistics at Radboud University Nijmegen and director of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen. She received the NWO Spinoza Prize in 1999 for her research into how listeners recognise words in a stream of spoken syllables. She discovered that rhythm plays a clear role in this.
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11. Is the NWO-Spinoza Prize only awarded to Dutch scientists?
No, the condition is that the candidate has a tenured appointment at a Dutch research institution. A Dutch top scientist who mainly holds an appointment at a foreign institution is therefore not eligible for the prize. However, a non-Dutch researcher with an appointment at a Dutch research institution is eligible.
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12. Who may nominate?
Candidates can only be nominated by persons who NWO has invited to do so; researchers cannot apply for the prize. NWO grants the following persons the opportunity to nominate candidates in a personal capacity:
- the rector magnifici of the universities (maximum of 1 candidate per person)
- the chairs of the KNAW departments Literature and Physics (maximum of 2 candidates per person)
- the chairs of the advisory boards of the KNAW (maximum of 2 candidates per person)
- Social Sciences Council
- Council for the Humanities
- Council for the Medical Sciences
- Council for the Earth and Life Sciences
- Council for the Technical Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics and Astronomy, and Chemistry - the chair of the Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation (maximum of 2 candidates)
- the chair of the Dutch National Network of Female Professors (maximum of 2 candidates)
- the chairs of the NWO divisional boards and WOTRO Science for Global Development (maximum of 2 candidates per person)
13. How many nominations does NWO receive in total?
For the 2011 round, NWO received 31 nominations. A maximum of 49 unique candidates may be nominated. However, there are always several double nominations and not everybody who may make a nomination actually does so.
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14. How are the nominations assessed?
A committee of leading scientists appointed by NWO makes a selection from the nominations and advises the Governing Board of NWO about the awarding of the Spinoza Prizes. The Governing Board makes a decision based on the selection committee's advice.
The selection committee meets twice. During the first meeting, candidates are selected from the nominees who, on the basis of the nomination, have a good chance of being awarded the NWO-Spinoza Prize. Next the committee interviews internationally recognised (mainly foreign) experts in the discipline of the candidate.
During a second meeting, the committee discusses the outcomes of the interviews and based on this it issues an advice to the Governing Board of NWO.
The assessment and selection of candidates takes place on the basis of past performance and in accordance with the following quality criteria:
- Internationally recognised top quality. This must be apparent from the candidate's scientific achievements, the influence he/she has exerted on the development of the discipline concerned (ability to develop a scientific/scholarly movement), scores in research competitions, recognition in the form of prizes, invitations, memberships of editorial boards, et cetera.
- Appeal to young researchers. This is about the extent to which the candidate manages to attract young researchers from the Netherlands and abroad to his/her group and to supervise them in an inspirational manner.
Furthermore, it must be evident that the NWO-Spinoza Prize is expected to enable the candidate to make another major step forwards in his/her research.
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15. How is the committee appointed?
The Spinoza Committee has a technical chair and twelve members and is appointed by the Governing Board of NWO. The divisional boards of NWO nominate the committee members. They look in their own field at who has the most expertise to participate in this committee.
Members of the Governing Board and of the NWO divisional boards may not participate in the Spinoza Committee. The technical chair of the committee has no direct link with a research institution.
Together the members of the Spinoza Committee cover as much of the entire spectrum of scientific disciplines as possible. They have considerable scientific authority, a broad overview of the scientific world and considerable experience in assessing research. They are completely independent.
In addition to containing representatives from the international top of science, the committee should have knowledge of the Dutch situation. It therefore contains Dutch scientists working abroad and researchers from Dutch institutions who have recently retired.
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16. Are the members of the selection committee independent and objective?
NWO has a Code of Conduct on Conflicts of Interest. This applies to all assessments and so equally to the assessment of nominations for the NWO-Spinoza Prizes. If there appears to be a conflict of interest then NWO will take appropriate measures. A committee member who has a professional involvement with a candidate may never assess this candidate or participate in a discussion about him/her.
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17. Do gender, ethnicity or scientific discipline play a role in the assessment?
The nationality or gender of a candidate plays no role whatsoever in the assessment. As the national research funding body, NWO selects and finances the best researchers and the best research. That is always the guiding principle, also for NWO-Spinoza Prizes. Subsidiary to this is the condition that NWO does not award more than two prizes to a single scientific domain (arts and humanities, natural sciences, medical and life sciences). For example, if the top four nominations consist of three natural scientists and one scientist from the arts and humanities, then the two best natural scientists and the one scientist from the arts and humanities will receive a prize.
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18. What has changed in recent years?
In 2009, the amount received was increased from 1.5 million euros to 2.5 million euros. This is because the Veni, Vidi and Vici grants were also increased. Furthermore, the ERC Advanced Investigators Grant, the European counterpart of the Spinoza Prize, is worth 2.5 million euros.
After each round NWO assesses if the procedure can be further refined. For the NWO Spinoza Prize this has led to several exchanges in the procedure to safeguard the maximum quality of the candidates, for example.
The most important change in recent years is the increase in the number of bodies that may nominate candidates. These are bodies that first and foremost have a national overview of a scientific area. With this change, the number of nominations received has also increased.
Since 2010, the chair of NWO has no longer acted as the technical chair of the selection committee, partly because this is at odds with the NWO Code of Conduct on Conflicts of Interest.
The other changes are minor modifications in how the committee works, for example the evaluation scale used.
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