Academy Assistants

Network Institute Academy Assistants

Quick facts: 

  • Proposals shall be interdisciplinary and within the Digital Society scope;
  • Project supervision by two researchers (any researcher, e.g. teaching staff, research staff, PhD students, can be supervisors); 
  • At least one supervisor has to be both a VU employee and a member of the Network Institute (at the time of submitting the proposal and for the whole duration of the project);
  • Regular team meetings (2 supervisors and 2 students) and progress reports are expected; 
  • Teams can include other people in supervising roles, as long as each assistant has one  responsible co-applicant supervisor;
  • Clear research outputs are expected by the project (e.g., scientific publications, seminars,  white papers, reports); 
  • Proposed projects can be continuations of previous NIAA projects. In that case, supervisors  need to address how this new proposal is different from the previous project;  
  • A maximum of 1 project per supervisor will be awarded (although it is allowed to submit  multiple proposals. In case multiple projects are awarded to a researcher, the researcher will have to find an alternative supervisor (please already indicate this in the proposal);  
  • Funding is for two student assistants for 9 months, at 1 day per week (0.2 FTE);
  • 2000€ travel/expenses budget will be allocated per project; 
  • Each supervisor is the primary responsible for one student. In case of a conflict between the two supervisors, the resources of the project (the two students and any remaining budget) will be split equally between the supervisors;
  • A maximum of 3 eligible NIAA projects will be funded. 
Duties of researchers and students:

  • The NIAA program includes a series of scheduled meetings where both students and supervisors are required to attend. This includes (1) three education meetings (targeting only students) and (2) two NIAA events (targeting both students and supervisors) where projects present their preliminary and final results. The schedule will be sent at the beginning of the NIAA projects. More than two unjustified absences will result in early termination of the funding (by either students or supervisors). 
  • A written report (light-weight) will have to be submitted at the end of the project. 

For more information and inspiration, see this year’s projects.

Find the application template here.

If you have any questions regarding this call or eligibility, please contact akademiestudent.fsw@vu.nl 

We look forward to receiving your proposals!
NI Academy Team