The 'Principal Investigator' (PI) system

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The research talent policy of Amsterdam UMC aims to stimulate excellence by recognizing professionals who are in the lead in their research field. In line with Recognition and Rewards in academic institutions, Amsterdam UMC recognizes researchers who have established their own research line and research group by distinguishing them as Principal Investigator (PI). Currently, Amsterdam UMC has about 800 PIs. They are an important contact point for the divisions, departments, research institutes, project administration and the domains of Research Support. Being appointed as PI of Amsterdam UMC increases their visibility and encourages them to take up further leadership roles and to engage in (inter)national cooperation and joint grant writing.

How to become Principal Investigator?

Every year, the Board of Directors invites department and subdepartment heads to nominate researchers who meet the minimum criteria for PI-ship via the application form on this webpage. Researchers should have a personal research profile in Pure, as well as an appointment with Amsterdam UMC, or the Amsterdam UMC Research BV, or a guest appointment. The Amsterdam Research Board (ARB) will evaluate the Portfolio of the PI-candidates to provide advice to the Board of Directors (BoD), who will decide on the appointment of new PIs.

PI-nomination round

After the online nomination, the (sub)department head will receive an email confirmation and request for a letter supporting the PI-nomination (compulsory as of 2025). The nominated PI-candidate also receives an email confirmation, as well as instructions on how to prepare their ‘PI-Qualification Portfolio’ (PI-QP) for evaluation by the ARB. This PI-QP should provide insight into their role as leader of an own research line and research group within Amsterdam UMC. Most of the data in the QP will be obtained from the researcher’s Pure profile, the Doctoral School and Project administration. The PI-candidate is given sufficient opportunity to check the data, to request for corrections in the data sources of Amsterdam UMC and to provide additional data in numbers and narratives.

After submission, each Qualification Portfolio will be evaluated by several members of the ARB, followed by a plenary discussion in the ARB-meeting, on the basis of which positive or negative advice is provided to the Board of Directors.Note that the PI-nomination will not be taken into consideration in case the PI-QP and/or Pure research profile is incomplete.The PI-candidates and their department heads will receive a letter with the positive or negative decision, sent on behalf of the BoD by the coordinator of the PI-nomination round, beginning of 2026. The new PIs will be made known within Amsterdam UMC and receive relevant research-related information via the PI email list of Research Support.

Criteria

The role as leader of an own research line and research group within Amsterdam UMC should be demonstrated bymeeting all of the following minimum criteria:

Publications
  • At least six publications in the last six years as first or last author, of which at least one as last author. NB publications in ‘predatory journals’ do not count (see: Submitting and publishing).
Funding
  • Active, external funding of at least 300.000 Euros that has been obtained as main applicant, or coordinator of an EU Workpackage. At least one grant of the total amount is as large as 150k, and 50k is still active during the full calendar year after the PI-nomination (thus until 31/12/2026).
PhD supervision
  • Having acted at least once as (co)supervisor of a successfully completed PhD trajectory, as well as being (co)supervisor of at least one current PhD candidate who is registered with the Doctoral School of Amsterdam UMC. Also, at least one current PhD trajectory at Amsterdam UMC should be active during the full calendar year after the PI-nomination (thus until 31/12/2026). In case the role as co-supervisor is not visible on the thesis, or a finished PhD trajectory will be rounded off shortly, proof should be provided.

Planning 2025

  • Deadline May 30th 2025, department heads: Online nomination of PI-candidates on invitation of the Board of Directors, via the button on this webpage.
  • Until Sept 1st, department heads: Letter supporting the PI-nomination to: rs-pi-benoemingsronde@amsterdamumc.nl.

  • June 2nd until Sept 12th, PI-candidates: preparation of the PI-Qualification Portfolio for evaluation by the ARB. The following data should be completed:

  • Sept 15th 9:00 hrs: submission of data is closed to prepare the evaluation.
  • Oct - Nov: Evaluation by the Amsterdam Research Board and advice to the Board of Directors.
  • Dec: Decision by the Board of Directors.
  • Jan 2026: Confirmation or rejection letter to the PI-candidates and the department head.

Practical matters

Department heads are requested to provide the following information in the online application form, next to their own details:

  • Title(s), Full name, Initials and email address of the PI-candidate;
  • Department, division, affiliated research institute(s) and program(s);
  • ORCID of the PI-candidate.

Contact

In case of questions, please contact the coordinator of the PI-nomination round, Dr. Hannerieke van der Boom, Research Policy Office, rs-pi-benoemingsronde@amsterdamumc.nl.

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