Criteria for TU Delft project Covid-19 Response Fund

Application criteria for TU Delft project Covid-19 Response Fund
The TU Delft Covid-19 Response Fund is aimed at quickly supporting Delft initiatives combating corona. The fund is intended for Delft projects that are working on short-term solutions in the fight against the corona virus. Depending on the proceeds of the fundraising campaign, contributions from the fund may later extend to relevant mid-long term projects (possibly as early as June 2020).

Assessment framework
The following assessment framework has been defined that will be used when assessing the requests for financial contribution:

The Covid-19 Fund is intended to support early stage research projects that aim to contribute, initially short-term, solutions and their feasibility to real acute problems and needs in the world as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic. The fund is therefore not intended to finance upscaling or production. The fund also does not finance the employment of (recently graduated) students and employees in the projects.

Given the short-term focus of the projects to be financed, the applications are expected to identify a party that needs the results of the research. It is necessary to have a requesting party in a subsequent phase, as  this is essential for starting upscaling in the event of proven success.

As of 11 May, the TU Delft COVID-19 Response Fund has decided to expand its criteria for COVID-19 related projects with the following:

• The committee is positive about contributions to compensate the working hours of researchers, students (assistants) and hired temporary workers under the following conditions:
  • This does not involve financing hours that are already covered in the first, second or third income streams.
  • A possible exception to the above may be that the PhD candidate / postdoc focuses on COVID-19 work, which is not linked to, or cannot be incorporated in his / her ongoing research and therefore a significant delay is expected in his / her own research.
  • The compensation of these hours is based on direct personnel costs. Please submit applications based on this rate.
• All other criteria remain in effect. For example, there must still be a demand from society to combat COVID-19, be it Dutch society or worldwide. A party interested to uptake the research outcome must therefore also be identified.
• Applications are also possible that relate directly to corona-related solutions for the TU Delft campus, for example for the restart of the coming academic year.

Assessment procedure - special committee
Given the urgency of the crisis, it is crucial that applications can be assessed quickly. That is why we have set up a special committee in which three members will assess the applications and advise Delft University Fund in decision-making. This committee consists of Theun Baller (Dean ME), John Schmitz (Dean EWI) and Dirk Jan Veeger (Chair department of biomechanical engineering).

Applications
Applications can be sent by email to Delft University Fund - c.devisser-1@tudelft.nl

The application must describe the following as concretely as possible:

• What the project entails (purpose, intended solution and expected delivery of the solution)
• Cooperation with which authorities and how the question came about (guaranteeing the deployability of the solution in society)
• How much money is needed and when (to implement the intended solution in society in the very short term)

Multiple requests per project are possible: the funding it is about assisting now. We understand that two weeks later, for example, there may be a funding question for the next step in the development of the project. Applications with retroactive effect are also possible, i.e. for projects that already started in March 2020.

Questions?
Please contact Cindy de Visser - c.devisser-1@tudelft.nl; 06-41612248