15 million euros for development of young top talent

5 September 2011

Nineteen research schools will each receive 800,000 euros from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) for the training of young researchers. With this financial boost, each school can appoint four PhD students. The funding is part of NWO’s Graduate Programme and is aimed at encouraging the development of Dutch PhD courses. 

Within NWO’s Graduate Programme, local and national research schools and Graduate Schools can request funding. A total of 49 schools requested a grant. Nineteen schools will now receive a payment of 800,000 euros for the appointment of four PhD students. The Graduate Schools can use this grant to set up a strong education and research programme for the development of young scientific talent.

List of schools awarded funding

CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care – Maastricht University
EM-JMBC Graduate Programme in Fluid and Solid Mechanics – Eindhoven University of Technology
Evolutionary Biology Education and Research, Groningen Graduate School of Science – University of Groningen
Experimental Psychopathology – Maastricht University
Graduate School for Molecules and Materials – Radboud University Nijmegen
Graduate School of Communication – University of Amsterdam
Kurt Lewin Institute – University of Amsterdam
Leiden de Sitter Programme in Cosmology – Leiden University
Leiden University Centre of Linguistics Graduate Programme – Leiden University
Maastricht University Graduate School for Business & Economics – Maastricht University
MESA+ School for Nanotechnology – University of Twente
NUTRIM Graduate programme ‘Metabolism and chronic disease’ – Maastricht University
OIKOS – Radboud University Nijmegen
Rudolf Magnus Institute – Utrecht University
SENSE Graduate Programme ‘Complex Dynamics of Human-Environment Systems’ – Wageningen University and Research Centre
Tinbergen Institute Graduate School – Erasmus University Rotterdam
Understanding the molecular basis of disease – Radboud University Nijmegen
Utrecht Centre for Child and Adolescent Studies – Utrecht University
William James Graduate School – University of Amsterdam

More freedom for PhD students

Graduate Schools offer students a coherent Masters and PhD programme. They focus on talented students who are interested in an academic career. The excellent education and research environments have been developed according to the most successful initiatives worldwide. The Graduate Schools are part of one or more universities and/or institutes.

The combination of education and research under a single roof benefits both the students and the Graduate Schools. The PhD students gain greater freedom in determining the content of their research and choice of supervisor. Graduate Schools benefit because they can attract the most talented students and from these they can subsequently select the researchers with the most potential for a PhD position.

Future

The Graduate Programme has been developed by NWO at the request of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). This is the third funding round. A total of 38 schools have now received funding for the appointment of about 160 PhD students. All of the PhD students can carry out research for a period of four years. A new funding round for the Graduate Programme is planned for 2012.

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 euros on grants for top research and 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 5 September 2011