DUTCH KIDNEY FOUNDATION
Call for Proposals 2016
Kolff Program - Biomedical
Information Sheet 2 March 2016
(Minor change compared to version 8 December 2015: page limits)
The execution of a DKF Call for proposals, selection of pre-proposals for full application and positive DKF grant award decisions are conditional on DKF revenues and budgetary means. The DKF explicitly reserves the right to cancel an initiated Call for proposals, to suspend a running procedure or to lower a grant amount in relation to earlier statements.
Kolff Program General Information
Program
The Kolff Program (Kolff Programma) is part of the section Care & Innovation (C&I) of the Dutch Kidney Foundation (DKF). The advisory board for this program is the Scientific Advisory Board (Wetenschappelijke Raad, WR). The C&I Program Committee (PC) has the authority of decision.
Aim
Stimulation of the quality of the personnel scientific infrastructure of renal research and nephrology in the Netherlands by means of a program of personal grants that support all the phases of a research career. Establishing stronger links between research and patient care. Enhancing application of results from nephrological research. Strengthening the bond between the Dutch Kidney Foundation (DKF) and the research community.
Who can apply?
Talented biomedical researchers interested in nephrological research.
Criteria and Priorities
Proposals are assessed on quality and relevance within the DKF general framework of assessment criteria. Proposals are aimed at contributing to the DKF priorities (DKF Ambitions 2013-2016).
Specific relevance criteria for this call are:
Applicant Criteria
· Training
Does the applicant's training match the eligibility criteria within a reasonable margin? Is the applicant's training appropriate for the project?
· Experience
Does the applicant's experience match the eligibility criteria? Is the applicant's experience appropriate for the proposed research? Has the applicant shown a consistent interest and talent for scientific research?
· Previous Research
If applicable, is the applicant's thesis of excellent quality? Does the applicant have an outstanding publication record?
· Scientific Record
Does the applicant rank high among international researchers in the same career phase in the relevant research area? Does the proposal have a strong convincing quality? If applicable, does the applicant have the capacities for initiating a new research line?
Relevance
· Innovative Potential
· Scientific and Clinical Significance
· Cost Benefit
· Knowledge Transfer, Implementation and Follow-up
Quality
· Problem Definition, Hypothesis and Aims
· Work Plan
· Patient Inclusion (if applicable)
· Animal Models (if applicable)
· Project Group & Environment
· Approach & Feasibility
Early Kolff Grants
· Beurs Student Onderzoeker - Student Researcher Grant
· Stage Buitenland voor Studenten - Student Fellowship Abroad
· Stage Buitenland voor Promovendi en Postdocs - PhD Postdoc Fellowship Abroad
Large Kolff Grants
· Fellowship Buitenland - Full Fellowship Abroad
· Beurs Arts Onderzoeker - Physician Researcher Grant
· Postdoc Startup Beurs - Postdoc Startup Grant
· Junior Postdoc Beurs - Junior Postdoc Grant
· Senior Postdoc Beurs - Senior Postdoc Grant
Call and Budget
· Large Kolff Grants are part of a call for proposals. Early Kolff Grants can be applied for throughout the year.
· In 2016, the Kolff Biomedical Call is open to all applicants (clinical track and non-clinical track) and to all types and topics of biomedical renal research.
· Total available budget for the Kolff Biomedical Call 2016 is € 1.000.000.
Conditions
The DKF General Funding Requirements (Subsidievoorwaarden Nierstichting Nederland, January 2015) apply. For special conditions, refer to the following conditions and the conditions of the individual Kolff Grants below.
About the eligibility conditions for the applicants of the large Kolff Grants
· The eligibility conditions are explicitly and highly recommended guidelines.
· Candidate applicants who do not comply with the eligibility conditions are allowed to apply. (For example in case of researchers who take a leave of absence due to care-giving responsibilities.)
· An applicant who does not comply with the eligibility conditions has to provide a motivation and argumentation on the application form.
· The DKF will not accept a non-complying proposal that does not provide an argumentation or motivation.
· The DKF may exclude applicants who do not comply with the eligibility criteria within a wide margin.
