ISMRM Benelux Challenge

NOTE: the deadline has been extended to 1st of December 2017 at 23:59h.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the ISMRM Benelux we invite all young researchers in our community to apply for one of the ISMRM Benelux challenges. This competition consists of two calls for our young talented researchers. Young researchers are given the opportunity to present their own research ideas, and present them in front of a scientific commission.

The aim of this challenge is to encourage young MR researchers to broaden their academic career, by providing financial grants to make independent research ideas possible, early on in their careers. The challenge consists of two parts:

• Out of the Box Challenge for a period of minimally 6 months sub-sponsored by the Heart Foundation and TTW.
• Abroad Internship for approximately 3 months.

Do not shy away from wild ideas!

General prerequisites for both calls

• The applicant must be a PhD student or have finished his/her PhD no more than two years ago, as of January 1^st  2018.
• The proposal must be submitted as pdf by email to challenge@ismrm-benelux.org before December 1^st 2017 23:59h.
• The applicant should be available to present the proposal during the plenary session of the ISMRM Benelux 2018 meeting, which will take place in January 2018.
• The proposed study must be completed before the date of the ISMRM Benelux 2019 meeting.
• The applicant should be available to present the completed results of the study at the ISMRM Benelux 2019 meeting.
• The research proposal should be MR related.

General procedure for both calls

• The submitted proposals will be reviewed by five independent reviewers from the ISMRM Benelux community and heart foundation or TTW.
• The applicants will be informed about the results of the review process in December.
• The top 3 candidates will have to pitch their proposals at the plenary session of the ISMRM Benelux 2018 meeting.
• The pitches of the top 3 candidates will be judged by an independent jury of 3 members of the ISMRM Benelux community.
• The winners will be announced at the end of the ISMRMR Benelux 2018 meeting.

Specifics for Out of the Box Challenge

• The budget is 25.000 euro and needs to be spent exclusively for salary of the applicant. In case the institution at which the applicant is currently under contract is not willing to extend the contract or to supply the facilities needed to execute the study, the UMCU or AMC are willing to host the winning candidate.
• The project is partially sponsored by the heart foundation and TTW and should therefore benefit in some way technological advances in cardiovascular MRI research.
• The proposal should be novel and is not allowed to be directly related to your current PhD project or post-doctoral research.
• The proposal should contain the following items:
  • Proposal (1 page, including images/figures)
    1.1  What is your idea? (project description, research question, hypothesis etc)
    1.2  Why is your idea original?
    1.3  What is the value of your idea to the ISMRM Benelux community?
    1.4  What makes this proposal different from your current research
  • How are you going to perform your research? (1 page, including images)
    2.1 Time schedule
    2.2 Facilities needed
    2.3 Budget
  • Personal details (max 1 page) in a separate file
    3.1 Personal details
    3.2 Brief overview of current research (100 words)
    3.2 date that PhD was finished or estimated time of finishing PhD.
• Reviewers will score on:
  • Originality
  • Feasibility
  • Value for the ISMRM Benelux community
  • The difference with the candidates previous research

Specifics challenge 2

• The budget is 5.000 euro* and needs to be spend exclusively on travel and housing costs. Reimbursement will be based on receipts.
• The applicant must do the research outside the country where the applicant is currently staying. The research should be for a minimum period of 3 months.
• The applicants current employer has to sign approval for the proposed study
• The host institute needs to sign an approval of the applicants stay at their institution
• The proposal should contain the following items:
  • Proposal (1 page, including images/figures)
    1.1  What is your idea? (project description, research question, hypothesis etc)
    1.2  Why is your idea original?
    1.3  What is the value of your idea to the ISMRM Benelux community?
    1.4  What makes this proposal different from your current research
  • How are you going to perform your research? (1 page, including images)
    2.1 Time schedule
    2.2 Facilities needed
    2.3 Budget
  • Personal details (max 1 page) in a separate file
    3.1 Personal details
    3.2 Brief overview of current research (100 words)
    3.2 date that PhD was finished or estimated time of finishing PhD.
• Reviewers will score on:
  • Uniqueness
  • Feasibility
  • Value for the ISMRM Benelux community

*pending revenues 10^th ISMRM Benelux meeting