Aspasia

Aspasia is designed to alleviate the under-representation of women in the upper echelons of academia. The aim of Aspasia is to encourage the promotion of female academics to senior lecturer (or professorial) level.

The Ministry of Education, the Association of Universities in the Netherlands and NWO consider it a matter of urgency to take a proactive stance towards the problem of the underrepresentation of women in this position. For that reason the Aspasia was initiated. The programme’s primary objective is to help a greater number of women lecturers in attaining positions as senior lecturers.

Who can apply

Aspasia is linked to NWO’s competitive Vidi and Vici grant schemes. To qualify as an Aspasia candidate, a female applicant for a Vidi or Vici grant must either have been awarded such a grant, or starting from 2010 have had her application judged worthy of grant following the interview procedure but been unsuccessful in obtaining one because of resource constraints: Executive Boards that promote such applicants to senior lecturer or professor within a year of the Vidi or Vici grant award decision may, subject to certain conditions, qualify for a premium.

What can be applied for

The premium available for the promotion of each grant recipient is € 100,000. The premium offered for the promotion of a grant-worthy but unsuccessful candidate is € 200,000. This means that the latter group receive no grant under the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme but are awarded a larger subsidy under Aspasia.

The Aspasia premium may be used in a number of alternative ways. A condition of grant is that the Board must use at least € 50,000 of the premium to fund more generic diversity policy measures by the university or faculty to increase the upward movement of female staff within the institution.

When can be applied

Following the Vidi and Vici award decisions, NWO contacts some or all of the recipients and grant-worthy but unsuccessful applicants. Vidi applicants who are already senior lecturers and Vici applicants who already hold professorships will not be contacted. If the candidate agrees, NWO will propose to her Executive Board that she should be promoted under the Aspasia scheme.

Criteria

The specific conditions for the granting of premiums to the university Boards are mentioned in the Aspasia brochure.

Budget

The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has made M€ 4 available for the 2010 round: enough for up to 40 premiums.

Financiers

Ministry of Education, Culture and Science

Contacts

• Aspasia coordinator
  phone: +31 (0)70 349 40 11, e-mail: aspasia@nwo.nl