In 2020, Erasmus School of Economics has obtained more revenue from grants than ever before: almost 4,7 million euro. That is the equivalent of nearly 50% of its annual research costs. The national average across all disciplines of revenue from grants as a percentage of total research costs is around 25%.
Among this year’s successes at Erasmus School of Economics are a Starting Grant and a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) and a collaborative COVID19 project from ZonMw, as well as a Vidi grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
Adhemare de Rijk, the school’s funding manager, comments: ‘Obtaining a prestigious grant is a very competitive affair and the margin of error is very slim. Approximately only 10% of all applications will be awarded. Fortunately, the applicants have been able to keep the focus that is necessary for success.’
Dean Patrick Groenen compliments the applicants for their success under the current circumstances: ‘Some of them arrived at our school from abroad, amidst the first wave of the COVID19-crisis. They still have not been able to start working at our school in a regular fashion, for instance to discuss their work with colleagues at the office. This year’s achievements confirm once again our detailed knowledge of every step of the application process and our dedication to obtain research grants through a tailormade approach, even in difficult times.’
Dean Groenen points out another characteristic of the school’s current approach: ‘The application process, for individual excellence grants as well, has developed more and more into a group effort at Erasmus School of Economics. I very much appreciate that colleagues provide advice and, for instance, participate in mock interviews to help applicants. Obtaining grants is crucial to maintain a healthy level of research activity at our school. Hence, each application is not just a proposal from a single researcher, but from the entire school. I am therefore very proud that many researchers show an understanding of the idea that obtaining research grants is very much “All for one and one for all” and I hope we will be able to sustain this mentality in the coming years.’
- More information
For more information, please contact Ronald de Groot, Media and Public Relations Officer at Erasmus School of Economics: rdegroot@ese.eur.nl, mobile phone: +31 6 53 641 846.