The Science Faculty of the University of Amsterdam harbors a critical mass of Information, Communication and Technology research at the boundary with Social Sciences and Humanities.Examples of successful interdisciplinaryresearch combine: elderly care and robotics, emotions and film technology, environment and semantic web, brain and computers, politics and social media, biology and psychology, culture and internet technology, music and logic.

The Center for Creation, Content and Technology is a collaboration between institutes and groups of several faculties of the University of Amsterdam and the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, which work together on a project basis in the field of content and technology. The aim is to combine the strengths of these groups in research and education in a unique multi-disciplinary setting, and preferably in collaboration with the (creative) industries in and around Amsterdam. The Beta Beurs Scholarschip is an initiative of the Center for Creation, Content and Technology.

The Beta Beurs is a financial scholarship to excellent bachelor students aimed at encouraging interdisciplinary capstone research at the Science Faculty of the University of Amsterdam. The scholarship will enable students to carry out research requiring resources which otherwise might be impossible to get hands on. Actual costs related with acquiring state-of-the art equipment (e.g. high-resolution camera, robots, eye tracking device), creating new content (e.g. movies, music or other media), gathering data (e.g. large scale computational studies,  behavioral/EEG/fMRI experiments), or developing software (e.g. design of a website, development of dedicated applications), and made in the context of capstone research, can be declared.

Yearly a limited number of approximately 10 scholarships of up to a maximum of €4000 will be offered to students of exceptional academic achievement and scholarly promise. Students enrolled in their second year program are encouraged to apply by completing and submitting this application form prior to December 31, 2010. Applications will be evaluated based on the student’s academic record as well as on interdisciplinarity, creativity and feasibility of the proposed research. Granted applications will be financially administered by the University/College to ensure smooth realization of the capstone research. To this end, a detailed description of the proposed research and expected cost will be asked shortly before the start of the research.

Applicants are advised to find a research supervisor who will guide in shaping the Beta Beurs application and, if granted, in carrying out the actual research. The application form lists several research groups and collaborations where potential supervisors can be found. By establishing a relationship with a research supervisor well in advance of the capstone research, applicants are stimulated to timely deliberate on and without delay resolve topical, organizational or other issues. In addition, applicants are provided with a unique opportunity for prolonged collaboration with and commitment to top research in Amsterdam.

Examples of research proposals that received a Beta beurs scholarship can be found at:

http://staff.science.uva.nl/~ghebreab/BetaBeursReceivers2010.pdf

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The Beta Beurs is devised by Brain & Technology Amsterdam (B&TA) Lab, co-funded by Center for Creation, Content and Technology (CCCT) and subsidized by Platform Beta Techniek (PBT).