| Maastricht University

After having completed my three years of studies, I decided to do an internship at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin. I spent eight weeks at the department responsible for relations with central European countries, and was given the chance to transform my theoretical knowledge – gained through my three years of European Studies – into practical experiences.

The BA in European Studies is a truly interdisciplinary program, combining political science, history, economics and sociology. It aims to educate students in a well-rounded manner, providing the skills to be capable of analysing socio-political issues. Furthermore, my education at University Maastricht (UM) has made be become internationally literate. This is a major asset if you want to work in an environment that requires you to think beyond the national and towards the European level.

I think my biggest take away from the BA European Studies is the interdisciplinary approach it taught me. After my BA, I decided I wanted to go more into the direction of policy making, preferably in the field of public health or healthcare. Luckily, I could start an MSc in Healthcare Policy, Innovation and Management at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences at UM right away.

Since 2000 I am employed in the museum sector. In recent years, the domain of museums and heritage has changed radically. The commercialisation of cultural institutions, increasing emphasis on public participation and debates on inclusiveness and postcolonial perspectives are a few examples.

When I was in my last year of secondary school I visited a number of universities. As my brother had studied Arts and Culture at Maastricht University and was very positive about it I decided to visit the open day.

I am really glad I decided to study Arts and Culture at Maastricht University. Through this programme I have not only learned a lot about the content of the different courses I took, but I have also acquired a number of valuable skills that are useful in a lot of other contexts as well.

I applied to this programme because it comprised many topics I am immensely interested in. I was curious to learn about development theory, but also about the more practical aspects of development work. Furthermore, I had read about problem-based learning, the unique educational method used at Maastricht University.

While applying for the Masters Programme Globalisation and Development Studies, I was particularly fascinated by the prospect of doing field work research in a foreign country, during the second semester of the programme. In order to do so, I took the great advantage of the links and contacts of the GDS teaching staff.

This funding type is for research projects in which expertise from different organizations is required to address a complex research question, and make societal or economic impact. Below you find an overview of the national funding for projects and/or consortiums. Contact the funding advisor (contact person for your Research Institute) for more information.

Open Competition

Researchers in different stages of their academic careers can apply individually or in collaboration for curiosity-driven, fundamental research.

Dutch Research Agenda - Research along Routes by Consortia (NWA-ORC)

The aim of the NWA-ORC is to encourage research that is set up and carried out by interdisciplinary consortia that include representatives from the full breadth of the knowledge chain as well as relevant societal (public and/or private) partners, including citizens.
More information: NWA-ORC

NWO Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC)

The focus is on cooperation between knowledge institutions, private parties and the government. The results thus contribute to the realisation of economic opportunities.
More information: NWO KIC

NWO Gravitation

The programme is for scientific consortia that have the potential to rank among the world's best in their field.
More information: NWO Gravitation

ZonMw Appropriate Use of Medicines (Goed Gebruik Geneesmiddelen (GGG))

GGG focuses on improving pharmacotherapeutic care, both at the level of the medicine and on the use of medicines in daily care.
More information: ZonMw GGG

ZonMw Doelmatigheidsonderzoek

The aim of this program is to contribute to high-quality patient care at acceptable costs for society. Based on a weighing of effectiveness and costs, it can be determined which care intervention is the most efficient and which intervention should not be applied (anymore).
More information: ZonMw Doelmatigheidsonderzoek

ZonMw More Knowledge with Fewer Animals

With the programme, ZonMW encourages the development of new animal-free models and the acceptance and implementation of existing animal-free research methods.
More information: ZonMw More Knowledge with Fewer Animals

NWO Demonstrator

Researchers who want to apply knowledge from their research and bring it to the market can apply for funding from NWO to further develop this knowledge into a Demonstrator.
More information: NWO Demonstrator

NWO Open Technology Programme

Researchers can submit proposals for application-oriented technical/scientific research that is free and unrestricted and is not hindered by disciplinary boundaries. Several companies and partners can participate in a project by making a financial or material contribution.
More information: NWO Open Technology Programme

National Personal Grants

The purpose of personal grants is to fund 'investigator-driven', or 'bottom-up' research which allows researchers to identify new opportunities in any field of research. Different funding organizations, including NWO, ZonMw, Horizon Europe as well as many health foundations, provide a variety of personal grants or fellowships that support adventurous, talented, pioneering researchers to do research of their choice, develop their own research line and further develop their talent.

Below you will find a short overview of several personal grants aimed at different stages of research career. Contact the funding advisor (contact person for your Research Institute) for more information.

NWO Talent Programme

The Talent Scheme has three funding instruments tailored to various phases in researchers' scientific careers:

Veni: for researchers who have obtained their PhD in the three years preceeding the benchmark date.
Vidi: for experienced researchers who have already conducted several years of research after gaining their PhD in the eight years preceding the benchmark date.
Vici: for senior researchers who have already demonstrated the ability to develop their own line of research after gaining their PhD in the fifteen years preceding the benchmark date.

