Applied and Engineering Sciences

2021 6th round

Open Mind Technology for society

Call for proposals

Contents 1 Introduction 1

1.1 Background 1 1.2 Available budget 1 1.3 Validity of the call for proposals 1

2 Aim 2

3 Guidelines for applicants 3 3.1 Who can apply 3 3.2 What can be applied for 3 3.3 When can applications be submitted 5 3.4 Preparing an application 5 3.5 Funding conditions 5 3.6 Submitting an application 8

4 Assessment procedure 10 4.1 Procedure 10 4.2 Criteria 11

5 Contact details and other information 13 5.1 Contact details and other information 13 5.2 Links 13

6 Annex 1: Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale 15

1

Chapter 1: Introduction / Open Mind

1 Introduction

1.1 Background NWO Domain Applied and Engineering Sciences (AES; in Dutch Toegepaste en Technische Wetenschappen TTW) invites scientists to submit out-of-the-box research ideas that contribute to sustainable solutions for global societal challenges (along the line with people, planet, profit). Imagine competing to solve some of the world’s most daunting problems. Imagine using technology to combat disease, improve education, create disaster communication systems, empower people with disabilities, or promote environmental sustainability. Open your mind and submit your research idea to NWO Domain AES. Ideas will be pitched at the annual NWO innovation festival TEKNOWLOGY, competing for one of the Open Mind grants. A short description of the Open Mind ideas that received funding in previous years can be found on the NWO website: https://www.nwo.nl/openmind . At the NWO innovation festival TEKNOWLOGY that will be held on November 16th 2021, NWO Domain AES provides a platform to scientists to discuss global challenges through creativity, passion, and their knowledge of technology. To support scientists to realise their ambition in solving and/or contributing to these global challenges, NWO Domain AES has a total budget of 250,000 euro available. In principle five Open Mind grants, with a maximum of 50,000 euro (inclusive of Dutch VAT) each and for a duration of one year, will be awarded at the NWO innovation festival TEKNOWLOGY 2021 to the best ideas with significant societal impact. In this way Open Mind contributes to the mission of the NWO Domain AES: to promote engineering research with application and impact for people and society. To shape this mission, AES will focus on the following three objectives:

• strengthening the engineering basis; • efficient innovation chains; • visible societal impact.

For more information, see: www.nwo.nl/aes-strategy.

1.2 Available budget The total available budget of the Open Mind 2021 call is 250,000 euro, in principle consisting of five grants of 50,000 euro each (inclusive of Dutch VAT).

1.3 Validity of the call for proposals This call for proposals is valid until the closing date September 15, 2020, 14:00:00 CE(S)T. Pitches should be given om November 16th 2021 at TEKNOWLOGY The Open Mind 2021 call for proposals is valid up to and including the date on which the Board affirms the decision taken at TEKNOWLOGY on which proposals will be awarded the Open Mind grants (see section 4.1 for the full time schedule of this funding round). For projects awarded funding within this call for proposals, the conditions stated will continue to apply during the entire duration of the project.

2

Chapter 2: Aim / Open Mind

2 Aim Researchers are often societally involved and full of ideas for improving the world by using technology. NWO Domain Applied and Engineering Sciences wants to support these researchers with the Open Mind call and invites researchers to submit out-of-the-box research ideas that contribute to sustainable solutions (by using or developing technology) for global societal challenges (along the line with people, planet, profit). Applications should be characterized by original and unconventional research approaches or methods as well as their high-risk profile. We want to be impressed by your scientific challenge, unconventional research methods and expected societal impact. Make clear to us why the problem that you address is important for society and why it should be tackled right now and why the results of your project are essential and to what changes your project may lead. To support researchers to realize their ambition in solving and/or contributing to these global challenges, they can use the Open Mind grant to work on their idea during a 1-year project to find out whether or not their idea can have a significant impact on society. The emphasis of this grant is on new ideas that have not been investigated yet by the researchers themselves or in the broader research community.

