NLTG Theme Groups

What is a NIAS-Lorentz Theme Group?
A NIAS-Lorentz Theme Group (NLTG) is an international group of three researchers including the coordinator. All NLTG members hold fellowships at NIAS, providing them the opportunity to work as a team and engage in the kind of intensive interdisciplinary collaboration that is often difficult to realize in a regular academic setting. They specifically work as a group on cutting-edge research that bridges the divide between the humanities and/or social sciences and the natural, life and/or technological sciences. This can lead to concrete outcomes such as an edited volume, a scientific paper or a project proposal for external funding (e.g. ERC). Being part of an NLTG is particularly intended to benefit early/mid-career researchers who wish to explore and open a new interdisciplinary field of research through close interaction with theme group members from other scientific disciplines. An NLTG is imbedded within the Dutch academic community.

The NIAS-Lorentz Theme Group is:

  • An international group of NLTG members made up of 3 persons for 5 consecutive months. The NLTG coordinator can apply for a NLTG in the second semester (Feb – June) of the academic year.
  • All NLTG members hold individual fellowships at NIAS, including a study and daily travel expenses or, if from abroad, subsidized accommodation.
  • NLTG members from abroad can apply for a stipend of €2,500 per month in case of loss of income due to the fellowship. NLTG members from a Dutch university can apply for a Dutch University Grant of €2,500 per month, which is given to their university to compensate part of the costs to replace their teaching or management responsibilities. More about what a NIAS Fellowship entails.
  • NTLG members fully participate in the interdisciplinary community at NIAS, including weekly seminars and other academic activities.
  • A workshop at the Lorentz Center on the NLTG topic, with full organizational support and a budget of € 10,000.

How to apply
A NIAS-Lorentz Theme Group is initiated by the coordinator. The coordinator has at least 3 years of postdoctoral research experience and is affiliated with a university or research institution. Researchers from abroad may also coordinate the NLTG provided they apply together with a researcher who is based in the Netherlands (co-coordinator).

The coordinator is the formal NLTG applicant and he/she puts forward the other NLTG members. A NIAS-Lorentz Theme Group is ideally a mix of researchers affiliated with universities from within and outside the Netherlands so as to be an international group imbedded in the Dutch research community. All NLTG members should fulfill NIAS eligibility criteria, which includes 3 years of experience after obtaining a Ph.D.-degree.

Application procedure:

  1. NLTG Pre-Proposal
    Coordinators should submit a short NLTG Pre-Proposal for preliminary review. The Pre-Proposal is no more than three pages containing:

    • Title of the proposal.
    • List of proposed NLTG members.
    • Concise description of the interdisciplinary topic, with a brief description of the methodology and the expected research outcomes.
    • Outline of the idea for the workshop, including a list of proposed participants.

Send the completed form to selection@nias.knaw.nl, with your name and the word NLTG in the subject.

NLTG coordinators will be informed of the outcome within six weeks of the submission deadline. Coordinators of Pre-Proposals that are considered suitable for further elaboration will be invited to compile a NLTG Main Proposal.

2. NLTG Main Proposal
The NLTG Main Proposal consists of:

  • An expanded NLTG research proposal.
  • An outline of the NIAS-Lorentz Workshop at the Lorentz Center.
  • The individual NLTG fellowship application forms of all NLTG group members (including the coordinator).

The Main Proposal and the individual applications of all group members should be submitted through the NIAS website. Click here for the application page.

NLTG coordinators will be informed on the outcome of the review and selection is in.

  • Full Workshop Proposal
    The coordinator of the winning NLTG application will work with the Lorentz Center to prepare the Main NIAS-Lorentz Workshop Proposal. This plan will receive additional feedback from the NIAS-Lorentz Advisory Board as well as specific Lorentz Center Advisory Board(s) in the field(s) of the workshop topic.

Evaluation
NLTG applications are evaluated by the NIAS-Lorentz Fellowship Board.

Evaluation criteria include:

  • The topic connects the humanities and/or social sciences with the natural, life and/or technological sciences.
  • The research proposal is bold and original.
  • The composition of the theme group is international and multidisciplinary.
  • Individual members display excellent academic achievements, appropriate to their academic level.
  • The topic will broaden the scope of the NIAS-Lorentz Program.

Contact
For information and advice on NLTG Fellowship applications, please contact Annette Mullink. For information and advice on the NIAS-Lorentz Workshop outline, please contact Henriette Jensenius.

When is the next call for applications?
The Call for NIAS-Lorentz Theme Group 2025 is closed.

Current and previous NIAS-Lorentz Theme Groups

2022
Social Media for Digital Democracy: Theory, Applications, Algorithms

Workshop: Algorithmic Technology for Democracy 10 – 14 October 2022

Davide Grossi, Univ. of Groningen and Univ. of Amsterdam
Ulrike Hahn, Birkbeck College
Michael Maes, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Andreas Nitsche, Interaktive Demokratie

2021
Accessible Tool for Language Assessment in Schools (ATLAS)

Workshop: Language Development, Diagnosis and Assessment in School Ages  27 September – 1 October 2021

María J. Arche, University of Greenwich, UK
Angeliek van Hout, University of Groningen
Alexandra Perovic, University College London
Josep Quer, ICREA-Pompeu Fabra University
Petra Schulz, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main

2020
Accountability in Medical Autonomous Expert Systems: ethical and epistemological challenges for explainable AI

Workshop:  Explainable Medical AI: Ethics, Epistemology, and Formal Methods  12 – 16 April 2021

Juan M. Durán, Delft University of Technology
Sander Beckers, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich
Giuseppe Primiero, University of Milan
Karin Jongsma, University Medical Center Utrecht
Martin Sand, Delft University of Technology

2019
What is Translation? Exploring the Missing Link Between Neuroscience and Psychiatry
Workshop: What is Translation? Exploring the Missing Link Between Neuroscience and Psychiatry

Leon de Bruin, Radboud University Nijmegen
Francesca Ervas, University of Cagliari
Jeroen Geurts, VU University Amsterdam
Gerrit Glas, VU Amsterdam
Annemarie Kalis, Utrecht University

2017    
Diaspora, Migration and the Sciences: A New Integrated Perspective

Workshop: Diaspora, Migration and the Sciences: A New Integrated Perspective

Leonard Rutgers, Utrecht University
Harry Ostrer, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Tracy Prowse, McMaster University

2016
The Comparative Biology of Language Learning – Towards the Next Level
Workshop: The Comparative Biology of Language Learning

Carel ten Cate, Leiden University
Judit Gervain, CNRS, Paris
Claartje Levelt, Leiden University
Chris Petkov, Newcastle University
Willem Zuidema, University of Amsterdam

2015
Capturing Phylogenetic Algorithms for Linguistics

Workshop: Capturing Phylogenetic Algorithms for Linguistics

Devdatt Dubhashi, Chalmers University
Harald Hammarström, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
Gerhard Jäger, University of Tübingen
Marian Klamer, Leiden University
Andrew Meade, University of Reading

2014
Social Support
Workshop: Social Support TAT: Theory, Applications, and Technology

Jim Coan, University of Virginia
Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Brigham Young University
Spike Lee, University of Toronto
Harry Reis, University of Rochester
Hans IJzerman, Tilburg University

2013
Modelling Social Reality: Emergence of the Glass Ceiling 

Workshop: Modelling Social Reality: Emergence of the Glass Ceiling

Frank Dignum, Utrecht University
Gert Jan Hofstede, Wageningen University
Rui Prada, Technical University of Lisbon