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The Netherlands has a strong position in photonics. Taiwan also spends a lot research capacity on photonics. Taiwan is one of the markets where the Dutch photonics sector positions itself in a public-private context, both in terms of technological cooperation and business development. Taiwan has an excellent position in semiconductor production and, partly due to global climate developments, faces many societal challenges that photonic innovations can help solve. The Netherlands and Taiwan can benefit from each other’s strengths.

This call is open to academia from the photonics community in The Netherlands and Taiwan. It aims to give an impulse to photonics research in both economies to stimulate (new) collaborations between the two science communities, and to learn from each other’s approaches solving blocking issues for the future.

Eligible consortia are composed of researchers based in The Netherlands and in Taiwan, with active involvement in the project of a main applicant on both the Dutch and the Taiwanese side. The consortium must also include at least one industry partner on both sides.

The main applicants and consortia can apply for funds for a project with a maximum duration of five years. Each project consists of a Dutch work package and a Taiwanese work package. Per project, a maximum of k€ 750 can be requested from NWO for the Dutch work package, and a maximum of NT$ 3M per year can be requested from MOST for the Taiwanese work package.

The deadline to submit your full proposal is 9 November 2021, 14:00:00 CEST.

Read more and download the full call information on the NWO site.

Dutch State Secretary Mona Keijzer expects this financial support for innovation to help several dozen new knowledge-intensive companies get off the ground in the coming years.
Bart Brouwers

The Dutch government is allocating 24 million euros for start-ups that can grow thanks to knowledge from research. Three collaborations between innovative companies, universities, other knowledge institutions, and (venture) investors in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), Medtech, and water technology are involved. This is the second tender of the so-called Thematic Technology Transfer (TTT) scheme.

In September 2019, the Dutch government made the same amount available for collaborations in the fields of regenerative medicine, smart systems, and circular solutions. According to the government, this support has now led to the first investments such as in a startup developing a biological drug against thrombosis.

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) selected the three consortia. Each consortium will receive 8 million euros of the available 24 million euros.

1. Artificial intelligence

The first collaboration will focus on the application of artificial intelligence within the themes of healthcare and security. Coordinated by the University of Amsterdam, five Dutch universities, four university medical centers, the Center for Mathematics and Computer Science, and the Eindhoven-based venture investor LUMO Labs will participate.

TTT.AI is intended to become the Dutch counter for AI startups that originate from a knowledge institution. “With this AI consortium we can successfully bring more AI initiatives from our knowledge institutions to the market and to society,” says Peter Westerhuijs, project leader of the consortium and business developer at IXA-UvA.

Andy Lürling, Founding Partner of LUMO Labs, says that his investment fund is already working extensively with knowledge institutions. “Thanks to this TTT.AI consortium, together we are much better able to identify promising initiatives and give them a flying start. Pioneering research and innovative development in the field of AI can thus find their way into society faster and better. Early-stage funding is indispensable to make the step from idea to impact.”

2. Medical technology for better diagnoses

A consortium of the four technical universities, university medical centers in Rotterdam, Nijmegen, and Maastricht, and the Amsterdam-based venture investor Innovation Industries are joining forces for more successful medical technology. They are building a national and open program that will bring together the right knowledge and expertise at an early stage and accelerate the market passage of medical technology innovations for better or less burdensome diagnoses and treatments, for example.

3. Water technology for energy reuse and storage

Netherlands Enabling Water Technology (NEW), the consortium for water technology, will also receive €8 million. The consortium consists of WetsusUniversity of GroningenDeltares, and Investment and Development Company North Netherlands (NOM). NEW stimulates startups with initiatives in the field of water technology to accelerate the transition to a circular, sustainable and climate-neutral economy, for example in the field of water and raw materials reuse and production and storage of energy from water.

The NEW plan consists of two parts: knowledge transfer and a fund. The partners in the knowledge transfer part will scout promising knowledge startups, have them develop at an accelerated pace and nominate the most promising startups to the NEW fund. “Without the financial support from the NEW fund, many good ideas in the water technology field will ultimately not make it to the market,” said an explanation from NEW. “Through the combined knowledge and broad expertise, stronger innovations will be developed by the knowledge starters. This, in combination with the NEW fund managed by NOM, will lead to more promising knowledge startups and a faster transition of startups to the growth phase.”

