Press release April 9, 2021
1.35 Billion euros will be made available from the National Growth Fund (Groeifonds) for artificial intelligence, regenerative medicine, infrastructure for health data, quantum technology and hydrogen / green chemistry. This concerns the funding of 5 proposals (awards and reservations) for research and innovation submitted by State Secretary Mona Keijzer (Economic Affairs and Climate) on behalf of cooperating companies, knowledge institutions and governments.
According to the independent advisory committee, they contribute to economic growth, the strengthening of research and innovation ecosystems and the international knowledge and competitive position of the Netherlands. The decision of the advisory committee on the first round of the National Growth Fund was adopted by the Council of Ministers today. In addition to supporting innovative strength, proposals for strengthening infrastructure (IenW) and knowledge development (OCW) were also assessed. It concerned a total of 15 applications.
State Secretary Mona Keijzer (EZK): “Innovation aimed at digitization, sustainability and health immediately acquired a prominent place at the start of the National Growth Fund. That is good for all Dutch people. After all: research and development is the key to sustainable growth and thus our jobs and income for the future. ”
The State Secretary continues: “The large-scale public funding for these five innovative applications will make an important contribution to keep our country prosperous. It is necessary for the government to take on a more active role to further develop research, innovation and technology, to allow start-ups to continue to grow, to attract talent, to maintain innovation in the Netherlands and thus to strengthen our international position. I see great opportunities for the cooperating companies, knowledge institutions and governments involved in this to capitalize on these challenges. ”
The five funded proposals from research and development (R&D) and innovation are:
Quantum Delta Nederland – 615 Million Euro
The Dutch knowledge position in the field of quantum technology is among the best in the world. The proposal to further expand the ecosystem and convert it into business is fully funded (615 million euros). Quantum Delta Netherlands works in Amsterdam, Delft, Eindhoven, Leiden and Twente with a large coalition of companies, universities and other knowledge institutions on setting up the necessary infrastructure, developing the technology and its applicability. Part of the plan is also investing in employees for the future, so that this new sector will soon have enough trained personnel.
Quantum technology uses two principles: entanglement and superposition. Entanglement means that two particles are non-physically connected. If one changes, the other changes immediately: faster than light. This makes new, extremely safe and fast (communication) networks possible. Superposition ensures that, instead of regular bits that can be either 0 or 1 alone, qubits are 0 and 1 at the same time. That releases a lot of computing power. A quantum computer can do calculations that modern computers would take centuries to do.
Quantum Delta Netherlands is developing the first quantum computer that is of great importance for more efficient production or transport due to the calculation speed. But is also working on the first larger quantum network and on quantum sensors that are able to measure changes in very small particles, such as in DNA. Another future contribution is the contribution to cybersecurity via a secure (quantum) internet.
Regenerative medicine: RegMed XB – 56 million euro
The amount requested for two biomedical innovation proposals is fully funded. The first is RegMed XB (56 million euros), which will build four Dutch pilot factories (Eindhoven, Leiden, Maastricht, Utrecht) for the development of regenerative medicine. This focuses on the repair of damage to cells, tissues and organs, so that chronic diseases can be prevented or cured.
Healthcare is a global, growing market due to an increasing population and an aging population. Effective treatments with gene and stem cell therapy are therefore also a great economic opportunity. The economic goal of RegMed XB is to enable Dutch businesses to develop these innovative products and processes together with researchers and to respond to a rapidly growing foreign market.
Health-RI: infrastructure for health data – 69 million euro
The second proposal within the theme of biomedical innovation is about setting up an integrated and secure national health data infrastructure. This involves pooling and reusing Dutch knowledge in the field of health, not a data infrastructure for patient care. The requested amount of 69 million euros from the public-private partnership Health-RI is also fully funded.
Data is currently still being managed in a fragmented way by many healthcare and science organizations such as the University Medical Centers. Joining forces is essential to develop new and more effective (personalized) solutions for diagnosis, treatment and prevention more quickly and cheaply. The large amount of new fundamental knowledge about lifestyle, health and disease, combined with a technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), contributes to both our health and to Dutch companies that are active in this field.
