SENSE Financial Support for the Promotion of International Education

Introduction

The SENSE budget for education includes € 20.000 and is meant to support educational activities by SENSE partners or PhD students. More specifically, SENSE aims to support the promotion of international PhD education. SENSE participants may apply for financial support by SENSE for

1. covering material costs associated with international SENSE PhD courses
2. seed money for the development of international SENSE education (this may include personnel costs).

In the following, we will explain what the conditions are for financial support.

1. Applications for material costs associated with international SENSE PhD courses

International PhD courses are more expensive than national courses. SENSE aims to support part of these extra costs.

SENSE Course coordinators may apply to SENSE for financial support of the following costs:

• Material costs: travel and subsistence costs of foreign lecturers, logistics, accommodation, coffee/tea/lunch, readers, reduced fee for SENSE PhD students
• The budget will not be used to cover personnel costs.
• The maximum contribution by SENSE amounts to a maximum of € 5.000 per course per year, and must be considered a guaranteed maximum contribution. The actual contribution will depend on the actual costs made.

The application should include:
o A description of the course (including, the course content, the period that it will be given, ECTS credits, coordinators, if possible lecturers, course objectives, location where it will be organized, teaching method, course material, examination and if possible a preliminary program)
o An overview of estimated costs.
o A communication plan, aiming for a wide announcement of the course in the Netherlands and abroad.
o A clear reasoning of why it is likely that at least 10 SENSE PhD students will participate

Important remarks:

o In case of less than 10 participants the course will not be organized, and the SENSE financial contribution will not be made available. In case there are more than 10 participants, but less than 10 from SENSE, the maximum SENSE contribution is S/10 x  € 5.000, where S = the number of SENSE participants.
o The SENSE financial contribution will be made available only after SENSE received an overview of the actual costs after the course to be sent to the SENSE education desk (Johan Feenstra). In case the actual costs are lower than the budget in the original application, the SENSE financial contribution will be reduced by that amount.

Applications for financial support for the academical year x/x+1 should be submitted to the SENSE Director of Education (dr Carolien Kroeze) before 1 January of year x. Applications will be sent to the Educational Committee of SENSE for advice.

2.  Seed money for the promotion of international SENSE education.

SENSE participants may apply to SENSE for financial support of the following costs:

• Costs of PhD inititatives
• Personnel costs related to the development of new international SENSE PhD courses
• Costs of writing proposals for external funding for international  PhD activities (e.g. Marie Curie program; Summer Schools; PhD exchange programs)

2.1 PhD initiatives

SENSE aims to support activities by PhD students, e.g. discussion groups or expert meetings organized by SENSE PhD students. Applications for material costs (travel and subsistence of foreign experts, logistics, accommodation, coffee/tea/lunch) may be sent to the SENSE Director of Education (dr Carolien Kroeze) throughout the year.

2.2 Personnel costs related to the development of new international SENSE PhD courses

Developing new international SENSE PhD courses takes time. SENSE aims to financially cover (some) of these costs. For new courses, an application for financial support can be submitted to SENSE. SENSE will provide funding for course development not more than once for each course. Funding is available for only a selection of courses. The SENSE contribution will cover (part of the) personnel costs at a rate of 50 euro per hour and up to a maximum of € 5.000.

The application should include:
o An overview of estimated costs.
o A communication plan, aiming for a wide announcement of the course in the Netherlands and abroad.
o A clear reasoning of why it is likely that at least 10 SENSE PhD students will participate.

Applications for financial support for the academical year x/x+1 should be submitted to the SENSE Director of Education (dr Carolien Kroeze) before 1 January of year x. Applications will be sent to the Educational Committee of SENSE for advice.

2.3 Costs of writing proposals for external funding for international  PhD activities (e.g. Marie Curie program; Summer Schools; PhD exchange programs)

SENSE participants may request SENSE to support the writing of proposals for funding by the EU, ESF, NWO, KNAW, DFG, etc. These proposal should aim for organizing international PhD courses, PhD workshops, etc. Examples may be proposals for Marie Curie Conferences and Training Courses in cooperation with foreign universities, or ESF Research Conferences.

The SENSE contribution will cover (part of the) personnel costs at a rate of 50 euro per hour and up to a maximum of € 2.000 per application. In case SENSE is coordinator of the proposal, the maximum SENSE contribution may be € 5.000 per application.

Applications for financial support can be submitted to the SENSE Director of Education (dr Carolien Kroeze) throughout the year. Applications will be sent to the Educational Committee of SENSE for advice.
Carolien Kroeze (Director of Education)
Johan Feenstra (SENSE Coördinator)
19 July 2005