About the Niels Stensen Fellowship
With its grants, the Niels Stensen Fellowship aims to contribute to the formation of excellent and socially committed scientists. Since the 1960s, the Fellowship awarded over 400 grants to postdoc researchers from Dutch universities. These grants enabled them to gain research experience at a top university or scientific institute abroad.
This fellowship is a programme by Porticus. Porticus is a philanthropic organisation that co-ordinates the philanthropic endeavours of the Brenninkmeijer family business owners. Porticus’ vision is to create a just and sustainable future where human dignity flourishes. Socially committed researchers have an important role to play in shaping this future.
Through grants, the Niels Stensen Fellowship finances the researcher’s costs of living, travel and ancillary expenses incurred abroad. Every year, our committee selects seven fellows from the list of candidates recommended by professors at Dutch universities. Fellows have demonstrated social commitment as well as academic excellence and represent a wide variety of academic disciplines.
Chairperson of committee
Prof. dr. J.H.J.M. van Krieken (Han)
Chairman Niels Stensen Fellowship Committee
“We define a socially committed fellow as someone who has developed a personal vision on the social relevance and impact of his or her research. Social commitment is about the relationship between the researcher and society, not about the valorisation or social relevance of the research as such. Socially committed researchers work with integrity, engage in a dialogue with society and demonstrate a willingness to share knowledge with colleagues and students.”