Slight change of course on the horizon for NWO Talent Scheme
The Talent Scheme was due for a review because much has changed in the research field in the past 20 years. Think of the emergence of the ERC, a substantially heavier workload at universities and new insights on how to recognise and reward talented academics differently.
The aim of NWO’s Veni-Vidi-Vici Talent Scheme will be amended as follows: ‘The aim of the NWO Talent Scheme is to provide creative opportunities for adventurous, talented, pioneering researchers to do research of their choice, establish their own line of research and further develop their talent.’
The two-stage assessment is a tiered assessment where the first selection stage takes place on the basis of the narrative CV and the second stage on the basis of the research proposal. The introduction of this assessment in all rounds in 2023 will harmonise the different funding instruments. As a result, researchers will have as many of the same preconditions as possible, regardless of their research domain. The introduction of the mandatory pre-proposal saves both applicants and evaluators a great deal of time. This method also helps to limit the application pressure and reduce the workload of researchers and evaluators. Incidentally, NWO is working on a new version of the narrative CV, the ‘evidence-based CV’, which is currently being further developed and tested.
The revised aim also includes reflecting on the profile of the target groups for this new objective. NWO will further investigate and establish the scope of these groups in the coming six months. It will do this carefully and in consultation with researchers, administrators of knowledge institutions where they work and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the commissioning party of the scheme.
NWO is aware of the potential impact that changes in its Talent Scheme may have on the career paths of researchers. We will therefore communicate about this in a timely manner through various channels. Where necessary, a suitable transitional arrangement will be put in place.
Source: NWO