Final Report Summary - RUBICON (Marie Curie Cofunding for Rubicon NWO)
Within Rubicon researchers are encouraged to dedicate themselves to a career in postdoctoral research, giving them the chance to enhance their career prospects by spending up to two years at a top research institution outside the Netherlands or at an excellent Dutch research institution. Proposals are assessed on the basis of the quality of the applicant, the research proposal and the host institution. The Rubicon programme is open to all scientific disciplines. Female researchers are especially encouraged to apply.
The Rubicon programme is directed at promising postdoctoral researchers who are still at the start of their careers but whose academic strengths give them the potential to become established figures in the Dutch research world. The Marie Sklodowska Curie Action Cofund contribution enabled Rubicon to change the funding of the fellows from stipends to salaries. Both attracting researchers to the Netherlands and improving the social benefits for the outgoing fellows fits within the objectives and scope of the Marie Curie Cofund because it increases European (and international) wide possibilities for experienced researchers. Shortly after obtaining their doctorate, researchers can broaden and deepen their individual competence. The two kinds of mobility of incoming and outgoing fellows support researchers in attaining leading independent positions and strengthening the European Research community.
There were three Rubicon submission rounds held in 2010 with deadlines on 1 April, 1 September and 1 December. A total of 499 applications were submitted of which 77 fellows enjoyed a Rubicon grant with a MSCA Cofund contribution. (35 applicants regarded national mobility and are therefore not eligible for a Cofund contribution and will not be included in this report.)
25 fellows of the 77 awarded fellows came from the Humanities and Social sciences (Alfa-Gamma), 24 from the Beta sciences and 28 from the Life sciences. Eleven of the 77 fellows were incoming and 66 were outgoing fellows. A substantial part of the fellows were female (30).
See Figure 1 in the attachment: Numbers of incoming and outgoing fellows divided between the three scientific clusters
62 fellows expect to make use of the results and experience gained during the Rubicon project frequently in their current work whereas 73 fellows state that they will be active in scientific research.
There is no obligation in Rubicon to return to Europe. Nevertheless NWO monitors the career steps of the fellows after finishing their Rubicon project. 33 fellows decided to remain in the host country after their project. On the other hand only 20 fellows will be working outside Europe after their Rubicon project, 16 in the US, 1 in Canada, 1 in Australia and 1 returned to his home country Nigeria. That means that almost 74% is continuing research within the European Research Area.
When we look at the bigger picture including the Rubicon submission rounds outside this Cofund contribution, the data exhibit a high success rate of more than 40% for Rubicon researchers in the Veni, Vidi and Vici schemes of NWO. These Dutch schemes are individual grants comparable to the ERC Starting and Advanced grants. This indicates that the Rubicon researchers greatly benefit from the experience gained during their Rubicon project. Only 25 fellows returned to their home country after their Rubicon project. One may conclude that the Rubicon fellows are highly mobile researchers.
Host Institutes
Cambridge University
CEA/SAC/DSV/Neurospin
Chalmers University
Columbia University
Drexel University
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Ghent University
Harvard Medical School
Harvard University
ICFO Barcelona
Imperial College London
Institute of Metabolic Sciences
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
KU Leuven
Leiden University
Maastricht University
Max Planck Inst. - Tübingen
Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry
MIT, Boston
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
New York University
Northwestern University
Onsala Space Observatory
Princeton University
Radboud University Nijmegen
RijksUniversiteit Groningen
San Diego State University
Stanford School of Medicine
Stanford University
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
Technische Universität Berlin
The Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology
Trudeau Institute
Universität Düsseldorf
University College London
University of Birmingham
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, San Diego
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Copenhagen
University of East Anglia
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
University of Helsinki
University of London
University of Minnesota
University of New South Wales
University of Paris
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia
Utrecht University
VU Amsterdam
Washington University School of Medicine
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Boston
Yale University
See also figure 2 in the attachment: Host countries of outgoing fellows and figure 3 in the attachment: Host institutes within the Netherlands for the incoming fellows.
