Hans Melle van Dijk is a senior research policy consultant and EU liaison officer: “Although the EU's Horizon 2020 research programme is in the public domain, some readers won't necessarily be able to identify the relevant opportunities and types of research eligible for funding, or determine whether and how such research projects reflect the priorities of Utrecht University. That’s the responsibility of the liaison officer: identifying funding opportunities. In my view, this task is of strategic importance: we work to identify issues that will help Utrecht University tie in with the various EU research themes. Next, we need to address the following question: Does Utrecht University have the leaders we need to head this type of research, and can they be readily assigned to the project if necessary?”
“It’s important to have that type of information ready: the EU generally issues its calls for proposals during the summer months, when most people are relaxing on the beach with a good book. The faculty grant officers need to be able to respond quickly. That means we have to actively anticipate, and identify themes that will allow Utrecht University to respond to the EU’s requirements.”
“Obviously, this has both a strategic and a financial purpose: while the Dutch government is cutting back on grants, European investment in research funding is on the rise. Whereas the EU had allocated a total of 53 billion euros over a seven-year period for the Seventh Framework Programme, available funding for Horizon 2020 already totalled 80 billion euros at the time of writing. We will have to work extremely hard to get a piece of that pie. Thankfully, the Dutch academic community is performing very well, with Utrecht University in a leading position. In terms of turnover, Utrecht University’s results are second only to those of the Wageningen conglomerate (WUR and DLO) and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) - institutions that are mainly focused on the type of application-oriented research that is currently thriving in Europe. Utrecht University, in other words, is performing very well - although there is certainly room for improvement in certain areas.”
“That includes the aspect of networking. Most EU grants are oriented towards research consortia rather than individual researchers. An exception to this rule is the ERC grant, which is intended for leading individual researchers and their research group. The grant could certainly be described as generous. However, nearly all other funds require national and international collaborations with other partners from knowledge institutions or the business sector in order to conduct fundamental and applied research. That requires access to a huge network, and other arrangements such as a solid legal underpinning for the intended collaboration. This inevitably involves a huge amount of bureaucratic work, an area in which researchers certainly require support. Faculty grant officers can provide such assistance, but initiatives such as the Research Funding Week are also extremely helpful in this regard.”
“That’s why I believe the event is so effective: in addition to providing researchers with all sorts of information, we can also help them draft and write grant applications, prepare budgets or consortium agreements, or teach them to think from the donor’s perspective or read and interpret their documents. Those are crucial skills when you’re operating in an international context. Applying for funds in the Netherlands is a far more monocultural affair. This international context is often the source of major cultural differences to which researchers must learn to be sensitive. The best way of doing that is to consult with people who understand those differences.”
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Utrecht University Research Funding Week
Making research happen
Research funders are tightening their belts. That is why researchers are under more pressure than ever, to find external funds for their research. Fortunately the European Commission and the Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) offer a wide variety of funding programmes. To help researchers make the most of the opportunities on offer, Utrecht University is organising the Research Funding Week, in cooperation with the University Medical Center Utrecht and the Utrecht Valorisation Center. The Research Funding Week will be held from the 25th until the 29th of June 2012 at De Uithof.
More information and registration: www.uu.nl/fundingweek |