3

Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Open Mind

3 Guidelines for applicants

3.1 Who can apply Eligible for submitting a proposal are scientists (scientific personnel, PhD students, postdocs, assistant professors, associate professors and full professors) employed at:

o Universities established in the Kingdom of the Netherlands; o University medical centres; o NWO and KNAW institutes; o the Netherlands Cancer Institute; o the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen; o the DUBBLE Beamline at the ESRF in Grenoble; o NCB Naturalis; o Advanced Research Centre for NanoLithography (ARCNL); o Princess Máxima Center.

Applicants need to have a (temporary) appointment at one of the organisations mentioned above at the moment of submission of their proposal. Scientists with a temporary appointment should make sure that the host institution guarantees the employment for the duration of the Open Mind project (December 2021 – November 2022). A written statement signed by the board of the institute should be received by NWO Domain AES no later than November 1st 2021.

3.2 What can be applied for Open Mind funds project-specific costs of: 1. Personnel temporarily appointed to the project at the research institute 2. Research leave for applicants 3. Materials 4. Foreign travel In total, the requested budget may not exceed €50,000 (inclusive of Dutch VAT). Budget can be requested for a maximum of one year. If by the termination date the funding has only been used in part, the remaining funding reverts to NWO Domain AES.

4

Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Open Mind

Personnel temporarily appointed to the project Temporary personnel positions for which the costs can be financed with the Open Mind grant, are: PhD, Professional Doctorate in engineering (PDEng), Postdoc and non-scientific personnel (like technicians). For all temporary personnel positions for universities the VSNU rates at the time the grant is awarded are applicable. For academic medical centres the NFU rates at the time the grant is awarded are applicable. These rates can be found at https://www.nwo.nl/en/salary-tables . For the Caribbean Netherlands, the Dutch government employs civil servants on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba under different conditions than in the European part of the Netherlands. ( https://www.rijksdienstcn.com/werken-bij-rijksdienst-caribisch-nederland/arbeidsvoorwaarden.

Research leave for applicants Funding can be requested for the research leave costs of the main and/or co-applicant(s). The employer of the applicant concerned can use this to cover the costs of relinquishing him or her from educational, supervisory, administrative or management tasks (not research tasks). The time that is released through the research leave grant can only be used by the applicant(s) for activities in the context of the project. The proposal must describe which activities in the context of the project the applicant(s) will carry out in the time relinquished. The maximum amount of research leave that can be applied for is the equivalent of five full-time months. NWO funds the research leave in accordance with the salary tables for a senior scientific employee (scale 11) at the time the grant is awarded https://www.nwo.nl/en/salary-tables.

Materials The material budget that can be applied for is specified according to the four categories below:

Project-related goods/services − consumables (glassware, chemicals, cryogenic fluids, etc.) − measurement and calculation time (e.g. access to supercomputer, etc.) − costs for acquiring or using data collections (e.g. from Statistics Netherlands), for which the total

amount may not be more than € 25,000 per proposal − access to large national and international facilities (e.g. cleanroom, synchrotron, etc.) − work by third parties (e.g. laboratory analyses, data collection, citizen science, etc.)

Travel and accommodation costs for the personal positions applied for − domestic travel and accommodation costs in as far as essential for the project.

Implementation costs − national symposium/conference/workshop organised within the research project in as far as essential

for the project − costs for Open Access publishing (solely in full gold Open Access journals, registered in the “Directory of

Open Access Journals” https://doaj.org/)

Citizen science Involvement of civilians, so-called ‘citizen science’, might have an added value to the quality of science. They could offer data and insights that would not be available for science in other set-ups. NWO wants to finance citizen science as well and offers the possibility from 2020 onwards to apply for reimbursement of citizen involvement in research projects via the budget module ‘material, project-related goods or services, work by third parties’. This module offers researchers a possibility; this is by no means an obligation. Researchers can decide whether the involvement of citizens is desirable and how the budget is used for this (e.g. reimbursement of expenses for civilians, offering skill training or technical aids for participating citizens).

Costs that cannot be applied for Costs that cannot be applied for are:

5

Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Open Mind

− basic facilities within the institution (e.g. laptops, desks, etc.); − maintenance and insurance costs. The research institute is responsible for co-funding from direct government funding and hence for the necessary infrastructure and the supervision of project workers. If an applicant/co-applicant cooperates with other institutes not eligible for NWO Domain AES funding, such as TNO or a foreign university, the non-eligible institutes are responsible for their own costs. Private co-funding is not applicable to Open Mind proposals.

