One-on-one personalised writing support for Dutch NWO research grant applications (Veni, Vidi, Vici)

We care about the individuals that we support - each one of them different - and for each, we offer a personal, individually tailored and educationally focussed journey of NWO Veni, Vidi and Vici Talent Scheme grant writing.

Being Dutch-Australian ourselves, having lived in the Netherlands (before moving back to Australia) and worked with several hundred NWO proposals over the years, we are experts at what we do.

We offer services through all stages of the NWO Veni, Vidi, Vici proposal development and writing process, both for new proposals, and resubmissions.

We are also highly experienced working with all areas of research.

Preparing a grant submission is a challenging and time consuming process - on top of the everyday challenges of academic life. Our focus is on making this process as enjoyable and as stress free as possible - for all individuals that we work with.

A hallmark of the way in which we work with applicants is the numerous interactions throughout the support process - allowing for a fully personalised trajectory for each applicant that we support.

PRE- PROPOSALS
In the pre-proposal phase, we work with applicants on the pre-proposal submission (short proposal synopsis/abstract and narrative CV). As part of our support, we also work (additionally) with the applicant to develop further the proposal concept to help define their idea in a more consistent and convincing way, and setting a solid foundational structure for writing  (later) the full scientific proposal. This stage includes defining in clear and consistent terms:  what is the challenge; why is it a problem; why do we need to overcome it; what are the bottlenecks; why have they not yet been addressed; why can they now be addressed; what recent underpinning by the applicant supports this new avenue of research (also supports the validity of any hypothesis); proposal aim; objectives; workplan overview; team; collaboration; novelty of the research; impact, risk mitigation, and dissemination etc. This pre-proposal foundational work then sets the stage for a much easier submission once a researcher is invited to write a full proposal (saving time and stress during this phase) and usually leads to a much stronger full proposal submission. If an applicant is then not invited to write a full proposal, they can then use this work from the pre-proposal as a solid foundation for submitting the concept to another funding body (i.e. ERC).

NWO VENI, VIDI, VICI FULL PROPOSAL WRITING SUPPORT
Stage 1:  Strengthening the proposal framework. If we have not worked with the researcher in the pre-proposal stage, here we first begin with helping to define their concept in a more consistent and convincing way, and setting the foundational structure for the scientific proposal, before they begin the writing phase. This stage includes defining in clear and consistent terms:  what is the challenge; why is it a problem; why do we need to overcome it; what are the bottlenecks; why have they not yet been addressed; why can they now be addressed; what recent underpinning by the applicant supports this new avenue of research (also supports the validity of any hypothesis); proposal aim; objectives; workplan overview; team; collaboration; novelty of the research; impact and risk mitigation etc.

Stage 2: Proposal Writing Phase. Once Stage 1 is complete, we then coach and mentor the applicant on the full proposal draft, working on the draft in smaller manageable stages, prior to achieving a full and complete draft.

Our coaching includes proposal content, structure, clarity, flow, consistency and presenting clear and balanced storytelling.

We do this through quite a lot of contact and iterations/feedback rounds.

Our in-depth feedback on drafts is highly personalised, and should we identify weaknesses in a proposal, we will always work at providing the applicant with suggestions and/or options as to how the weakness can be remedied.

NWO VENI, VIDI, VICI TRUNCATED WRITING SUPPORT: CRITICAL REVIEW OF ADVANCED OR FULLY WRITTEN DRAFTS
Here, we work with applicants on an advanced draft (i.e. ¾ finished draft and then coach applicants on how to complete the rest of the content); or a fully written draft of the proposal.

Our draft review work is in-depth, and we provide quite substantial and in-depth feedback. Due this this, applicants can be quite overwhelmed by this form of feedback within a single round of review. As such, we do not offer NWO Veni, Vidi or Vici proposal review support in a single round of review. Instead, we work with applicants in quick successive rounds of review in stages, breaking up the proposal into manageable sections over a very short time period (e.g. 10-28 days).

This form of support is fully tailored to each individual situation, according to the stage that the draft is in when applicants come to us for review, the timeline needing to be worked to etc.

NWO VENI, VIDI, VICI PROPOSAL RESUBMISSIONS
Our resubmission support is individually tailored on a case by case basis, and the format for this is generally determined by what was in the reviewers reports in a previous call, the work needed to adjust a resubmission and the timeline to work with etc. It will often be an form of full or truncated Veni, Vidi, Vici support as per outlined above.

REBUTTALS
We also offer and are highly experienced in coaching and review of rebuttals for all NWO proposals.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF OUR SUPPORT

• Our feedback on drafts is highly personalised, in-depth, direct and to the point, and should we identify weaknesses in a proposal, we will always work at providing the applicant with suggestions and/or options as to how the weakness can be remedied.

• We coach researchers how to better create and define a proposal concept, how to better review their own work, enhance their grant writing skills – all of which can be taken and used into the future with other granting bodies and schemes.

• When any of our clients interact with us, they will find us to be down to earth and approachable professionals, who have a real passion for what we do, and we understand and appreciate how busy the life of an academic can be.

• All of our work is based on a strong process-driven foundation.

• We believe in honesty and transparency, and in building strong and healthy relationships with our clients.

METHOD OF DELIVERY
Our method of delivery is via (1) personal ‘one-on-one’ online coaching and feedback sessions; and (2) online via email. The breakdown of this is individually tailored to each individual (some applicants may find online meetings more helpful, whilst others may have more of a preference for working more though email.

WHO WILL APPLICANTS BE WORKING WITH
You will work directly with either Fire Sanders or Willem Bouma, both qualified and highly experienced senior trainers. Both Willem and Fire have experience working with all areas of research, and have worked with numerous applicants and institutions throughout the Netherlands.

We have over 15 years (specifically) working on European, Dutch and other national research grant proposals - and over 25 years experience with scientific promotion cases, research grant applications, interview training, review and editing of high impact research journal articles and writing nominations for prestigious prizes and awards. We specialise in what we do and offer – and NWO grant writing is no exception.