Video: summer bingo determines winners Kiem grant 2024
At a celebratory event, 25 projects received a Kiem grant of up to €10,000 for an interdisciplinary research or education initiative. The grant was in demand, as no fewer than 91 projects applied this year.
It does not happen very often that a bingo ball barely 1 centimetre in diameter is worth €10,000, but in this case it really was. The Kiem grant 2024 draw took place on Thursday 27 June using an old-fashioned bingo wheel. As many as 91 interdisciplinary projects were assigned a lottery number corresponding to a ball in the mill; the first 25 balls drawn received a grant.
Cheers and hisses
Sicco de Knecht, head of research policy, re-emphasised prior to the draw that getting a Kiem or not said nothing about the quality of the applications. 'The fact that you enter the draw indicates that your interdisciplinary proposal deserves appreciation. Whether you get a Kiem grant is a twist of fate.' The tension was then palpable among the audience in The Field, while the bingo machine was operated by the head of Legal Affairs, Daniel Mandel. Often there were cheers or hisses when a drawn ball was just short of the number someone in the audience had.
But whether you won or lost, it was worth coming to the draw anyway. Here, all applicants were the first to get the overview of all projects that participated in this year's Kiem round. This provided excellent opportunities to get ideas for cooperation and to get to know colleagues.
Watch an impression of the draw and participants' reactions here:
Curious about an overview of all Kiem grant winners 2024 as well as a complete list of all applications? Then take a look to the right of this article.
Text: Jan Joost Aten
Image and video: Danique ter Horst