Regulations

ARTICLE 1. GENERAL 

1.1 The Ammodo Science Award for fundamental research (the Award) was established by the Ammodo Foundation (Ammodo) to recognize scientific achievements by excellent, internationally recognized mid-career scientists. The Award enables these scientists to conduct fundamental scientific research.

1.2 The Award is presented biennially for research in the following science domains (the Domains):

  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Humanities
  • Natural Sciences
  • Social Sciences

1.3 The Award consists of a maximum of eight prizes of € 350,000 (in words: three hundred and fifty thousand euros) at a time, to be awarded to eight candidates (the Laureates) nominated and proposed according to these regulations for the Ammodo Science Award for fundamental research (the Award Regulations). A maximum of two awards of €350,000 are available per Domain.

1.4 The Award is funded by Ammodo.

1.5 The prize connected with the Award shall be used in its entirety by the Laureate, in accordance with the conditions set forth in these Award Regulations, to finance fundamental scientific research carried out under her/his supervision (as further defined in Article 8).

ARTICLE 2. CONDITIONS

To be eligible for nomination for the Award, candidates must be excellent, internationally recognized mid-career scientists who:

  • are considered capable of making an innovative contribution to unfettered fundamental scientific research;
  • have received their PhD between five to fifteen years prior to the year of nomination (reference date 1 January). The Ammodo extension scheme (Extension Scheme) applies to this term; and
  • have an appointment at a Dutch university or a Dutch research institute (Research Institute).

ARTICLE 3. NOMINATION

3.1 Nominators for the Award must be one of the following:

  • Executive Boards of Dutch universities;
  • Deans of faculties of Dutch universities;
  • directors of Dutch Research Institutes;
  • the board of the National Network of Female Professors; and
  • at least three professors acting jointly who are affiliated with a Dutch university.

3.2 Each nominator may nominate up to two candidates per Domain per nomination round.

3.3 To be considered for nomination, the nomination form (Nomination Form) made available by Ammodo must be submitted in either Dutch or English by email. A Nomination Form is considered submitted when the submitter has received a confirmation of receipt from Ammodo.

3.4 The Nomination Form must be submitted to asa@ammodo.org no later than the closing date set by Ammodo. If the Nomination Form is not submitted before or on this date, the Nomination Form will not be considered.

3.5 Members of the Ammodo Board and members of the Advisory Committees (see Article 4) may not (co-)submit nominations and cannot be nominated as candidates themselves.

ARTICLE 4. ADVISORY COMMITTEES

4.1 Ammodo appoints one Advisory Committee for each of the Domains. Each Advisory Committee consists of five members, one of whom will act as (technical) chairperson (Advisory Committee). Only persons who are professors at the time of their appointment are eligible for appointment as members of an Advisory Committee.

4.2 The role of an Advisory Committee is to assess the nominees for the Award for the relevant Domain (Nominations) in accordance with the assessment criteria (see Article 5) and to make recommendations for the Award (see Article 6).

4.3 The members of the Advisory Committees are bound by the Ammodo Science Award for fundamental research advisory committee regulations (Advisory Committee Regulations) and the Ammodo code of conduct on conflicts of interest.

4.4 The Advisory Committee is supported by a secretary from Ammodo.

ARTICLE 5. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

The assessment of the Nominations by the Advisory Committees takes place on the basis of the following assessment criteria:

  • the scientific quality of the candidate, which will be determined using criteria commonly used for assessing quality in the candidate’s field of expertise, including (but not limited to):

a) the candidate’s contribution to the development of her/his field of study;

b) the candidate’s unique contribution to groundbreaking research or groundbreaking publications;

c) the candidate’s memberships of (inter)national juries, review boards, scientific editorial boards, scientific academies or other relevant organizations;

d) (international) scientific recognitions, including scientific prizes and grants awarded to the candidate;

e) the way in which the candidate’s research distinguishes itself from that of comparable (international) research in terms of quality, originality, results, publications and/or future prospects.

