Criteria for submission

Who can apply

• Any cardiovascular researcher affiliated to a Dutch research institute or hospital can apply to the fellowship call, this is not restricted to Heart4Data consortium membership
• PhD candidates and early-career researchers or clinicians (≤5 years post-PhD) are eligible
• Applications must be submitted as a duo, representing two different institutions or different departments within one institute, preferably also with different areas of expertise (e.g. clinical, epidemiological, data science, AI, health policy etc)

Project criteria 

• The project must focus on retrospective observational research using data from one or more Netherlands Heart Registration (NHR) registries (more information on NHR)
• Only quality-of-care research questions are eligible
• Added value through collaboration with other DCVA consortia or via data linkages (e.g. CBS or DHD) is obligatory
• The project must be co-developed with a registration committee member of the relevant NHR registry. Registration committee members can be found online on NHR.nl.
• The proposal should be novel and not part of already funded work

Registration committee and scientific research with NHR registries 

In order to apply, the applicant must contact the NHR before October 15th to seek support from the account manager (info@nhr.nl) and one of the registration committee members (https://nhr.nl/registratie/). A feasibility check from the NHR account manager and a letter of intent from the registration committee member is required for the application.

The award-winning project proposal will be assessed by the NHR scientific council and registration committee and need to be approved before starting the project in accordance with the scientific policy of the NHR.

Ideas for collaboration 
Do you have an idea or theme, but no partner yet for a joint application? Submit your idea (info@nhr.nl) and we will help connect you with potential collaborators. We bring interested parties together to develop a joint project proposal.

Budget and start date 
Budget should be spent on data linkage activities, software licenses, equipment, travel or dissemination/publication. A maximum of €4.000 from the budget may be spent on presentation / publication costs based on declarations of actual costs (including traveling costs, conference fee, publication fee, open-access fee etc.). Salary costs are not eligible.

In case the costs exceed the amount awarded, applicants must show commitment from their institutions to cover the rest of the costs. You are required to fill out a budget sheet when you submit your proposal (see regulations in the submission form). In addition, you must show a guarantee from your head of department of your position for the duration of the project.