· Potential applicants who, within reasonable interpretation, fall under the aforementioned category are strongly advised to contact the DKF before writing an application.
Conditions for the large Kolff Grants
· Proposals submitted to this call cannot also be submitted in other DKF calls in the same calendar year.
· The applicant writes the proposal him/herself.
· The applicant's working base is a research institute in the Netherlands. The project is executed in the Netherlands, parts of the research may be performed abroad. The DKF encourages collaboration with foreign research institutes. The Kolff Full Fellowship Abroad is performed in a foreign research institute.
· Proposed budgets are calculated with the DKF Project Funding Model (DKF PFM). For more information, see the PFM information sheet on our website for professionals.
· The proposal is written in English and submitted using the specific Kolff Grant application form.
· Proposals have the following maximum length (forms filled in using Arial 10 pt; not counting blank pages):
· Full Fellowship Abroad: 19 pages
· Physician Researcher Grant: 19 pages
· Postdoc Startup Grant: 23 pages
· Junior Postdoc Grant: 23 pages
· Senior Postdoc Grant: 27 pages
· The DKF may request applicants to shorten their proposal as a condition for starting the proposal's assessment procedure.
· Results with a clear value for the DKF in communication and PR shall be timely reported to the DKF.
· The deadline for this call is Tuesday 30th August 2016, 24:00h (digital).
Assessment Procedure
The (PC) assesses whether proposals fit the call. Early Kolff grants are assessed in shortened procedures (see this information sheet for the early grants information). Accepted proposals of large Kolff Grants are subjected to the following peer review process. The assessment of proposals will take place in the WR meeting of Tuesday 6th December 2016.
Each large Kolff grant application will be reviewed by two or three scientific and two groups of patient reviewers. Possible conflicts of interest are to be avoided in appointing reviewers. The scientific reviewers assess the scientific quality of the proposal along the scientific criteria and the relevance according to the relevance criteria. The patient reviewers assess the quality and relevance from the patient's perspective according to a specific set of criteria. The patient review procedure is coordinated by the Dutch Kidney Patient Association. Applicants will have the opportunity to write a rebuttal of the reviews.
For each application, two or three members of the WR act as summarizing referee in the assessment meeting of the advisory board. A representative of the patient association will be present at the WR meeting in order to put forward the patient views. After discussing the proposal, the participating board members will cast their votes in the form of two scores (1 to 10) for quality and relevance each, in an anonymous procedure. WR members involved in a grant proposal under discussion are excluded from discussion and ranking of the proposal.
Individual scores of the board members are used to calculate the quality and relevance scores of the proposals. The quality (relevance) score for a proposal equals the average of the individual quality (relevance) scores. The final score for a proposal equals the average of the quality and relevance scores. The ranking of the proposals is determined by the descending order of the corresponding final scores. The PC takes the grant award decisions within the framework of the following rules.
· Grant proposals with a final score ≥ 7 are eligible for funding.
· If the total budget is insufficient for funding all applications with a final score ≥ 7 the final ranking order will be decisive.
· Grant proposals with a final score < 6 or a quality score < 6 or a relevance score < 6 are not eligible for funding.
· If the total budget is larger than necessary for funding all applications with a score ≥ than 7, grant proposals with a final score ≥ 6 and < 7 will be eligible for funding.
· Grant award decisions are either positive or negative.
The DKF will inform applicants on the decision on their proposals within 6 weeks after the WR meeting.
Reporting
· The project leader of a grant reports in compliance with the DKF General Requirements and the letter of awarding.
· For early Kolff Grants, reporting requirements are given by the individual grant's texts below.
Information
More information can be found on our website. For questions about this call please contact the DKF program bureau, or tel. +31(0)35 697 8000.
Kolff Student Researcher Grant
Aim
Stimulating students to enter the field of renal research and strengthening students' interest in renal research. Stimulation of the scientific infrastructure and quality of nephrological research in the Netherlands.
Applicants
The grant is aimed at (bio)medical students who want to do renal research. The project leader of the research project in question applies for the grant.