Scale up of Opschalen van hydrogen and green electrons in industry – 338 million euro
The Green Power proposal is partially funded (338 million euros) and is aimed at the upscaling of hydrogen and the application of green electrons in energy-intensive industries. It concerns an integrated approach by companies, governments and knowledge institutions in this sector, including a broadly coherent research and innovation program and an education agenda. Moreover, development can make a significant contribution to the climate challenge.
Public investments must create a powerful and flexible hydrogen ecosystem that forms the basis for the upscaling of hydrogen and electrochemistry. Industrial clusters with opportunities for this are the Northern Netherlands, Amsterdam, Rotterdam / Moerdijk, Zeeland, Arnhem, Brainport Eindhoven and Limburg (Chemelot).
More research and innovations are needed to ultimately be able to use green hydrogen efficiently and more cheaply. This also creates interesting revenue models for the Netherlands, both in a possible role as producer or international distributor.
AiNed: investment program artificial intelligence – 276 million euro
The Dutch AI Coalition (NL AIC), a public-private partnership of more than 250 participants, has been largely funded (276 million euros) for the first phase of its investment proposal for artificial intelligence (AI). The ambition of the so-called AiNed program is to get the Netherlands in the international leading group of countries, both in terms of social conditions and the economic utilization of AI.
AI can be widely applied for, for example, more efficient energy systems, smarter mobility and logistics or better healthcare. The proposal focuses on a coordinated Dutch approach to strengthen knowledge and applicability of AI through research, innovation, valorisation, education and to ensure people-oriented, responsible application of AI in society.
The focus in the approach for the accelerated application of AI in the Netherlands is on sectors that generate the most earning potential: high-tech industry, mobility, logistics, energy, health and care. The strategic program therefore invests in attracting and retaining talented AI scientists, training and education, developing social frameworks for applications and intensifying participation in European programs, so that more EU money comes to the Netherlands.
Second round of financing from National Growth Fund
In total, State Secretary Mona Keijzer submitted six proposals on behalf of the parties involved for the first round. The FoodSwitch proposal has not been accepted. The National Growth Fund has announced that a second round will follow this year in which improved and new proposals can be submitted for funding. Research and development (R&D) and innovation remain one of the pillars of the fund. A total of 20 billion euros is available from the fund until 2026, in the first round, 4 billion euros (partly conditionally) has been allocated and reserved today.
Nanotechnology companies share experience with Safe-by-Design
What did the study show?
In this NanoReg2 project, 6 companies have introduced Safe-by-Design. They applied Safe-by-Design measures for nanomaterials, nanoproducts or nanomaterial production processes. This led to favorable results for the participating companies:
What is required for Safe-by-Design?
What does the RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment think?
Materials, products and processes must be safe from the outset. Safe materials, products and processes are a precondition for a circular economy and a safe living environment. Not enough is known about possible adverse health effects of a large number of nanomaterials. This requires new smart ways. These should reduce the uncertainty about the safety of nanomaterials. Safe-by-Design can be very helpful in this, together with the developed instruments that go with it. It is an effective approach to develop safe innovations in a smart way.
Embedding of Safe-by-Design
The companies participating in the project used a number of tools and measures. This can be seen in the Safe-by-Design examples from practice. It is an important development towards embedding Safe-by-Design in companies. In addition, NanoReg2 has taken a step to allow companies, researchers and risk assessors to cooperate in the development of Safe-by-Design. This should lead to safe nanomaterials that are also suitable for a circular economy.
The published article shows the benefits of introducing Safe-by-Design at companies. But it also shows that it is custom work. Knowledge and availability of data play an important role. The GO FAIR AdvancedNano Implementation network can play a major role for the availability of data. These points are important for Safe-by-Design to be successful.
