The basic activity of the Foundation to fulfil its mission is supplying grants for nutrition related research projects to young investigators. Project grants are available for a period of one year.
Applications for Research Grants are reviewed on the basis of the originality of the project, the definition of a clear study hypothesis, the appropriateness of the experimental design, the feasibility of the research plan and the relevance to nutrition. Where appropriate, applicants are encouraged to show power and sample size calculations in full, and seek help from statisticians if needed. Only investigators at an early phase of their academic career (< 10 years after obtaining their PhD) are accepted as first applicants. It is acceptable for more senior investigators to function as co-applicant. PhD candidates may also apply as first applicants and in that case it is strongly encouraged to have a more senior investigator (eg. their PhD supervisor) as co-applicant.
It is the responsibility of the applicant to obtain specific approval for the research project from the local ethical committee. An affirmative letter from such a committee should be attached to the application form. If animal experiments are involved, a similar letter of approval from the appropriate body is required. In case the respective approvals are still missing at the project review meeting, the Scientific Advisory Committee might make its own rather conservative assessment on ethics. Funding will always be under the condition of formal ethics approval.
Projects accepted for funding should preferably be started in the first quarter of the year. If this cannot be accomplished, an appropriate request should be made to the Scientific Secretariat. Projects which cannot be started before 1 October need to be resubmitted at the new round and renewed approval will be considered in competition with the other application from that round.
The Foundation will support research projects to a maximum of € 30,000 . Travel costs and investment in permanent equipment will not be supported. Payment of human volunteers, if applicable, would be accepted. This year, about 8-9 new research grants will be awarded. The number of rejected applications ranged between 60 and 79 per year in recent years.
In all scientific publications emanating from the research grant, acknowledgement to the Nutricia Research Foundation should be made.
Information on the 202 Nutricia Research Foundation Research Grants awarded from 1990 to 2020 can be found in the attached document.
Please note that the Research Grants programme wiil be terminated and there will be no new call.