3.3 When can applications be submitted The deadline for the submission of proposals is September 15, 2020, 14:00:00 CE(S)T. When you submit your application to ISAAC you will also need to enter additional details online. You should therefore start submitting your application at least one day before the deadline of this call for proposals. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be taken into consideration.

3.4 Preparing an application Project proposals (maximum 2 A4 pages) should be written in English according to the format that –together with an Excel file for the Financial planning- can be found on the grant page for the Open Mind programme or downloaded from the electronic application system ISAAC. In addition to the written application a link to a downloadable short movie (maximum of 2 minutes) must be submitted in which the problem and proposed solution are pitched in an inspiring way. Show us what it is about your research that excites you. We want to be impressed by your scientific challenge, unconventional research methods and expected societal impact. We encourage you to consider creative and original ways to present your ideas. The language spoken in the short movie should be English. Keep in mind a broad audience: your well-educated neighbour should be able to understand your story. If you make use of audio and/or visuals make sure they are royalty free. Please keep in mind that your video could be used as source material for promotional purposes prior to and/or during NWO Innovation Festival TEKNOWLOGY. In such a case NWO will ask explicit permission beforehand. When you have completed the application form, including a link to your movie and filled out the declaration in the application form, save the application form as a pdf file and upload it in ISAAC together with the completed Financial planning (as an Excel file).

3.5 Funding conditions Article 1.4 of the NWO Grant Rules 2017, version January 2019, is applicable, except as otherwise provided hereafter, to this call for proposals (see: www.nwo.nl/grantrules ). The Akkoord bekostiging wetenschappelijk onderzoek1 is also applicable.

1 see https://www.nwo.nl/documents/nwo/salaristabellen/akkoord-bekostiging-wetenschappelijk-onderzoek-2008

6

Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Open Mind

Start and duration of project The project may commence once NWO has received a copy of the award decision letter signed by the project leader, the data management plan and if applicable, a copy of any necessary ethics approval and/or WBO licence (see the subsection on the data management plan and on ethics later within this section 3.5). However, projects may not commence later than four months after the grant award decision (ie the date on the decision letter).

Open Access As a signatory to the Berlin Declaration (2003) and a member of cOAlition S (2018), NWO is committed to making the results of research funded by NWO openly accessible via the internet. NWO is thus fulfilling the ambitions of the Dutch government to make all publicly funded research openly available. Scientific publications arising from projects awarded on the basis of this call for proposals must therefore be made available in open access in accordance with the Open Access Policy Framework.

Scientific articles Scientific articles must be made available immediately at the time of publication (without embargo) via one of the following routes: - publication in a fully open access journal or platform registered in the DOAJ; - publication in a subscription journal and immediately (without embargo) depositing of at least the author accepted manuscript of the article in an open access repository registered in OpenDOAR; - publication in a journal for which a transformative Open Access agreement exists between VSNU and a publisher. For further information see: www.openaccess.nl.

Books Different requirements apply to scholarly books, book chapters and edited collections. See the Open Access Policy Framework at www.nwo.nl/en/open-science.

CC BY licence To ensure the widest possible dissemination of publications the Creative Commons (CC BY) licence must be applied. Alternatively – in case of serious objections - the author may request to publish under a CC BY-ND licence. For books, book chapters and collected volumes all CC BY licence options are allowed.

Costs Costs for publication in fully open access journals can be budgeted in the project proposal using the budget module for 'material costs’. Costs for publications in hybrid journals are not eligible for reimbursement by NWO. For Open Access books a special NWO Open Access Books Fund is available.

For more detailed information about NWO's open access policy, see www.nwo.nl/en/open-science.

IP policy and referring to NWO grant NWO invites the top 15 applicants to pitch their Open Mind idea for the Assessment committee at the annual NWO’s innovation festival TEKNOWLOGY. Furthermore, the awarded Open Mind applicants will present the results of their projects at TEKNOWLOGY 2022 to the public. In case applicants foresee IP-related issues preventing them from either pitching their idea or presenting their Open Mind project results, NWO expects that they will have taken care of any issues prior to the TEKNOWLOGY event in question. Applicants are encouraged to contact NWO when in doubt or in case of questions. The applicant ensures that when publishing project results, the fact that NWO has provided an Open Mind grant will be stated and in case of a scientific publication the NWO project number will be mentioned. If applicable, the NWO logo will be displayed and/or NWO’s formal appellation in the language concerned will be used.