In assessing scientific quality, the greatest weight should be given to the criteria mentioned under a and b.

  • the extent to which the candidate is considered capable of making an innovative contribution to fundamental scientific research.

ARTICLE 6. NOMINATION

6.1 Based on assessment of the Nominations according to the assessment criteria, the Advisory Committee shall make a reasoned and substantiated recommendation (Recommendation) to the Ammodo Board of a maximum of two candidates per relevant Domain to receive the Award.

6.2 The Advisory Committee shall not nominate two candidates from the same discipline/area of expertise within one Domain.

6.3 If after careful deliberation the Advisory Committee is not satisfied that it can recommend two candidates, the Advisory Committee may advise the Ammodo Board to grant only one or no Award in the relevant Domain.

ARTICLE 7. AWARD AND PRESENTATION

7.1 After receiving the Recommendations, the Ammodo Board shall make a decision on the definitive granting of the Award to the Laureates before December 31st of the year preceding presentation of the Award.

7.2 The presentation of the Award to the Laureates shall take place during an award ceremony to be organized by Ammodo (Award Ceremony).

ARTICLE 8. EXPENSES AND CONDITIONS 

8.1 The Award:

  • shall be used by the Laureate to fund the fundamental scientific research of her or his choice (to be conducted by the Laureate or under her or his supervision) (Research) (provided that such Research belongs to the field in which the Laureate specializes);
  • may be spent on the salary of one or more researchers and on other costs associated with the Research (including costs of materials and travel and accommodation expenses);
  • will not be used to fund overhead costs or other costs of the Research Institute where the Laureate is employed that are not directly related to the Research; and
  • will not be used to fund an existing research programme at the Research Institute where the Laureate is employed.

8.2 No later than one year after the Award Ceremony, each Laureate shall:

  • submit to Ammodo (i) a research plan with respect to the Research (Research Plan), including a proposed timeline for the Research broken down into research phases with a maximum research period of five years (Research Period) and (ii) a budget specifying the capital requirements in each research phase (Budget); and
  • have started the Research.

8.3 The Award will be disbursed by Ammodo in portions (to the Research Institute where the Laureate is employed for the benefit of the Laureate and the Research)

  • in accordance with the Research Plan, unless that Research Plan conflicts with these Award Regulations, and
  • upon receipt of written confirmation from the Research Institute where the Laureate is employed that it is bound by these Award Regulations.

ARTICLE 9. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

9.1 Within six months after the end of the Research, the Laureate will submit to Ammodo a report indicating (i) the results of the Research and (ii) the total amount spent on the Research.

9.2 The amount of the Award remaining after the end of the Research will be cancelled and Ammodo will have no obligation to pay any such amount to either the Laureate or the Research Institute where the Laureate works.

9.3 Material changes to the Research Plan, the Research Period (including the time schedule), and the Budget must be discussed with and approved by Ammodo in advance.

ARTICLE 10. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AMOUNT OF THE AWARD

10.1 The Award may be withdrawn by Ammodo if the Laureate or the Research Institute where the Laureate works, after a request for compliance, remains in default on one or more of the obligations referred to in Articles 8 and 9. In the event that the Award is withdrawn, the amount of the Award already paid shall be repaid by the party that received it and Ammodo shall not be required to make any further payment in connection with the Award.

10.2 If the Research is terminated during the Research Period due to illness or death of the Laureate, then the portion of the amount received that has not yet been spent shall be promptly refunded to Ammodo and Ammodo shall not be obligated to make any further payment in connection with the Award.

ARTICLE 11. AMENDMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

11.1 These Award Regulations are available in Dutch and English. In the event of a discrepancy between the two versions the Dutch language version of the Award Regulations shall prevail.

11.2 The Ammodo Board will decide on all matters which arise which are not covered by these Award Regulations.

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