Netherlands Polar Programme

• Ice, climate and sea level
• Changes in the Southern and Arctic oceans as a result of climate and human activities
• Polar terrestrial and coastal zone ecosystems and global change
• Influence of human activities on polar areas and influence of climate change on people

Doelstelling NAAP
To encourage high quality scientific research on Antarctica. The Dutch participation in research on Antarctica should also serve to support the voting membership of the Antarctic Treaty.
Doelstelling NAP
The purpose of the Arctic component in the Polar Programme is to strengthen the national coherency of Dutch Arctic research in the international context.

Who can apply

• the institute is located in the Netherlands;
• the institute has an independent research arm;
• the institute is not-for-profit;
• in the research for which the grant is requested, the institute works together with a university, which is apparent from a personnel or material contribution to the research by the university, and the freedom of the researchers to publish in international scientific literature.
  

What can be applied for

Researchers can submit a maximum of one application per type of grant (NAAP, NAP and NAP 'seed money'). The research for which the application is made must fall within one of the NPP themes. The conditions for submission are the same for both NAAP and NAP. For NAAP and NAP (including NAP “seed money”) applications, separate application forms are available. Personnel grants can be requested for postdocs. It is not possible to request support for PhD positions/analysts/technicians. A maximum of one position can be requested for each grant application. Only researchers with an appointment that is guaranteed for the duration of the proposed grant can submit an application.

When can be applied

The deadline for submitting applications was 16 October 2008 (23.59 hours).

Extra Information

• Due to the current funding structure of NPP, NWO cannot fund research projects which have a duration that goes beyond 2012. So in this granting round it is only possible to apply for a postdoc (maximum 3 years).
• The standard regulation for the awarding of grants by NWO and the guidelines for the submission of grant applications ALW Open Programme, published 15 February 2008, apply. An important addition to this is that besides an assessment of the scientific quality, an assessment for policy relevance will also take place.
• Where the NPP guidelines deviate from the aforementioned standard NWO regulations or the ALW Open Programme guidelines, the provisions in the NPP guidelines take precedence.

Criteria

Scientific criteria

1. Originality/innovative character
2. Scientific quality of the proposal
   a. Preliminary research, work plan and method
   b. Clarity of the objective formulated
   c. Impact: contribution to the depth or breadth of knowledge
   d. Improvement of (inter)national cooperation
3. Scientific quality of the research group

Policy criteria

1. Political and/or social relevance in a national and international context
2. Applicability to policy
3. For the implementation of national and international policy
4. For the implementation of relevant conventions and treaties
   3. Policy urgency for the international and national policy

Procedure

Research applications shall, in addition to an assessment of scientific quality, be assessed for policy relevance. Research applications (upwards of € 25,000) will be assessed by international referees, after which the applicants will be requested to respond to the assessment. Policy experts from the Selection Committee will assess the applications against the criteria for policy relevance.

Committees

For the scientific assessment of the applications, a Selection Committee will be put together after the deadline, and will be made up of non-involved members of the Polar Research Committee (PRC) supplemented by ad hoc members from the Netherlands and abroad. All committee members will be scientists and for each of the four research teams there must be at least one sitting member of the Selection Committee who has expertise within that theme. For the assessment of the policy relevance, the Selection Committee will be supplemented by two policy experts with a more general understanding of policy and a wide-ranging administrative experience.

Budget

For NAAP a budget of € 0.7 mln is available for research projects. For NAP a budget of € 0.7 mln is available for research projects.

Fieldwork Antarctic region
For applications with fieldwork in the Antarctic region, preparations should be made for a possible official permit application under the Wet Bescherming Antarctica (Protection of Antarctica Act) in the event that the application is honoured. Therefore, in addition to the grant application, the form Wet Bescherming Antarctica (www.minlnv.nl/loket) should also be completed.

Financiers

The Polar Programme is financed by the Dutch ministries of LNV, VROM, V&W, BuZa and by the NWO Division ALW. Separate contributions are stated in the long-term budget of NPP. This can be requested from ALW.