CfRP: 2014 - Netspar Vision Grants (for the social sciences), DL 13.

Call For Proposals
2014 - Netspar Vision Grants

Deadline For Draft Proposals April 13, 2014

Netspar supports innovative academic research on all aspects of the social sciences related to aging and retirement. As part of these efforts, Netspar offers Vision Grants for up to 50% of a project's budget for three years, with a maximum of kEuro 250 (medium) of kEuro 500 (large) per project. This year, Netspar is likely to have a budget of at least kEuro 750 to allocate. The exact size of the budget for 2014 will only be known in June, dependent on re-commitments of the partners. Large and Medium Vision Projects are partially funded by NWO, Social Infrastructure Agenda (see NWO-website: http://www.nwo. nl/over-nwo/ organisatie/ nwo-onderdelen/ magw/sociale+ infrastructuur+ agenda in Dutch).



TOPICS: Current topics on the research agenda are grouped under the following Pension Innovation Labs (PILs):
- Risk Management during Working Life
- Risk Management during Retirement Years
- The Art of Choosing
- Supervision of Fully Funded Pensions: Solvency and Transparency
- Risk Sharing and Distribution among Generations: Full Funding, Pay-as-you-go, Taxation
- The Labor Market
- Heterogeneity within Generations and the Position of Senior Citizens

A more detailed description of the research agenda can be found in the Netspar Research Agenda for 2011-2014 (English: http://www.netspar. nl/files/ documenten/ pdfs%20en% 20docs/Innovatie programma% 27s/Netspar% 20Research% 20and%20Innovati on%20Agenda% 202011-2014% 20DEF%20Eng. pdf/(Dutch: http://www.netspar. nl/files/ documenten/ pdfs%20en% 20docs/Innovatie programma% 27s/Netspar% 20Research% 20and%20Innovati on%20Agenda% 202011-2014% 20DEF%20NL. pdf).
The updated research agenda ( - Spring 2013) is only available in English.

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS:
- Funding for 50% of the project budget for three years (funds for kEuro 250 or kEuro 500).
- The project team consists of several academics, plus staff members from an industry partner. Depending on the size of the project, they represent one or more universities and/or industry organizations.
- Project team members are available during the course of the project to present research results at Netspar events.
- Project team members are expected to participate at form task forces meetings when writing industry-oriented Netspar publications (http://www.netspar. nl/research_ database_ publication_ procedures_ industry_ papers.htm)
- The project leader is responsible for the project in terms of content and finances. The project leader also serves as the first point of contact for project monitoring.

SELECTION CRITERIA:
- The proposal must link up with one of the PILs defined in the research agenda
- For grant applications of kEuro 250, the project team should consist of academics and pension practitioners affiliated with at least one university and one business organization -
 For grant applications of kEuro 500, the project team should consist of academics and pension practitioners affiliated with at least two universities and two industry organizations 
- The application must be submitted by a Dutch university who will be responsible for the administration if the grant is awarded 
- At least 10% of the project capacity (in Euro) must be supplied by one or more academic associated with a foreign university
- 50% of the total cost of the project must be offered as matching in cash or in kind

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: Proposals for a Vision Grant must contain the following six documents:
- Completed Application Form (See:http://www.netspar. nl/cms/downloadf ile.asp?language id=1&id=2583)
- Annex I: Detailed Description of the Proposal
- Annex II: Budget Plan, in accordance with the prescribed format (See:http://www.netspar. nl/cms/downloadf ile.asp?language id=1&id=2584)
- Annex III: Output Commitments, in accordance with the prescribed format (http://www.netspar.nl/cms/downloadf ile.asp?language id=1&id=2585)
- Annex IV: CVs of the applicant and all project members (converted into a single pdf-file)

Only applications in accordance with the Netspar format will be accepted for the selection procedure.

SELECTION PROCESS: There is one selection round each year.
- Applications are evaluated for academic quality by the Scientific Council (http://www.netspar. nl/organization_ scientific_ council.htm)
- Applications with sufficient academic quality are submitted to the Partner Research Council
(http://www.netspar. nl/organization_ partner_research _council. htm), which makes recommendations to the Netspar Board (http://www.netspar. nl/organization_ board_of_ directors. htm)
- Grants are awarded by the Netspar Board

TIMETABLE FOR 2014:
March 11 Match Making Event (Breukelen)
April 13 Deadline for draft version of application (Completed Application Form and Annexes I, III, and IV)
April 21 - May 9 Feedback meeting with the Netspar PIL coordinator( s)
May 25 Deadline for submitting draft of the Budget Plan (Annex II)
June 29 Deadline for submitting final version (including all documents)
June 30 - August 3 Evaluation by Netspar' s Scientific Council
August 25 Deadline for applicant responses to comments made by Netspar' s Scientific Council
September 9 Recommendation by Netspar' s Partner Research Council
September 12 NWO ("Gebiedsbestu ur MaGW") approves decision process Netspar board
September 30 Formal decision by Netspar Board
October Administrative kick-off meeting
November Start of project

PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: Submit to info@netspar. nl and mention 'Application for Netspar Large/Medium Vision Project' in the subject line.

FURTHER INFORMATION: For questions, please contact Netspar: Corine Hannen, Policy Officer, +31 (0)13 466 89 84, c.l.a.hannen@ uvt.nl, or the appropriate PIL coordinator (http://www.netspar. nl/organization_ pil_coordinators .htm)