{"id":117458,"date":"2020-09-08T13:39:08","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T11:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=117458"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:03","slug":"two-eur-academics-awarded-e1-5-million-each-now-im-actually-going-to-have-to-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/09\/08\/two-eur-academics-awarded-e1-5-million-each-now-im-actually-going-to-have-to-do-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Two EUR academics awarded \u20ac1.5 million each: ‘Now I\u2019m actually going to have to do it’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Both Rianne Kok and Niels Rietveld had been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council, it was announced last Thursday. This means that the two academics will each receive \u20ac1.5 million to work on research projects in their own fields of study. The grants will allow them and their teams to conduct one five-year study each.<\/p>\n

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You might think that Kok and Rietveld both spent last week in a state of euphoria, but you\u2019d be wrong. In actual fact, they experienced the euphoria quite a while ago. Both academics received the good news \u2018some time in July\u2019, although they were not allowed to talk about it. Rietveld, who is affiliated with the Erasmus School of Economics, says: \u201cI was brushing my teeth when I received an e-mail from the ERC saying that the grant award decisions had been posted on their portal.\u201d Kok had a very similar experience. \u201cYou do get a little nervous when you receive a message like that, so then of course you\u2019ll run into some computer trouble first.\u201d However, both Kok and Rietveld were among the lucky 13% whose grant applications had been honoured.<\/p>\n

If you are awarded an ERC grant, the impact on your research project will be huge. Kok and Rietveld will be able to spend the next five years working on their own research projects. They will be able to work with two PhD students, one postdoc and several teaching assistants.<\/p>\n

Rianne Kok, who works at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, is conducting research on the lies parents tell their children and their impact on children\u2019s development. She is the first researcher affiliated with ESSB\u2019s Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies (DPECS) to be awarded the prestigious grant. And this was not the first time she was awarded a grant, either: she previously successfully applied for a Sophia Foundation grant in 2011, an EUR Fellowship grant in 2016 and an Erasmus Initiative grant in 2017.<\/p>\n

The child-rearing paradox<\/h2>
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Rianne Kok<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Kok conducts research on the lies parents tell their children. In addition, her research project is the first to focus on a paradox that occurs in child-rearing situations: some parents teach their children not to lie, but do tell lies themselves. \u201cSo far, very little research has been conducted on this subject. We are not quite sure yet what impact lies have on children\u2019s development. There is a lot of talk about it on Internet forums. Some say you should never lie to a child, while others say it\u2019s inevitable. But as a scientist, I\u2019m currently unable to come up with an evidence-based recommendation,\u201d says Kok.<\/p>\n

As for Rietveld, after he had deciphered the message in the ERC\u2019s portal, he was \u2018absolutely elated\u2019. However, due to the coronavirus crisis, he was unable to properly celebrate his success. \u201cWe had a nice meal that evening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Rietveld says he has mixed feelings. \u201cOn the one hand I was thinking, yes, I got what I wanted. And on the other I was thinking, wait, now I\u2019m actually going to have to do all the things I wrote about in the application.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heredity and level of education<\/h2>
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Niels Rietveld<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Rietveld\u2019s research focuses on the correlation between social indicators and heredity. He and his co-authors are the first scientists who were able to identify genetic variants that are related to a person\u2019s level of education. \u201cI want to determine how useful these kinds of heredity studies are in terms of policy-making. Many people will tell you they are not useful at all, but I beg to differ. If I can demonstrate that there is a correlation, this may have a significant bearing on society, for instance in terms of policies designed to reduce social inequality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Kok, Rietveld had been successful in earlier grant applications. For instance, in 2015 he was awarded a Veni grant, and in 2016 he won Erasmus University\u2019s Research Prize and Young Researcher Award. Despite the fact that most grants come with low award rates, Rietveld does not seem to have any problem netting grants. So what is his secret? \u201cI don\u2019t think I have a secret. Maybe people are simply intrigued by the field I\u2019m researching. And what also helped was the fact that I was on NWO\u2019s Veni grant award committee last year, which gave me an insight into how things are done behind the scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t be afraid to open yourself to criticism\u2019<\/h2>

So, do Rietveld and Kok have any tips for colleagues of theirs who may be applying for a grant for the first time?<\/p>\n

\u201cThose committees must be able to justify giving you money,\u201d Rietveld says. \u201cMake sure they don\u2019t have to look for those answers. Why should they award money to this study, why should they do so now, and why should they give it to you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Kok\u2019s tip is to get others involved in the writing of your application at an early stage. \u201cI made a conscious decision to get other people\u2019s input right from the start. Where do others feel you are doing a good job, and what isn\u2019t coming across so well? So basically, you\u2019re opening yourself to criticism, but it does help a lot. You\u2019ll learn quickly whether you\u2019re on the right track or whether there is a better way to phrase things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rietveld has another tip as well: \u201cUsing many bolded words and images helps too,\u201d he says with a smile.<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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