HealthTech Nexus

At the TechMed Centre, we understand that the intersection of technology and medicine is where groundbreaking discoveries and life-changing innovations emerge. Our state-of-the-art TechMed Centre is at the forefront of the revolution.

facilities

An overview of all facilities is available on the TechMed Centre facilities page. Examples include:

• TechMed Simulation Centre: advanced simulators for medical education, simulated OR and ICU environments
• Imaging Labs: ultrasound, X-ray and MRI systems
• BioEngineering facilities

Our mission is to have a significant impact on health and healthcare. This requires that we innovate and pioneer in a person-centred way, by working together in our networks, and by entering into strategic partnerships.

Facilities

Most research facilities are organised into the Radboudumc Technology Centers. Examples include:

• 3D Lab
• Animal Research Facility
• Artificial Intelligence and Image-guided Treatments

For detailed information, please contact the persons listed on the respective facility websites. For TechMed Centre facilities, you can also reach out directly to Sebastiaan Waanders (department head TechMed Infra) at s.waanders@utwente.nl

The TURBO projects should align with the ambition to match unmet clinical needs with technological solutions, aiming to improve health and healthcare through the development of new diagnostic methods and innovative therapies for diseases that are currently difficult to diagnose or treat effectively. Opportunities for improvement include developing and applying emerging technologies—such as organ-on-a-chip systems, artificial intelligence and machine learning for the analysis of large amounts of data, e-health innovations, and sensing technologies, while also addressing legal, ethical, safety, financial, and practical considerations essential for the implementation of medical technology. Promising areas include the current opportunities in defence and healthcare applications, productivity-enhancing healthcare innovations, more sustainable medical materials, and advanced platforms like digital twins. The TURBO program also welcomes any emerging technologies that help meet unmet clinical needs. While TURBO projects can span a wide range of fields, the primary goal of a TURBO-assisted grant application should be to bring the application one step closer to the market or practical application. This means that the projects should preferably focus on a transition of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) or Societal Readiness Level (SRL).

Each year, the UT and Radboudumc jointly award four TURBO grants of 80K€. These project-based grants will be awarded to four new collaborations between researchers from the University of Twente and Radboudumc. New collaborations are defined as: A. No joint publications in the last 10 years. Additionally, researchers with dual appointments should start collaborations with researchers from other research groups. Resubmissions of previously rejected applications are allowed; in this case, applicants may have started working together. This pre-seed subsidy should support a joint grant application by a researcher of the University of Twente and a colleague of the Radboudumc. Typically, this concerns a collaborative grant application for the EU, NWO (e.g. TTW-grants), NWA routes, EFRO, Interreg, etc. Personal grants are explicitly excluded from this list. The grants can be spent freely, with an emphasis on generating sufficient background for the new grant application. The grants can, for example, be used to hire (new) scientific personnel, purchase equipment, arrange networking events for the set-up of new consortia, or realise participation of industrial parties/companies for a joint grant application.

Evaluation committee

• The evaluation committee is (preferentially) chaired by an external representative.
• At both partners, four to six scientific experts take a seat on the committee.
• Grant advisors of both institutions are represented.

Every proposal is first evaluated to fulfil the general eligibility criteria. Proposals that do not fulfil these general criteria will not be taken into consideration by this evaluation committee. The proposals are evaluated by at least two independent scientific experts (reviewers) and a grant advisor from each institution according to the criteria: (scientific) quality (50%), feasibility of the project and likelihood of obtaining additional funding (20%), innovativeness (15%) and (societal) impact (15%). The combined scores of both institutions are the basis for a final ranking by the evaluation committee. The evaluation committee must come to a unanimous agreement. If no consensus can be reached, the chairperson will make the final decision.

Applicants and Collaboration

• The project is a collaboration between a researcher employed at the University of Twente (assistant/associate/professor, or tenure-track position) and a Radboudumc Research Group Leader (RGL), a Talent Tracker (TT), or a member of a Radboudumc RGL’s research group. The RGL is part of the application team but is not necessarily the main applicant.
• A researcher is allowed to submit only one project as applicant or team member. Those who received a TURBO grant as main applicant in last year’s round cannot apply in this round. Those who received a TURBO grant in any previous round can only apply if they fulfilled the conditions of TURBO, i.e. applied for an external grant based on the TURBO project.
• Collaboration between the two parties is evident both in the research proposal and the budget plan. The project’s aim cannot be met without the joint expertise of the applicants from both Institutions (“1+1=3”). Please note only new collaborations can apply.
• Collaboration with additional applicants is possible, but the TURBO resources remain internally at UT and Radboudumc. Other partners can bring in additional resources for the project.

Project

• Projects bring together health and technology (in the broadest sense). Projects should be innovative and may be fundamental, applied, or focused on implementation science.
• The focus of the project and the envisioned external grant application should be integrated in a Radboudumc Research Program and on the interface of unmet need conditions, health and/ or medical technologies, building on existing data sources/ infrastructures.
• The proposed external funding body is known, and accompanying application deadlines are within max. 15 months after the start of the TURBO project.
• Within 8 weeks after finishing the project, the applicants will fill out a short final report (template will be provided) and provide information on what has been achieved, how the collaboration will continue, and which grant has been or will be submitted.

Budget 

• According to the TURBO grant budget plan format, the project represents a value of 80k€ and must be supported by a clear budget plan.
• The budget will be assigned to the department of the main applicants. We strive to have an even distribution of the budget: 40 k€ to the main applicant from the UT and 40 k€ to the main applicant from Radboudumc.
• The project is feasible with the funded subsidy (80k€) and within the proposed time span of max. 1 year. The project includes the finalisation of an external grant application within the project time span.

For general information or questions about the TURBO program: