TURBO program and grants

Criteria

• Collaboration/applicants

  • The project is a collaboration between a researcher employed at the University of Twente (assistant/associate/professor, or tenure track position) and a Radboudumc Research Group Leader (RGL), a Talent Tracker (TT), or a member of a Radboudumc RGL’s research group. The RGL is part of the application team but is not necessarily the main applicant.
  • A researcher is allowed to submit only one project as applicant or team member. Those who received a TURBO grant as main applicant in last year’s round cannot apply in this round. Those who received a TURBO grant in any previous round can only apply if they fulfilled the conditions of TURBO, i.e. applied for an external grant based on the TURBO project.
  • Collaboration between the two parties is evident both in the research proposal and the budget plan. The project’s aim cannot be met without the joint expertise of the applicants from both Institutions (“1+1=3”). Please note that new collaborations are favoured above existing collaborations.
  • Collaboration with additional applicants is possible, but the TURBO resources remain internally at UT and Radboudumc. Other partners can bring in additional resources for the project.

• Projects

  • Projects bring together health and technology (in the broadest sense). Projects should be innovative and may be fundamental, applied, or focused on implementation science. However, this year a higher preference will be given to projects with TRL4/SRL4 or higher.
  • The focus of the project and the envisioned external grant application should be integrated in a Radboudumc Research Program and on the interface of unmet need conditions, health and/ or medical technologies, building on existing data sources/ infrastructures.
  • The proposed external funding body is known, and accompanying application deadlines are within max. 15 months after the start of the TURBO project.
  • Within 3 months after finishing the project, the applicants will fill out a short final report (template will be provided) and provide information on what has been achieved, how the collaboration will continue, and which grant has been or will be submitted.

• Budget

  • According to the TURBO grant budget plan format, the project represents a value of 80k€ and has to be supported by a clear budget plan.
  • The budget will be to the department of the main applicants. We strive to have an even distribution of the budget: 40 k€ to the main applicant from Twente University and 40 k€ to the main applicant from Radboudumc.
  • The project is feasible with the funded subsidy (80k€) and within the proposed time span of max. 1 year. The project includes the finalization of an external grant application within the project time span.

Evaluation committee

Every proposal is first evaluated to fulfil the general criteria. Proposals that do not fulfil these general criteria will not be taken into consideration by this evaluation committee.

The proposals are evaluated by at least two independent scientific experts (reviewers) and a grant advisor from each institution according to the criteria: (scientific) quality (50%), feasibility of project and likelihood of obtaining additional funding (20%), innovativeness (15%) and (societal) impact (15%).

Proposals will first be discussed and ranked separately within the University of Twente and Radboudumc. Subsequently, the proposals will be discussed by an evaluation committee consisting of the scientific experts and grant advisors from both institutions. The combined scores of both institutions are the basis for a final ranking by the evaluation committee.

The evaluation committee must come to a unanimous agreement. If no consensus can be reached, the chairperson will make the final decision.