7

Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Open Mind

Scientific integrity The NWO Grant Rules specify that all research funded by NWO must be carried out in accordance with nationally and internationally accepted standards of scientific conduct as laid down in the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (2018). By submitting an application, applicants undertake to comply with this code. In the event of a (possible) breach of the above-mentioned standards in research funded by NWO, the applicant must inform NWO immediately and submit all relevant documents to NWO. More information about the NWO code of conduct and policy on scientific integrity can be found on the website: www.nwo.nl/en/research-policy-nwo.

The San Francisco Declaration (DORA) NWO is signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). DORA is a worldwide initiative that aims to improve the way research and researchers are assessed. DORA contains recommendations for research funders, research institutions, journals and other organisations. DORA aims to reduce the uncritical use of bibliometric indicators and curb unconscious bias in the assessment of research and researchers. DORA's overarching philosophy is that research should be evaluated on its own merits rather than on the basis of surrogate measures such as the journal in which the research is published. For NWO this means that committee members and referees are requested not to rely on indicators such as the Journal Impact Factor or the H-index when assessing applications. Applicants are not allowed to mention these in their applications. When assessing the scientific track record of applicants, NWO considers a broad range of research outputs. In addition to research publications, applicants are encouraged to include other scholarly outputs such as datasets, patents, software and code, etc. in their applications. For more information on how NWO is implementing the principles of DORA see: www.nwo.nl/en/dora

Data management The results of scientific research must be replicable, verifiable and falsifiable. In the digital age this means that, in addition to publications, research data must also be freely accessible. As much as possible, NWO expects that research data resulting from NWO-funded projects will be made publicly available for reuse by other researchers. “As open as possible, as closed as necessary” is the guiding principle in this respect. As a minimum, NWO requires that the data underpinning research papers should be made available at the time of the article’s publication. The costs for doing so are eligible for funding and can be included in the project budget. In the data management section, and in the data management template if the project is awarded funding, researchers explain how they plan to manage the data expected to be generated by the project.

1. Data management section The data management section is part of the research proposal. Researchers are asked to prospectively consider how they will manage the data the project will generate and plan for which data will be preserved and be made publicly available. Measures will often need to be taken during the production and analysis of the data to make their later storage and dissemination possible. If not all data from the project can be made publicly available, the reasons for not doing so must be explained in the data management section. Due consideration is given to aspects such as privacy, public security, ethical limitations, property rights and commercial interests.

2. Data management plan After a proposal has been awarded funding, the researcher should elaborate the data management section into a data management plan. In this plan, the researcher describes whether use will be made of existing data, whether new data will collected or generated, and how the data will be made FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable. The data management plan must be completed in consultation with a data steward or equivalent research data management support staff at the home institution of the project leader. The plan should be submitted to NWO via ISAAC within four months after the proposal has been awarded funding. NWO will approve the plan as quickly as possible. Approval of the data management plan by NWO is a condition for disbursement of the funding. The plan can be adjusted during the research.

8

Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Open Mind

Further information on the NWO data management protocol can be found at www.nwo.nl/datamanagement-en.

Ethical aspects Research proposals that may raise ethical issues need to be considered carefully before the research to be carried out. Certain research projects may require approval from a recognised Medical Research Ethics Committee (MREC) or an Animal Experiments Committee (DEC). In addition, certain research proposals require a licence under the Population Screening Act (WBO). More information on the MRECs is available from the Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (CUCO). Information on the DECs is available from the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Dierexperimenten commissies (Dutch Association of Animal Experiments Committees) and information on the WBO is available from the Health Council of the Netherlands. An applicant is responsible for checking whether his/her research proposal may raise ethical issues and, if necessary, for obtaining approval in good time from the appropriate ethics committee and/or obtaining a licence in good time under the WBO. NWO endorses the Code on Openness in Animal Testing and the Biosecurity code. Applicants should endorse and comply with the existing codes. If the proposal is accepted, funding will be awarded subject to the condition of obtaining approval from the relevant ethics committee or a licence under the WBO. A research project cannot start until NWO has received a copy of any necessary ethics approval and/or WBO licence. NWO expects candidates to take into account the time schedule of the assessment procedure and the time required for an ethics committee review or to obtain a WBO licence. In the event of complex ethical issues, NWO reserves the right to consult an external advisor.

