Committee created to develop startup grants

Rolling funding expected to benefit young researchers and improve their career prospects

The Dutch academy of science, the KNAW, has set up a committee to advise the government on the creation of a programme of startup and incentive grants for early career researchers.

These grants should “stimulate unfettered research” but must be easy to access to reduce application pressure and avoid creating extra work for researchers, the academy said. It has appointed Bert Weckhuysen, a professor of inorganic chemistry at Utrecht University, to lead the committee.