Radboud Excellence Initiative
The Radboud Excellence Initiative was created with the dual purpose of bringing the most exceptional talents from every academic field to Radboud University while strengthening international bonds between universities worldwide.
Who can join?
Candidates for a Radboud Excellence fellowship or professorship must be nominated for a position by one of the designated nominators working at Radboud. Self-nominations are not accepted. Are you interested in coming to Nijmegen as a Radboud Excellence fellow or professor but are you unsure who could nominate you? You can email us at excellence-nominations [at] ru.nl stating your preferred research institute, so we can put you into contact with the right people.
Nomination rounds
Those who are entitled to nominate candidates for a Radboud Excellence professorship or fellowship can send in their nominations before the next deadine: 1st November 2024. Nominators will be informed personally through a Call for Nominations.
Part of a tight-knit, exclusive community
Radboud Excellence Initiative provides attractive conditions. The laureates receive support from the Hospitality Team from the moment the fellowships or professorships are awarded in all aspects of moving to and setting in the Netherlands. An interesting and fun social programme ensures that they can make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime experience. By the end of their stay in the Netherlands, fellows and professors will find themselves part of a tight-knit exclusive community which fosters interdisciplinary academic curiosity.
Via the Radboud Excellence Initiative, I could advance my research through the excellent facilities at Radboud University.
Professor Melinda Duer was awarded the Radboud Excellence Initiative professorship in May 2021. Her collaboration with the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (RIMLS) consists of three two-month visits in 2022 and 2023.
“What I like most about research is solving a complex problem by piecing together all sorts of things: experiments, thoughts, ideas, and theories. When you suddenly answer a complex puzzle, it’s a wonderful feeling. And I see collaboration as an essential part of that process.
My research looks at the molecular structure of tissues. Degenerative diseases cause the cells in tissues to misbehave and change the tissue structure. This often results in the tissue calcifying, as in hardening of the arteries. There are currently no cures for that and no way to stop the process once it starts. So, we need a big push to understand why calcification happens so we can work out how to stop it.
I know Professor Nico Sommerdijk of Radboudumc from conferences since he’s an international expert in the field of tissue calcification. He has built up an amazing lab with equipment that is truly unique for the projects I’m interested in. When he contacted me about a professorship within the Radboud Excellence Initiative, it gave me a chance to interact with his group and advance my research through the excellent facilities.
The hospitality team of the Excellence Initiative was incredibly helpful. They provided me with the best places to stay at and even recommended areas to explore. Additionally, the friendly and active atmosphere at RIMLS truly made me feel included in the research culture. We swapped ideas within the group, but I also had the chance to broaden my network and meet with Radboud’s Rector Magnificus personally and at one of the lunches the Excellence Initiative organises.
Nijmegen is a great and an easy place to live, with excellent public transport and amenities. I know from experience that it’s not easy to live and integrate in every place, which makes me value my experience in Nijmegen even more.”
The fellowship gave me the time and the intellectual freedom to obtain the most competitive and ambitious grant available at this stage of my career.
Associate professor Graziana Ciola was awarded the Radboud Excellence Initiative fellowship in 2020 and worked as a fellow at the Radboud Center for the History of Philosophy and Science from 2020 to 2022. She researches history and philosophy of logic and medieval philosophy. During her fellowship, she was awarded an ERC Starting Grant of 1.5 million euros.
“Why did I choose to come to Radboud University as a REI fellow? It was for a trivial reason: Marsilius of Inghen, a 14th-century logician who is central to my research, was from Nijmegen. Looking back, it was the best fellowship I could have gone for, because it allowed me to pursue my own research project, giving me the time and the intellectual freedom to obtain the most competitive and ambitious grant available at this stage of my career.
The application process was very smooth, and the support I received helped me to get started in the best way possible. The hospitality team helped me with finding a place to live and navigating the administration involved with moving to a new country. I came with my partner, and the family relocation service helped us both get used to our new life in Nijmegen. On top of that, the city is a beautiful and great place to live because of the green surroundings and convenient public transport. Dutch bike culture is definitely a perk!
During my Radboud Excellence fellowship, I applied for and was awarded an ERC Starting Grant. With my ERC grant I could have gone anywhere, but I decided to stay in Nijmegen. Radboud University is a very supportive and lively place, where I can fully focus on achieving my ambitions in a friendly and stimulating environment. I like the fact that Radboud is not an excessively large university: this makes the atmosphere feel very homey. Here, I am able to pursue high-quality frontier research, without sacrificing my work-life balance. In this setting that is both welcoming and intellectually lively, it is possible to flourish not only as a researcher but also as a person. Now I’ve been nominating people myself for the fellowship that brought me here. I want to pass on my experience and help young researchers build their careers through the Radboud Excellence Initiative.”
Cutting edge research
Radboud University is a broad, internationally-oriented research university. We value quality, combining excellent education with leading-edge research. Our academic expertise is closely related to important societal issues, both in the public and private domain. We play an important role in transferring knowledge to society.
Radboud Excellence Initiative Tracks
The Radboud Excellence Initiative provides two routes by which a researcher may come to Radboud University:
Fellowships
Radboud Excellence fellowships are open to non-Dutch researchers based outside the Netherlands, who have no previous study or work experience in the Netherlands and who obtained their doctorate no longer than eight years before the application date. Fellows will receive a two-year an employment contract with Radboud University or Radboud UMC and will truly become part of the academic community. They conduct their research projects in cutting-edge research teams in collaboration with or under the supervision of their nominator.
Professorships
Radboud Excellence professorships are offered to those who have made a significant impact in their discipline (ERC Advanced level or similar) and who can be expected to remain active as researchers for several years to come. The professorships are intended for non-Dutch professors based outside the Netherlands. Professors stay at Radboud for a total period of one to six months. They may split their stay into smaller blocks of at least one month, and spread their time at Radboud University over a longer period so they can maximize the effectiveness of their collaboration.
Contact us
For general questions about the Radboud Excellence Initiative, please contact us on excellence [at] ru.nl or +31-6-1216 8503.
For questions about the nomination procedure and eligibility, please contact excellence-nominations [at] ru.nl or +31-6-5017 2195.