Source RIVM
Dutch researchers establish the first entanglement-based quantum network
A team of researchers from QuTech in the Netherlands reports realization of the first multi-node quantum network, connecting three quantum processors. In addition, they achieved a proof-of-principle demonstration of key quantum network protocols. Their findings mark an important milestone towards the future quantum internet and have now been published in Science.
The quantum internet
The power of the Internet is that it allows any two computers on Earth to be connected with each other, enabling applications undreamt of at the time of its creation decades ago. Today, researchers in many labs around the world are working towards first versions of a quantum internet – a network that can connect any two quantum devices, such as quantum computers or sensors, over large distances. Whereas today’s Internet distributes information in bits (that can be either 0 or 1), a future quantum internet will make use of quantum bits that can be 0 and 1 at the same time. ‘A quantum internet will open up a range of novel applications, from unhackable communication and cloud computing with complete user privacy to high-precision time-keeping,’ says Matteo Pompili, PhD student and a member of the research team. ‘And like with the Internet 40 years ago, there are probably many applications we cannot foresee right now.
Co-authors Matteo Pompili (left) and Sophie Hermans (right), both PhD student in the group of Ronald Hanson, at one of the quantum network nodes.
Towards ubiquitous connectivity
The first steps towards a quantum internet were taken in the past decade by linking two quantum devices that shared a direct physical link. However, being able to pass on quantum information through intermediate nodes (analogous to routers in the classical internet) is essential for creating a scalable quantum network. In addition, many promising quantum internet applications rely on entangled quantum bits, to be distributed between multiple nodes. Entanglement is a phenomenon observed at the quantum scale, fundamentally connecting particles at small and even at large distances. It provides quantum computers their enormous computational power and it is the fundamental resource for sharing quantum information over the future quantum internet. By realizing their quantum network in the lab, a team of researchers at QuTech – a collaboration between Delft University of Technology and TNO – is the first to have connected two quantum processors through an intermediate node and to have established shared entanglement between multiple stand-alone quantum processors.
Operating the quantum network
The rudimentary quantum network consists of three quantum nodes, at some distance within the same building. To make these nodes operate as a true network, the researchers had to invent a novel architecture that enables scaling beyond a single link. The middle node (called Bob) has a physical connection to both outer nodes (called Alice and Charlie), allowing entanglement links with each of these nodes to be established. Bob is equipped with an additional quantum bit that can be used as memory, allowing a previously generated quantum link to be stored while a new link is being established. After establishing the quantum links Alice–Bob and Bob–Charlie, a set of quantum operations at Bob converts these links into a quantum link Alice-Charlie. Alternatively, by performing a different set of quantum operations at Bob, entanglement between all three nodes is established.
Researchers work on one of the quantum network nodes, where mirrors and filters guide the laser beams to the diamond chip.
Ready for subsequent use
An important feature of the network is that it announces the successful completion of these (intrinsically probabilistic) protocols with a “flag” signal. Such heralding is crucial for scalability, as in a future quantum internet many of such protocols will need to be concatenated. ‘Once established, we were able to preserve the resulting entangled states, protecting them from noise,’ says Sophie Hermans, another member of the team. ‘It means that, in principle, we can use these states for quantum key distribution, a quantum computation or any other subsequent quantum protocol.’
Quantum Internet Demonstrator
This first entanglement-based quantum network provides the researchers with a unique testbed for developing and testing quantum internet hardware, software and protocols. ‘The future quantum internet will consist of countless quantum devices and intermediate nodes,’ says Ronald Hanson, who led the research team. ‘Colleagues at QuTech are already looking into future compatibility with existing data infrastructures.’ In due time, the current proof-of-principle approach will be tested outside the lab on existing telecom fibre – on QuTech’s Quantum Internet Demonstrator, of which the first metropolitan link is scheduled to be completed in 2022.
Higher-level layers
In the lab, the researchers will focus on adding more quantum bits to their three-node network and on adding higher level software and hardware layers. Pompili: ‘Once all the high-level control and interface layers for running the network have been developed, anybody will be able to write and run a network application without needing to understand how lasers and cryostats work. That is the end goal.’