Rubicon was continued after the Cofund contribution and is still being executed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, further information can be found at the website www.nwo.nl/rubicon.
The Rubicon programme is directed at promising postdoctoral researchers who are still at the start of their careers but whose academic strengths give them the potential to become established figures in the Dutch research world. The Marie Sklodowska Curie Action Cofund contribution enabled Rubicon to change the funding of the fellows from stipends to salaries. Both attracting researchers to the Netherlands and improving the social benefits for the outgoing fellows fits within the objectives and scope of the Marie Curie Cofund because it increases European (and international) wide possibilities for experienced researchers. Shortly after obtaining their doctorate, researchers can broaden and deepen their individual competence. The two kinds of mobility of incoming and outgoing fellows support researchers in attaining leading independent positions and strengthening the European Research community.
There were three Rubicon submission rounds held in 2010 with deadlines on 1 April, 1 September and 1 December. A total of 499 applications were submitted of which 77 fellows enjoyed a Rubicon grant with a MSCA Cofund contribution. (35 applicants regarded national mobility and are therefore not eligible for a Cofund contribution and will not be included in this report.)
25 fellows of the 77 awarded fellows came from the Humanities and Social sciences (Alfa-Gamma), 24 from the Beta sciences and 28 from the Life sciences. Eleven of the 77 fellows were incoming and 66 were outgoing fellows. A substantial part of the fellows were female (30).
See Figure 1 in the attachment: Numbers of incoming and outgoing fellows divided between the three scientific clusters
62 fellows expect to make use of the results and experience gained during the Rubicon project frequently in their current work whereas 73 fellows state that they will be active in scientific research.
There is no obligation in Rubicon to return to Europe. Nevertheless NWO monitors the career steps of the fellows after finishing their Rubicon project. 33 fellows decided to remain in the host country after their project. On the other hand only 20 fellows will be working outside Europe after their Rubicon project, 16 in the US, 1 in Canada, 1 in Australia and 1 returned to his home country Nigeria. That means that almost 74% is continuing research within the European Research Area.
When we look at the bigger picture including the Rubicon submission rounds outside this Cofund contribution, the data exhibit a high success rate of more than 40% for Rubicon researchers in the Veni, Vidi and Vici schemes of NWO. These Dutch schemes are individual grants comparable to the ERC Starting and Advanced grants. This indicates that the Rubicon researchers greatly benefit from the experience gained during their Rubicon project. Only 25 fellows returned to their home country after their Rubicon project. One may conclude that the Rubicon fellows are highly mobile researchers.
Host Institutes
Cambridge University
CEA/SAC/DSV/Neurospin
Chalmers University
Columbia University
Drexel University
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Ghent University
Harvard Medical School
Harvard University
ICFO Barcelona
Imperial College London
Institute of Metabolic Sciences
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
KU Leuven
Leiden University
Maastricht University
Max Planck Inst. - Tübingen
Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry
MIT, Boston
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
New York University
Northwestern University
Onsala Space Observatory
Princeton University
Radboud University Nijmegen
RijksUniversiteit Groningen
San Diego State University
Stanford School of Medicine
Stanford University
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
Technische Universität Berlin
The Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology
Trudeau Institute
Universität Düsseldorf
University College London
University of Birmingham
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, San Diego
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Copenhagen
University of East Anglia
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
University of Helsinki
University of London
University of Minnesota
University of New South Wales
University of Paris
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia
Utrecht University
VU Amsterdam
Washington University School of Medicine
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Boston
Yale University
See also figure 2 in the attachment: Host countries of outgoing fellows and figure 3 in the attachment: Host institutes within the Netherlands for the incoming fellows.
Rubicon was continued after the Cofund contribution and is still being executed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, further information can be found at the website www.nwo.nl/rubicon.
