12th VLAG Open Round
Call for project proposals for the PhD and PostDoc projects
Summary
The VLAG graduate school announces an Open Round for new research proposals funded by Wageningen
University and participating institutes. Within this round, we hope to be able to support 4-5 projects.
The pre-proposals should be submitted no later than 24th February 2017.
The full proposals must be submitted no later than 28th April 2017.
Introduction
The research school VLAG financed 70 PhD and 2 Postdoctoral projects in the past 11 open rounds and one
interdisciplinary ß – γ round.
The proposals should meet a number of requirements:
- Scientific quality is the guiding criterion for selection. Additionally, the innovative, explorative and original
character of the project proposal is important.
- We are particularly looking for high-risk innovative proposals that may be difficult to fund elsewhere,
including creative combination of expertise (groups).
Proposals should not be based on existing research programs (e.g. Public Private Partnerships).
- Multidisciplinary collaboration is a strict requirement. The research must be carried out by at least two
VLAG chairs groups (WU), or by one chair group (WU) and one research institute. These chair groups and
research institutes should be active partners within VLAG. The expertise of both participating groups should
be clearly visible from the proposal. The cooperation must be such that research should be carried out for at
least a quarter (preferably more) within each participating group. (Annex: List of VLAG partners)
In order to ensure proportional allocation of strategic funds across the VLAG research themes, and consequently
proportional allocation per participating chair group, the following new guidelines for the participation of chair
groups in the VLAG Open Rounds are introduced:
1. Outcome of the previous Open Round
The chair groups that were granted a project in the previous VLAG Open Round (as lead applicant)
may not submit a proposal as the lead applicant in this round, but may participate only once as a coapplicant. This effects the following four chair groups: Biophysics, Nutrition & Pharmacology, Organic
Chemistry, and Physics & Physical Chemistry of Foods.
2. The size of the chair group and consequently contribution to the VLAG strategic means
The chair groups participating in VLAG have been divided into three categories depending on the
number of VLAG PhD candidates registered within the graduate school (1st thesis supervisor as
criterion):
Group size:
SMALL
MEDIUM
LARGE
# PhDs
# Chair Groups*
< 10
9 (BIC, BIP, BNT, FHM,
FPH, HAP, HMI, NAD, N&P)
10 ≤ and ≤ 20
> 20
May submit:
th
1 preproposal as co-applicant (12 round)
And every second (uneven) open round:
2 preproposals (1 as main applicant and 1 as co-applicant)
8 (BCT, NHL, NMG, ORC,
PCC, TOX, SSB, SSEB)
5 (BPE, FCH, FPE, FQD, MIB)
2 preproposals (1 as main applicant and 1 as co-applicant)
3 preproposals (1 as main applicant and 2 as co-applicant)
st
*Chair group size is based on the number of ‘running’ VLAG PhD projects with start date from 1 April 2012.
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NOTE:
The number of proposals in which a chair group is involved is limited first by the ‘past success’ (guideline 1)
and then by its size (guideline 2).
The composition of the research team cannot be changed between pre-proposal and full proposal phase.
Selection and review methodologies
Prior to selection the preproposals are screened for eligibility and completeness, after which three steps follow:
1. The VLAG Management Team selects the pre-proposals that may be developed into full proposals.
Selection is made based on Scientific Quality, Originality/Innovative character, and Collaboration.
2. The authors of the selected pre-proposals will be asked to provide names and contact details of 5
potential external reviewers.
3. The review of each full proposal is performed by 3 external experts. This need not necessarily be the
reviewers suggested by the applicants. The width the VLAG program implies that we cannot work with
one group of referees who will review and rank all proposals. If possible, multiple proposals will be
reviewed by one expert.
The following criteria are used in assessing the full proposals:
- Scientific Quality (proposal, originality, methodology, scientific perspectives)
- Feasibility (work plan, use of existing knowledge, equipment/techniques, supervision, co-operation)
All criteria are assessed both quantitatively (by assigning one of the four grades between ‘outstanding’ and
‘unsatisfactory’) and qualitatively. After receiving anonymous assessments the applicants are approached to
respond to the reviewers’ comments within the 'rebuttal' phase.
Based on the experience from the previous rounds we conclude that the procedures described above could be
handled fairly quickly and that the chance of success for the full proposals is about 60%.
Available resources
Within this round, we hope to support 4-5 projects.
