Three lines of action
NWO has drawn up a plan of action to give the Netherlands a leading position in science in Europe within ten years. This plan of action entails three lines of action:
Opportunities for researchers
- Often excellent researchers in the Netherlands can neither perform at their best nor profile themselves internationally
- Innovative, high-risk research is under considerable pressure
- The lack of modern research facilities limits the possibilities even further
- Too few young people opt for science, mainly because they believe it lacks career perspectives
NWO wants to provide more opportunities for scientific talent over the next few years. This means that a number of temporary types of grant from NWO, such as the Innovational Research Incentive Scheme, must continue to exist.
Money is also needed to:
- attract top talent from abroad
- ensure that equipment and facilities are once again up to date
What will this yield?
- 1000 positions for top talent at Dutch universities and knowledge institutes
- 2000 research projects for groundbreaking and high-risk research of a top level in all scientific disciplines
- 50 PhD positions for researchers from ethnic minorities
- 80 promotions for women (from assistant professor to associate professor and from associate professor to full professor)
- 6 researchers from the absolute world top who previously worked abroad
- 20 new national research facilities and with this an improvement of the national research infrastructure (Investment Subsidy NWO Large)
- 80 medium-sized facilities with a local and/or regional significance (Investment Subsidy NWO Medium)
Consolidating strengths
The Netherlands must consolidate its strengths within science if it is to compete at an international level. To this end, NWO is, for example, developing National Research Initiatives to consolidate and strengthen top research in the Netherlands. At the same time investments in large-scale research facilities are planned as well as projects to increase the national and international cooperation between and within scientific disciplines.
What will this yield?
- 4 National Research Initiatives
- 15 research facilities with a pan-European allure
- 15 transnational research programmes to strengthen the international profiling and cooperation
- New partnerships with several emerging economies
- An average size of NWO subsidies of at least 300,000 euros
- A decrease of 75% in the number of awards under 100,000 euros
Science for society
Public questions and the call for a strengthening of social and technological innovation are bringing about an increasingly strong demand for knowledge that can be quickly applied. This demands a better harmonisation between current, social questions and the available scientific potential.
As an intermediary organisation NWO brings knowledge requesters and scientists together. NWO, in cooperation with TNO and SenterNovem, wants to realise more socially-inspired research programmes during the next Cabinet period. Also the opportunities for National Research Initiatives (large-scale initiatives in which scientists and other professionals work together) must gain a more structured character. Besides the effective use of existing funds this requires new resources.
What will this yield?
- At least 13 wide-ranging, socially inspired and guided thematic programmes (with an average size of 7 million euros per year in the interest of the intended focus and mass)
- 120 research projects focused on public-private exchange of researchers
- 3 National Research Initiatives of substantial size
- 6 Societal Top Institutes