“The Netherlands as an innovation leader”

State Secretary Mona Keijzer expects that with this targeted financial support for innovation, several dozen new knowledge-intensive companies can get off the ground in the coming years. “The Netherlands is Europe’s innovation leader and we want to remain so. This scheme focuses on technological cooperation between science and entrepreneurs and gives a boost to our future jobs and income. It is important that we focus on innovation for both the short and long term in the current economic crisis.”

Original article: Innovation Origins

Press Release Rijksoverheid

Six consortia of companies, educational and knowledge institutions and governments will work in the coming years on research aimed at technological innovation with economic potential. Within the Perspective program of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), they have been awarded a total of 22 million euros from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK) for innovative research. The 138 companies and social organizations involved also contribute ten million euros from their own resources.

Economic and social impact

The six awarded programs focus on a new generation of optical broadband connections, the recovery of useful substances from industrial waste streams, the development of lighter materials for CO2 reduction in transport, the standardization of the production of pieces of human organ on a chip, the prevention of freshwater shortages due to better purification techniques and the linking of data for smarter electricity networks that help contribute to the energy transition.

Perspectief is a program that challenges scientists to set up new lines of research with economic and social impact in collaboration with the business community and civil society organizations. Perspectief aims to contribute to the creation of economic opportunities within the key enabling technologies and the social themes of the mission-driven innovation policy.

Development of new technologies is crucial

State Secretary Mona Keijzer (Economic Affairs and Climate): “Innovation is the basis for our future jobs and income. That is why it remains necessary to actively fund research and stimulate collaboration between entrepreneurs, education, science and governments. We focus on major social challenges, for example in the field of healthcare and the energy transition. Development of new technologies is crucial here. It is also necessary to have an eye for the future in order to be able to innovate out of the corona crisis and to strengthen the Dutch economy. ”

The composition of the consortia is characteristic of Perspectief: all players who are required to arrive at usable solutions in practice participate. For example, the program aimed at future smart electricity networks involves not only technology companies and technical service providers, but also the three largest Dutch network operators. In the program that aims to solve freshwater shortages, the researchers are collaborating with engineering firms and water companies, as well as with water boards, municipalities and provinces.

Events

TEKNOWLOGY is the Dutch festival where technology, science, innovation and valorisation meet. At TEKNOWLOGY visitors are shown the technical innovations of the future and how Dutch science is prepared for it. The next edition will be both live on location and online from 16 – 20 November 2020.

A day full of out-of-the-box ideas, examples of knowledge utilisation, opportunities for financing and the role of NWO in innovation policy, and inspirational keynotes.

Key Technologies are technologies of the “future” that will have an enormous impact on how we live, learn, work and produce. These are technologies that will brush to one side our ideas about what is possible and could potentially lead to groundbreaking innovations. NWO makes 11 million euros available for research focused on Key Technologies. By funding fundamental and application-oriented scientific research into technological breakthroughs, economic opportunities are created for the Netherlands and a contribution is made to solving societal challenges. An online information meeting will take place on 28 September.

Information about the programme

Sign up via the form on this page.

DutchBiophysics is the annual two-day conference on molecular and cellular biophysics. The aim of this conference is to bring together all Dutch research groups in these two fields of biophysics. The next edition of DutchBiophysics takes place on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 October 2021.

We are all longing for a regular physical meeting this year. The current chain of events and the information provided by the Dutch government however, do not allow us to sufficiently predict the situation in October 2021. After ample deliberation we, the scientific programme committee and the organising team, see no other possibility therefore than to organise a digital conference again.

DutchBiophysics programme

The programme of DutchBiophysics consists of keynote presentations, various plenary sessions with invited national and international speakers, parallel sessions and poster presentations. During the conference, the BioPM Thesis Prize and the BioPM Poster Prize will be awarded by the Association for Biophysics and Biomedical Technology (BioPM).

Full programme

Organisation

DutchBiophysics is organised and sponsored by the NWO domain Science (ENW), in collaboration with the Dutch Society for Microscopy (NVvM), the Association for Biophysics and Biomedical Technology (BioPM), and the Dutch Society for Cell Biology (DSCB).

Contact

You can contact the organisers by email at biophysics@nwo.nl.