RUBICON

Marie Curie Cofunding for Rubicon NWO

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Crossing the river Rubicon marked for Julius Caesar the beginning of a long line of victories that resulted in the Roman empire. The Rubicon programme offers young researchers the opportunity to an equally successful academic career. Rubicon is an existing mobility programme of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The present budget is 5,3M euro on a yearly basis. NWO receives 4M euro per year from the Min. of Education and Culture and adds about 1,3M euro from the general budget. Precursory to Rubicon NWO had the Talent programme which was financed in a similar way. NWO receives about 300 applications per year for Rubicon of which approximately 30% received granting. The aim of the Rubicon programme is to encourage talented researchers at Dutch universities and institutes to continue in research after gaining their PhDs. It offers them the opportunity to enhance their career prospects by spending from 6 months up to 2 years gaining relevant knowledge, skills and experience outside the Netherlands. Rubicon also offers researchers the option of using the grant to conduct research in the Netherlands for a fixed period of 12 months. The mobility of the researcher plays an important role in the selection process, as international research experience is likely to be an advantage at a later stage in the applicant’s academic career and in applying for subsequent NWO grants. The Rubicon programme is open to all scientific disciplines and all nationalities. Any researcher within the first year after having received the PhD is allowed to apply for a Rubicon grant. With EU Marie Curie Co-funding the Rubicon programme will expand its number of fellowships coming to the Netherlands from 12 to 20 per year and improve the social conditions of the outgoing fellows of the Rubicon programme by organising employment for the fellows at the host institutes. NWO wishes to start using Co-Fund for a period of 48 months from April 2010 until April 2014.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

For young scientists, research experience abroad is a key stepping stone to building a promising career. An EU initiative gave talented researchers the opportunity to carry out research at top foreign universities.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The EU-funded 'Marie Curie cofunding for Rubicon NWO' (http://www.nwo.nl/en/research-and-results/programmes/rubicon (RUBICON)) project provided grants to researchers at Dutch universities and research institutes to pursue a career devoted to postdoctoral research. The overall aim was to improve the chances of young postdocs continuing in academia.

Run by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), the mobility scheme enabled recent PhD holders to improve their career prospects by spending up to two years acquiring the necessary knowledge, competences and experience beyond the Netherlands. Postdoctoral researchers also had the option of carrying out projects at Dutch research institutes for a set 12-month period.

Fellowships were awarded to all nationalities and science disciplines. Researchers had to apply within a year following PhD completion. Researcher mobility was key to the selection process since international research experience was seen as beneficial later in the academic career of a beneficiary or when applying for other NWO grants.

RUBICON succeeded in replacing doctoral stipends with salaries. As a result of improved social benefits, it nearly doubled its yearly fellowship intake to the Netherlands while securing jobs for outgoing fellows at the host universities or institutes.

Nearly three fourths of the fellows continued their research activities within the European Research Area (ERA) once their grant finished.

thanks to RUBICON, early-stage researchers gained valuable experience at leading research facilities around the world and in the Netherlands. They are now armed with the skills and knowledge needed to establish themselves in the Dutch and European research communities. By facilitating mobility and supporting research careers, RUBICON will help to strengthen the ERA.