Nagoya Protocol The Nagoya Protocol became effective on 12 October 2014 and ensures an honest and reasonable distribution of benefits emerging from the use of genetic resources (Access and Benefit Sharing; ABS). Researchers who make use of genetic sources from the Netherlands or abroad for their research should familiarise themselves with the Nagoya Protocol (www.absfocalpoint.nl). NWO assumes that researchers will take all necessary actions with respect to the Nagoya Protocol.

Reporting Applicants who are awarded Open Mind funding are obliged to present the obtained results on the following annual conference in 2022. Furthermore, the applicant must submit a short final report after the project ends. For this purpose, NWO will send the beneficiary a form that must be filled out and signed by the beneficiary.

Payment of the grant For the payment of the Open Mind grant article 3.2.3 of the NWO Grant Rules 2017, version January 2019 is applicable. Payment of the grant takes place in the following manner: - An 80 % advancement after meeting awarding conditions; - The final 20 % will be paid after an end report is filed and approved by NWO Domain AES and the Open Mind conditions, as set out in this call, have been met for the project.

3.6 Submitting an application Applications may be submitted exclusively via the ISAAC online application system. Applications not submitted via ISAAC will not be considered. Main applicants are required to submit their applications via their personal ISAAC account. If the main applicant already has an account for ISAAC, there is no need to create a new account in order to submit an application. If the principal applicant does not have an ISAAC account yet, then this should be created at least one day before the application is submitted to ensure that any registration problems can be resolved on time.

9

Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Open Mind

Two steps are involved in submitting an application: 1. Online entry of the requested data in ISAAC. 2. Submission of the completed application form. a. Download the application form and the Financial planning Excel file from the ISAAC online application system or from the NWO Domain AES website (at the foot of the web page for the relevant call for proposals). c. Complete the Financial planning Excel file and the application form, including a link to your movie and filled out declaration (in the form). d. Save the form as a PDF and upload it to ISAAC; in addition upload the Financial planning as an Excel file to ISAAC. For technical questions please contact the ISAAC helpdesk, see Section 5.1.2.

10

Chapter 4: Assessment procedure / Open Mind

4 Assessment procedure

4.1 Procedure NWO Domain AES puts together an independent multidisciplinary Assessment Committee. The members are highly educated and/or experienced people with an affinity for technology development and societal needs. Members are drawn from different sectors of society: universities, large research institutes, industry and other societal sectors. By using this approach, the assessment can take into account the societal needs that science and technology can address. The first step in the assessment procedure is a test by NWO to check whether the application can be accepted for processing. The conditions set out in Section 3 of this call for proposals are applied to this end. If the relevant conditions are not fulfilled or the information requested is incomplete, the research application will not be considered. In that case, NWO Domain AES returns the research application to the main applicant with a request for adjustments or additional information. The main applicant will be informed whether the research application is to be considered within fifteen working days after registration of the project. If it is not to be considered, the main applicant is given five working days – calculated from the date of the NWO Domain AES notification – to submit a revised version. If the required information is incomplete or is not provided by the deadline, the research application will not be taken into consideration by NWO Domain AES. Subsequently, if at least four times more proposals are submitted than can be funded, NWO Domain AES retains the right to perform a preselection. In this case the Assessment Committee will establish a ranking on the four selection criteria individually and discuss their grades in order to establish a ranking. The criteria (originality, quality, urgency and potential impact) will be evaluated on a scale ranging from 1 (excellent) to 9 (poor), in which the following scores can be obtained: 1. Excellent , 2 Excellent to very good , 3. Very good , 4. Very good to good , 5. Good, 6. Good to moderate , 7. Moderate, 8. Moderate to poor, 9. Poor. A maximum of fifteen proposals will then be selected to be further evaluated by the Open Mind Assessment Committee at the pitch session during the NWO innovation festival TEKNOWLOGY. After the pitch session the Open Mind Assessment committee will establish the final ranking for the ideas invited to the congress. No preselection will take place in case the number of proposals does not exceed four times the number of proposals that can be funded. In that case all projects will be invited to the pitch session during the NWO innovation festival TEKNOWLOGY. The applicants of the proposals that are invited will be provided a platform at the NWO innovation festival TEKNOWLOGY 2021 (scheduled 16 November 2021) in order to pitch their idea for the committee (and partially for the public) prior to the closed committee meeting. These applicants may also be invited by NWO Domain AES to assist in creating additional media (such as a professional short movie or posters) for public display at the annual conference. In October 2021 candidates will be informed if they are selected to pitch at the conference and also in which form (live or online or hybrid or other forms) the pitches , the conference, and the announcement of the winners will be held in view of the Covid-19 regulations at that time. Depending on evaluation of the proposals based on the four selection criteria, in principle 5 proposals will be announced as winners of the Open Mind grants at the conference.