The Graduate School provides the salary costs for the appointment of a PhD or a PostDoc. The additional +/36% for the integral costs within Wageningen University is also provided. The lead applicant guarantees the
financing of the research costs.
Co-financing
The research institutes may submit a project proposal together with one or more university chair groups
participating in VLAG and are expected to co-finance part of the salary and of the research costs. This
contribution should be proportional to the extent of the involvement of the institute in the project. Each research
institute may be involved in submission of a maximum of 3 preproposals provided this involves collaboration with
3 different chair groups.
The rules are as follows:
- If the main applicant is from a research institute and/or the PhD candidate / PostDoc will be in part appointed
and working at the institute then the institute contributes at least 50% of the salary costs.
- In case of cooperation between University group(s) and an institute with the university group as the lead
applicant, the institute contributes a minimum of 25% of salary costs.
Considering the total amount of k€ 260 (integral cost structure within Wageningen UR) the salary costs for a
PhD candidate amount to k€ 65 per year.
In case of cooperation between a VLAG associated chair group with a chair group that is part of another
graduate school, these graduate schools / chair groups contribute 50% of the salary costs.
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Procedure
The pre-proposals should be submitted until 24th February 2017. For the pre-proposals the fixed format (2 A4
pages in length) should be used. The format can be found at http://www.vlaggraduateschool.nl/res-proposal.htm.
All applications must be submitted in English. VLAG MT will decide which pre-proposals can be developed into
full proposals within 3 weeks following the deadline.
The full proposals must be submitted ultimately on 28th April 2017.
The ranking of full proposals, based on the outcomes of the peer review and rebuttal, is done by the VLAG MT.
The MT members who are involved as applicants will be replaced by another PI from the VLAG community. The
final decision about the allocation of resources is the responsibility of the Scientific Director of VLAG and will
take place in July/August 2017.
The start date for the PhD / Postdoc projects granted within this Open Round is January 2018, but in
consultation with VLAG this might be brought forward.
Wageningen, 3 October 2016
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Annex: Partners within Graduate School VLAG
Wageningen University
More information: http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Chair-groups.htm
Agro-Technology & Food Sciences:
Cluster Food Sciences:
1. Food Chemistry (FCH), Prof. H. Gruppen
2. Food Microbiology (FHM), Prof. M.H. Zwietering
3. Food Process Engineering (FPE), Prof. R.M. Boom
4. Food Quality and Design (FQD), Prof. V. Fogliano
5. Physics and Physical Chemistry of Foods (FPH), Prof. E. van der Linden
Cluster Bio-based Sciences:
6. Biobased Chemistry and Technology (BCT), Prof. H. Bitter
7. Bioprocess Engineering (BPE), Prof. R.H. Wijffels
Cluster Bio-molecular Sciences:
8. Biochemistry (BIC), Prof. S. de Vries
9. BioNano Technology (BNT), Prof. A.H. Velders
10. Biophysics (BIP), Prof. H. van Amerongen
11. Microbiology (MIB), Prof. W.M. de Vos
12. Organic Chemistry (ORC), Prof. H. Zuilhof
13. Physical Chemistry and Soft Matter (PCC), Prof. J. Van Der Gucht
14. Systems and Synthetic Biology (SSB), Prof. V. Martins Dos Santos
15. Toxicology (TOX), Prof. I.M.C.M. Rietjens
Cluster Nutrition Sciences:
16. Nutrition & Health over the Lifecourse (NHL), Prof. E. Feskens
17. Nutrition & Disease (NAD), Prof. E. Kampman
18. Nutrition, Metabolism & Genomics (NMG), Prof. S. Kersten
19. Nutrition & Pharmacology (N&P), Prof. R. Witkamp
20. Sensory Science & Eating Behaviour (SSEB), Prof. C. de Graaf
Anima Sciences:
1. Host-Microbe Interactomics (HMI), Prof. J. Wells
2. Human & Animal Physiology (HAP), Prof. J. Keijer
Food & Biobased Research - Contact: Prof. Harry Wichers or Erik van Seventer
RIKILT- Institute of Food Safety - Contact: Prof. Michel Nielen
TNO Healthy Living - Contact: t.b.d.
NIZO food research - Contact: Dr Maykel Verschueren
RIVM - National Institute of Public Health and the Environment – Contact: Dr Marga Ocké
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