Extension to the above career-dependent submission period may be possible under specific circumstances

More information: NWO Talent Programme

NWO Rubicon

This programme allows scientist and academicians who recently obtained their PhD in the Netherlands to gain experience at a foreign knowledge institute for a period of 1-2 years.

More information: NWO Rubicon

ZonMW Clinical Fellows

The Clinical Fellow is a personal grant for medical specialists with a PhD who are at the beginning of their scientific careers and wants to build a bridge between research and the clinic.

More information: ZonMW Clinical Fellows

Niels Stensen Fellowship

This fellowship supports excellent and socially commited researchers to gain research experience at a top knowledge institute abroad for a period of no less than nine months and no more than twelve months.

More information: Niels Stensen Fellowship

ZonMw Off Road

This program challenges creative and adventurous researchers, between two and six years after PhD, to explore their promising, innovative and risky ideas into a proof of concept within the biomedical and health sciences field.

More information: ZonMw Off Road

NRO Comenius programme

This programme contributes to the innovation and improvement of secondary vocational education and higher education in the Netherlands. This directly benefits students and gives education professionals at various stages of their careers the opportunity to develop further in their career. The programme includes three different grants:

Senior Fellows*: More information
Leadership Fellows**: More information
Teaching Fellows: More information

* One Senior Fellow application per faculty.
** One Leadership Fellow application per institution.

KWF Young Investigator Grant

This grant supports young researchers who have obtained their PhD within five years preceeding the benchmark date to start an independent oncological research line, serving as a steppingstone toward their own niche.

More information: KWF

The Dekker program of the Heart Foundation

This programme enables researchers to set up an independent line of research and stimulates scientific research into cardiovascular diseases. The programme has fellowships tailored to various phases in researchers' scientific careers.

More information: Hartstichting

ZonMw Dementia Fellowships

The fellowship supports talented researchers with innovative and groundbreaking ideas in dementia research. Applicants must have obtained PhD within 5 years before the benchmark date.

More information: ZonMw

Kolff+ program of The Dutch Kidney Foundation

The programme supports talented researchers to make important contributions to the field of renal research and to stimulate the application of research results in practice. It includes Junior and Senior Talent Grants for early-career and mid-career postdoc renal researchers.

More information: Nierstichting

Junior Investigator Grants of Lung Foundation

This grant enables researchers to develop their scientific ideas and establish a research niche. Open to talented Dutch researchers with up to five years of post-PhD experience.

More information: Longfonds

Talent programma of Dutch Arthritis Foundation (ReumaNederland)

This programme supports postdoc researchers (up to ten years post-PhD) in building a research group with a clear goal and vision line within rheumatism research.

More information: ReumaNederland

Spierfonds Elevator Grant

This grant supports young researchers in muscle disease, available to PhD candidates or those up to ten years post-PhD. Priority is given to applications on: diagnostics, new targets, drug development, and trial readiness.

More information: Spierfonds Elevator Grant

The Province of Limburg contributes to the costs of new and innovative projects, among which research, innovation and education. The subsidy schemes refer to various areas among which culture, economy, environment , energy, nature, transport, welfare and health care.
The Province facilitates the release of European funds to address specific regional and cross-border challenges through several funding schemes.

The Operational Programme South Netherlands 2014-2020 (OPZuid)
The Subsidy SME innovation stimulating Top Sectors South - Netherlands 2015 (MIT Southern)
INTERREG

OPZuid
The Operational Programme South Netherlands 2014-2020 (OPZuid) is a European funding program for the provinces of Zeeland, Limburg and North Brabant promoting innovation and the transition to a low carbon economy. The program is focused on innovative SMEs and strengthening collaboration between industry, universities and governments. OPZuid stimulates innovation by supporting crossovers between international top clusters (high-tech systems, chemicals and agro-food) and between national top clusters with international potential (life sciences & health, bio-based, logistics and maintenance). Carbon energy focuses on smart deployment in the built environment.

MIT Southern
The Subsidy SME innovation stimulating Top Sectors South (MIT Southern) streamlines the financial instruments aimed at stimulating innovation in SMEs.

INTERREG
European Territorial Cooperation (ETC), better known as Interreg, provides a framework for implementation of joint actions and policy exchanges between national, regional and local actors from different EU Member States. Interreg is built around three strands of cooperation: cross-border (Interreg A), transnational (Interreg B) and interregional (Interreg C). Within these strands Interreg addresses many target groups among which: national, regional and local governmental bodies, knowledge organisations, companies, development agencies and non-profit organisations.

Interreg A

Interreg B and C
For further information on Interreg B and C, please visit the European Commission website.

Contact person
For more information contact your School/Institute funding advisor.

Subscribe to