Conditions
· The grant offers a compensation for a student for working for an existing renal research project for either 1 or 2 days a week.
· The grant provides support for at least 2 up to 12 months.
· After a grant's ending, a new grant can be requested.
· The grant awards either € 250,- per month (1 day a week), or € 500,- a month (2 days a week).
· The Student Researcher shall work for an existing biomedical renal research project at a research institute in the Netherlands.
· The Student Researcher is registered as a student at a university in the Netherlands.
· No more than 1 Student Researcher per research project.
· The Student Researcher shall be registered with the university's liability insurance (bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering).
· The project leader of the research project in question applies for the grant.
· The proposal is written in Dutch or in English and submitted using the Kolff Student Researcher Grant application form.
Procedure
The DKF Program Committee assesses proposals for relevance and quality and decides on granting. If necessary, the Scientific Advisory Board can advise on a proposal.
Reporting
Within 3 months after the project's end date, the Student Researcher shall submit the final report using a Kolff Student Researcher final report form. The final report includes an overall assessment score given by the Project Leader (Scoring system: poor – fair – sufficient – good – excellent).
The Student Researcher shall add copies of possible publications resulting from the project to the final report.
Assessment
The DKF Program Committee (PC) assesses final reports and decides on approval. If necessary, the Scientific Advisory Board can advise. An assessment score of 'good' or 'excellent' by the Project Leader is a primary condition for approval. The grant's last payment is dependent on approval of the report in accordance with the General Funding Requirements (Subsidievoorwaarden Nierstichting Nederland, January 2015).
Kolff Student Fellowship Abroad
Aim
Stimulating students to enter the field of renal research and strengthening students' interest in renal research. Stimulation of the scientific infrastructure and quality of nephrological research in the Netherlands.
Applicants
The grant is aimed at (bio)medical students who want to do renal research and have completed at least one research internship (onderzoeksstage). The Student Fellow's supervisor in the Netherlands applies for the grant.
Conditions
· The grant provides support for at least 2 up to 6 months.
· The grant awards at most € 400,- a month.
· The Fellowship provides for an internship collaborating on a biomedical renal research project at a foreign research institute.
· The student in question is registered as a student at a university in the Netherlands.
· The Student Fellow's supervisor in the institute abroad is the project leader of the research project concerned.
· The Student Fellow's supervisor in the Netherlands applies for the grant. The applicant is working at a nephrology department of a university medical center in the Netherlands, or is or has been the project leader of a research project funded by the DKF within the research program within a period of 6 years before the proposal's date (Open Program, Kolff Program, Consortia Program, Innovation Program).
· The Student Fellow shall be registered with the Dutch and/or foreign university's liability insurance (bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering).
· The proposal's budget is restricted to travel and living expenses directly connected with the proposed project.
· The proposal is written in Dutch or in English and submitted using the specific Kolff Grant application form.
· Added to the proposal are:
· a recommendation by the project supervisor in the Netherlands;
· an invitation by the foreign project supervisor.
Procedure
The DKF Program Committee assesses proposals for relevance and quality and decides on granting. If necessary, the Scientific Advisory Board can advise on a proposal.
Reporting
Within 3 months after the project's end date, the Fellow shall submit the final report using a Kolff Student Fellow Abroad final report form. The final report includes an overall assessment score given by the Project Leader in the Netherlands (Scoring system: poor – fair – sufficient – good – excellent).
The Fellow shall add copies of possible publications resulting from the project to the final report.
Assessment
The DKF Program Committee (PC) assesses final reports and decides on approval. If necessary, the Scientific Advisory Board can advise. An assessment score of 'good' or 'excellent' by the Project Leader in the Netherlands is a primary condition for approval. The grant's last payment is dependent on approval of the report in accordance with the General Funding Requirements (Subsidievoorwaarden Nierstichting Nederland, January 2015).
Kolff PhD / Postdoc Fellowship Abroad
Aim
Stimulating young researchers in renal research in the Netherlands. Strengthening the scientific infrastructure and quality of renal research in the Netherlands.
Applicants
PhD students and postdocs working on a biomedical renal research project in the Netherlands.