Code Dealing with Personal Interests The NWO Code for Dealing with Personal Interests applies to all persons and NWO staff involved in the assessment and/or decision-making process. See also: https://www.nwo.nl/en/code-dealing-personal-interests

11

Chapter 4: Assessment procedure / Open Mind

Data management The data management section in the application is not evaluated and therefore not included in the decision about whether to award funding. However, the committee can issue advice with respect to the data management section. After a proposal has been awarded funding, the researcher should elaborate the data management section into a data management plan. Applicants can use the advice from the committee when writing the data management plan.

Table with dates of the procedure 7 September 2021 14:00:00 CEST Submission deadline full proposals Mid October 2021 NWO informs applicants about invitation for top 15 pitch session 16 November 2021 Pitch session by top 15 candidates, Open Mind assessment committee

meeting and announcement winners Open Mind grants at NWO Innovation festival TEKNOWLOGY

After TEKNOWLOGY Award decision letter will be sent to Open Mind winners

4.2 Criteria Since 2009, NWO has pursued a concrete policy that aims to stimulate the transfer of knowledge generated. The research proposal should be in line with the aim of the Open Mind grant and should contribute to solutions for global societal challenges (people, planet, profit). Applications should be characterized by original and unconventional research approaches or methods as well as their high risk profile. The proposals will be selected using the four criteria and represented interpretations below, which receive an equal weight in the selection procedure. Originality (25%)

• If the subject is already being researched, are aspects present that make this proposal unique / that set this proposal apart?

• The proposal concerns (combinations of) of technology with a current Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of maximally 5 (individual contributing technologies may be more mature, in multidisciplinary proposals it is the combination that counts. See Annex 1 for further information on TRL.

• The proposal clearly differs from being a logical continuation of previous or ongoing research funded earlier by STW, NWO Domain AES or NWO.

• The proposal clearly differs from being a logical continuation of previous or ongoing research of the applicants or of others involved.

Quality project plan (25%)

• The proposal can be reasonably finished within one year. • The proposal can reasonably be executed within the 50.000 Euro budget. • The subject addressed, the motivation and the solution are all clearly described. • The written proposal and the video are complementary, but address the main idea of the proposal

individually as well.

Urgency (25%) • Would the consequences in one year be severe if this subject isn’t addressed immediately? • The context makes this a good moment to address the subject. • The societal relevance of the subject is known or recognized in (scientific) literature or policies of

governments, non-governmental organisations or companies.

12

Chapter 4: Assessment procedure / Open Mind

• No simple solution with existing means is yet available or currently known means have significant shortcomings.

Potential impact (25%)

• Support for the importance of the subject is also present outside the scientific community. If not, the proposal addresses how it expects to generate this support (aspects such as use conditions, context, public acceptance or relevant legislation).

• The envisioned results of the proposal have the potential for a significant contribution to change. • The results will contribute directly to either change, elimination of bottlenecks or facilitating

follow-up (by evoking follow-up projects or involvement of others). • The envisioned results provide a larger potential impact compared to equal investment in other

existing means or solutions.