Source: QuTech news item
Medical technological innovations accelerated to the market through government investment of € 8 million
The 4 technical universities (4TU), including the University of Twente and WUR, are joining forces with three medical academic centers and venture investor Innovation Industries to bring medical technical (medtech) solutions to the market faster. This week, the Ministries of EZK and OCW awarded 8 million euros to the medtech consortium from the Thematic Technology Transfer (TTT) scheme. This TTT scheme is best practice in Europe in the field of support for spin-offs, incubators and universities. The consortium aims to further expand the good international position of the Dutch medtech sector.
This TTT scheme is best practice in Europe in the field of support for spin-offs, incubators and universities. The consortium aims to further expand the good international position of the Dutch medtech sector.
Technological innovations are desperately needed to keep healthcare affordable, qualitative and manageable in the long term. However, the route to the market is very complex and difficult for medtech spin-offs. The Knowledge Transfer Offices (KTO) of TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, University of Twente and Wageningen University & Research, together with the KTOs of Erasmus MC, RadboudUMC and Maastricht UMC, and VC fund Innovation Industries, are building a national and open program.
Less downtime and faster to the market
“The initiative for this application comes from 4TU, with the University of Twente as lead party,” says Roy Kolkman, Manager of the KTO of the University of Twente. “With this investment we lay an excellent foundation for the medtech spin-offs in the Netherlands. By enriching the breeding ground with the right knowledge and expertise, the chance of failure is smaller and the time-to-market is shortened. ”
Better propositions
“By joining forces between UMCs and TUs, we arrive at strong propositions,” says Thijs Spigt, KTO director of Erasmus MC. “The knowledge and experience within the consortium ensures faster validation and a better business proposition. Extensive attention is paid to clinical demand, technical feasibility and business development. ”
Expansion of leading position
“The Netherlands is a frontrunner in the development of new technologies. However, bringing it to market is a major challenge. We invest in this consortium and do everything we can to make it a success. In addition to capital, we make an important contribution with our knowledge, experience and network, “says Pleuni Hooijman, fund manager at Innovation Industries.”
Source: Health Valley news
Researchers grow most lifelike woven bone yet starting from cells
Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and Radboudumc have interwoven various bone cells into an ‘organoid’ that can independently make new, hard bone tissue. It’s the most complete 3D model of bone formation to date. The 3D model allows for the study of the key biochemical processes in unprecedented detail and could help in cracking the many mysteries surrounding bone formation. Moreover, the lab-grown bone is particularly suitable for testing and designing new treatments for bone diseases such as osteoporosis or osteogenesis imperfecta.
Imagine using stem cells from your bone marrow to grow a new piece of your bone tissue in the lab, after which medical doctors explore how certain drugs affect your bone tissue. In this way, a tailor-made treatment plan could be made for you, and potentially for everyone. Welcome to the world of personalized medicine.
This vision of drug development is no longer science fiction now that researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and Radboud university medical center have actually realized the first part: growing a lifelike piece of bone tissue from human stem cells. It is the first organoid of bone, a simplified version of the original bone, and the researchers report about it today in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
Sandra Hofmann: “We show that we can make lifelike bone exclusively with two cell types.” Image: Vincent van den Hoogen
COHERENT PICTURE
“With this, we present, for the first time, the full picture of early-stage bone formation,” says Sandra Hofmann, associate professor in Bioengineering Bone from TU/e. And this is of great importance, particularly as the process by which bones form is still largely a mystery. Bone is a very complex material in which, on the one hand, countless cells and processes interact and, on the other hand, an ingenious matrix of collagen and mineral is built up to provide material strength. Much is known about the individual components, but a coherent picture has been lacking until now.
Three types of cells play the main role in bone formation: osteoblasts (which build bone tissue), osteoclasts (which take bone away) and osteocytes (which regulate the building and breaking down of bone). “Most studies so far have focused on one of these types of cells, but that is not a good representation of the real tissue,” says Hofmann. “We present here a piece of woven bone (early-stage bone) that developed from stem cells and contains two types of bone cells: osteoblasts and osteocytes. We now see that we can make lifelike bone exclusively with these two cell types.”
