Call for proposals Educational innovation programme Comenius 2024

An important question is how we can support various student groups to find their way to and through higher education with more success. How can good education be provided with equal attention to the qualification and socialization of students? How can we ensure that all participants in higher education feel at home, from the student to the teacher? Diversity in background or beliefs can be considered here, but for example also in the education sector, by improving the connection between universities and universities of applied sciences.

Projects within this theme focus on making education or the educational environment more inclusive for students.

Universities and universities of applied science aim to prepare students for their career development. The labour market is changing rapidly, with shifts in supply and demand, which means that it remains a challenge for higher education to maintain a connection with the professional field in the future. Consider, for example, the increasing shortage in the labour market and what this will demand of graduate students. Or major transitions as a result of which students will need different skills for a sustainable and healthy career.

Projects within this theme focus on preparing students for the changing labour market of the future.

Within the open theme, it is possible to choose from a wide range of topics. These are projects that contribute to the innovation and improvement of higher education for the benefit of students.

Projects within this theme focus on topics that arise from the teacher's curiosity in education design.

Only one application per faculty may be submitted for senior fellows. Therefore faculties have established their own procedures to make this selection. Please contact your faculty contact person if you would like to know more about this.

The NRO deadlines are

• Closing date declarations of intent: 12 September 2023
• Closing date for pre-application: 10 October 2023
• Closing date full application: 9 January 2024

To the call for proposals

1.         Find your own sparkle.
It is important to write the application around a topic that you find important and that you want to take forward. Spar and talk to others, but do not become the executor of someone else's plan and follow your own course. Your own enthusiasm will resonate with your application and increase your chances.

Of course, there is always a chance that your application will not be granted and writing a good application takes quite a lot of time. Ask yourself: suppose your application does not get granted: will it still have been worth it? Do you want to invest time in this, regardless of the outcome?

2.         Be consistent.
Your application consists of several components that should all be well aligned. Does the intervention you draw up really solve the problem from the problem analysis? Does your professional statement show why you are the right person for this project? Does your plan of action show that only 15 students will be involved in your intervention, whereas before you claimed that many students will participate in the project?

3.         Be concrete.
Try to describe as concretely and visually as possible what the intervention looks like. What will students and teachers actually do? Make sure the committee can imagine what this will look like.

4.         Make it easy for the committee.
Clearly state in your application the criteria the committee will use. This way, the committee does not have to search through the proposal and you have maximum control over the interpretation of your proposal.

5.         Make clear what the innovation is about.
Comenius projects are innovation projects. Make clear why your project is innovative and goes beyond regular curriculum development. Sometimes separate elements in themselves are not so innovative, but the total package is.

6.         Make clear what the impact is.
Is the problem you describe really a problem? Why? How does your proposal contribute to it? If it works, how can other teachers make use of it in the Netherlands? Does your project produce knowledge that is widely applicable?

7.         Don't forget the student.
The Comenius programme was originally financed from student finance. Partly for this reason, strong attention is still paid to whether the results benefit students. There is also always a student's seat on the assessment committee. It is important to give the student perspective sufficient attention in your proposal.

8.         Make smart use of figures and bullet points.
The committee ploughs through hundreds of pages of text. It is a relief if you can get your message across concisely. Not everything needs to be in running text. Bullet points and figures can be a very appropriate tool. Moreover, it can make your proposal distinctive and more recognisable to the committee.

With special thanks to Christel Lutz and Annerieke Oosterwegel.