13

Chapter 5: Contact details and other information / Open Mind

5 Contact details and other information

5.1 Contact 5.1.1 Specific questions

For specific questions about Open Mind and this call for proposals please contact: Dr. Rob Hermans Tel: +31 30 6001 317 Email: r.hermans@nwo.nl Dr. Simone Ordelman Tel: +31 30 2594 045 Email: s.ordelman@nwo.nl

5.1.2 Technical questions about the electronic application system ISAAC For technical questions about the use of ISAAC please contact the ISAAC helpdesk. Please read the manual first before consulting the helpdesk. The ISAAC helpdesk can be contacted from Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 17:00 hours CE(S)T on +31 (0)20 346 71 79. However, you can also submit your question by e-mail to isaac.helpdesk@nwo.nl. You will then receive an answer within two working days.

5.1.3 Privacy statement NWO processes applicants’ data in accordance with the NWO privacy statement ; see: https://www.nwo.nl/en/privacyverklaring,

5.2 Links • The Open Mind website: https://www.nwo.nl/openmind • NWO Grant Rules 2017: https://www.nwo.nl/grantrules • Data management protocol (containing data management section and –plan): www.nwo.nl/en/policies/open+science/data+management • NWO Code for dealing with Personal Interests: https://www.nwo.nl/en/common/subsidies/funding-process-explained/code-for-dealing-with-personal-interests • Nagoya Protocol https:// www.absfocalpoint.nl • Privacystatement NWO https://www.nwo.nl/en/privacyverklaring • ISAAC:

14

Chapter 5: Contact details and other information / Open Mind

https://www.isaac.nwo.nl • How ISAAC works: An ISAAC manual can be found in ISAAC (tab ‘Help’) • ISAAC helpdesk: isaac.helpdesk@nwo.nl • Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO): http://www.nwo.nl/

6 Annex 1: Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale The TRL scale is a metric for describing the maturity of a technology. The acronym stands for Technology Readiness Level. The scale consists of 9 levels. Each level characterises the progress in the development of a technology, from the idea (level 1) to the full deployment of the product in the marketplace (level 9). This scale was developed by NASA in the 70s to assess the maturity of a technology prior to integrating this technology into a system. It contained 7 levels at that time. Nowadays, 9 levels compose the scale. These levels are detailed below. Level 1 - Basic Research: basic principles are observed and reported Lowest level of technology readiness. Scientific research begins to be translated into applied research and development. Examples might include fundamental investigations and paper studies. Level 2 – Applied Research: technology concept and/or application formulated Once basic principles are observed, practical applications can be formulated. Examples are limited to analytic studies and experimentation. Level 3 – Critical function, proof of concept established Active research and development is initiated. Laboratory studies aim to validate analytical predictions of separate components of the technology. Examples include components that are not yet integrated or representative. Level 4 – Laboratory testing of prototype component or process Design, development and lab testing of technological components are performed. Here, basic technological components are integrated to establish that they will work together. This is a relatively “low fidelity” prototype in comparison with the eventual system. Level 5 – Laboratory testing of integrated system The basic technological components are integrated together with realistic supporting elements to be tested in a simulated environment. This is a “high fidelity” prototype compared to the eventual system. Level 6 – Prototype system verified The prototype, which is well beyond that of level 5, is tested in a relevant environment. The system or process demonstration is carried out in an operational environment. Level 7 – Integrated pilot system demonstrated Prototype is near, or at, planned operational system level. The final design is virtually complete. The goal of this stage is to remove engineering and manufacturing risk. Level 8 – System incorporated in commercial design Technology has been proven to work in its final form under the expected conditions. In most of the cases, this level represents the end of true system development. Level 9 – System ready for full scale deployment Here, the technology in its final form is ready for commercial deployment. Level beyond 9 - Market introduction The product, process or service is launched commercially, marketed to and adopted by a group of customers (including public authorities).

Published by:

Dutch Research Council

Version: April 2021

Visiting address:

Location The Hague

Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indië 300

2593 CE The Hague

The Netherlands

Location Utrecht

Winthontlaan 2

3526 KV Utrecht

The Netherlands

www.nwo.nl/en

April 2021