NRO Comenius Programme for Leadership Fellows (Netherlands)

The aim of the Comenius programme is twofold. First, the Comenius programme funds education innovation projects that contribute directly to the innovation and improvement of higher education in the Netherlands for the benefit of students. Second, the Comenius programme facilitates varied career paths for lecturers and researchers at universities of applied sciences and research universities by visibly recognizing excellent and inspired teaching. The projects of Teaching Fellows, Senior Fellows and Leadership Fellows are distinguished on the basis of their impact on education, which becomes broader at each ‘tier’ in the programme. The tiers of the Comenius programme in which teachers can further develop, are based on the Career Framework for University Teaching by Ruth Graham.

Funding Information

• The available budget for this Call for proposals is €2,000,000 in total.
• Within this call for proposals a maximum of four applications will be awarded funding, divided equally between universities of applied sciences (Dutch acronym: hbo) and research universities (Dutch acronym: wo).
• A Leadership Fellow project takes place within several faculties or an entire educational institution. Collaboration between faculties of different institutions of higher education is also possible. The project can be carried out with a grant of minimum €450,000 and maximum €500,000 and a duration of at least 36 months and at most 42 months.

Projects in the Comenius Programme

• Improving education through evidence-informed innovation
  • The Comenius programme provides funding for innovation projects that are so innovative or entail such an ambitious improvement that they are also considered innovative outside the institution where the project is implemented. Projects can 1) implement an educational scientific, technological or didactic innovation in education, or 2) implement an existing innovation in a specific educational context, as long as the distinctive character of the project and how it can be beneficial to other educational professionals is convincingly substantiated. In both contexts a Comenius project reaches beyond a regular curriculum revision.
  • Aim of the innovation is to improve education. The innovation must be implemented in the student’s (online) educational environment. In the project’s aim, the following aspects should be taken into account:
    • Projects should focus on programmes in initial higher education or on pathways that improve access to initial higher education (e.g. transition programmes between intermediate vocational and higher professional education). This means that projects aimed at post-initial higher education, including pathways for PhD students, are excluded.
    • The improvement must directly benefit students at a publicly-funded Dutch institution of higher education, within the duration of the project. The development of education (material) that will only be used or implemented in education after the end of the Comenius project cannot be financed with a Comenius grant.
    • Projects whose primary objective is the professional development of teachers are excluded. Of course, the professional development of teachers can be a component, even a necessary one, of successful implementation of an innovation in the student’s learning environment.
• Contribution to educational careers by appreciating excellent teaching
  • A grant for innovation in education is an explicit recognition and appreciation of excellence in teaching and in providing inspired education. The grant will offer Comenius Fellows the opportunity to focus on improving their own teaching practice during the project period and for further development as a teaching professional.

Who can apply?

• Applications can be submitted by education professionals working in publicly- funded higher education institutes in the Netherlands. Each institution may only submit one Leadership Fellow application.
• The Leadership Fellow must have at least seven years of teaching experience in higher education, possess educational leadership qualities and have a demonstrable impact on the teaching climate at their own institution.
• Applications can be submitted by teaching professionals as main- or co-applicant if they are working in one of the following institutions:
  • A university, as mentioned in article 1.8 paragraph 1 of the Dutch Higher Education and Research Act;
  • A university medical centre as mentioned in article 1.13 paragraph 1 of the Dutch Higher Education and Research Act;
  • A university of applied sciences as mentioned in article 1.8 paragraph 1 of the Dutch Higher Education and Research Act;
• A maximum of one application may be submitted by each faculty or similar organisational unit. The application is supported with a statement by the dean or faculty director. To promote the diversity of Leadership Fellow grants, organisational units that have been awarded a Leadership Fellows grant in 2024 are excluded from submitting an application in 2025.

For more information, visit NRO.