A tiny part of the bone organoid, reconstructed with 3D electron microscopy. The colors indicate different cells connected to form the osteocyte network, embedded in the collagen matrix (cyan).
GETTING WISER FROM MOLECULAR POKING
“And perhaps more importantly, our system behaves just like early-stage bone “, says Anat Akiva, assistant professor Cell Biology at Radboudumc. “We show that both types of cells produce the proteins that the cells need for their functionality, and we show with the greatest detail that the matrix actually is the bone matrix we see in real tissue.”
The fact that a simplified representation of the formation of bone at the molecular level is now possible offers unprecedented possibilities, according to the researchers. “A bone consists of 99% collagen and minerals, but there is also another 1% of proteins that are essential for successful bone formation,” explains professor Nico Sommerdijk from Radboudumc. “So what’s the role of these proteins? How do they support bone formation? Never before have we been able to look at the milestones of this process at a molecular level.”
And with that, they immediately have a great starting point from which to investigate the cause of genetic bone diseases such as ‘brittle bone disease’ and their possible treatments. “Remember that the origin of many diseases is at the molecular level – and so is the treatment,” says Akiva. “In fact, we now have a simple system in a reliable environment where we can poke around and see what happens.”
REFERENCE
Anat Akiva et al., An Organoid for Woven Bone, Advanced Functional Materials (9 March 2021). DOI:10.1002/adfm.202010524
Source: hDMT Technology news
Thin Film/MEMS event offers view on current state of the art
With three speakers from different backgrounds, MinacNed gave a broad picture of the application of Thin Film / MEMS technology on April 20. This event is freely accessible to members of MinacNed and the aim is to exchange knowledge between experts and interested parties on a specific theme.
Thin Film/MEMS applications
From Philips, Rob van Schaijk has provided insight into new technology applications, including a look at the future of ultrasound imaging. Richard Norte, assistant professor at TU Delft, showed in his presentation how thin film mirrors are used and which interfaces there are with other nano application areas. Aaike van Vugt, CEO of VSParticle showed that his company focuses on the endless applications of nanoparticles and the collaboration they enter into with strategic partners. Moderator Frank van de Scheur led the session in which the speakers were challenged in discussion and by questions from the participants.
MinacNed has tackled a broad subject here, in which the three presentations have their own perspective, which gave the participants a brief impression of the application of Thin Film / MEMS. For those who have missed the session, it is possible to watch it again. Send an email to Aurélie Veltema via a.veltema@minacned.nl.
Read more about the event and the speakers’ abstracts.
Share your suggestion for a theme
Events are being planned for the months of May and June that will be announced shortly. If you have an idea for an event or if you have a question that you would like to tackle with experts, please send a message to MinacNed. The MinacNed member events are for and by members and we are happy to think along with you about speakers and the content of the event.
Minimizing ice contamination at every step of cryo-EM workflow
Delmic Press Release April 15, 2021
Following the innovative cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) solution METEOR, we are delighted to launch a new cryo-EM solution, CERES Ice Defence System, a series of powerful tools that will minimize ice contamination at every step of your cryo-EM workflow: preparation, transfer and lamella generation.
From the survey results we collected, ice contamination during lamellae preparation affects almost every researcher to a certain extent. On average over 30% of the lamellae used for tomogram acquisition have more than 50% unusable area and nearly half of our respondents realize the samples are ice contaminated already at the transmission electron microscope. Such hassles not only bring frustration but also can cause a drop in productivity. Helping the worldwide researchers have a happier research life has always been Delmic’s mission. Therefore, in collaboration of Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology in Germany, we developed CERES Ice Defence System, which consists of CERES Clean Station, CERES Vitri-Lock and CERES Ice Shield. These three innovative tools will give maximum protection to your cryogenic samples so that you can obtain the highest quality cryo-EM samples, with higher throughput and world-class results.
CERES Clean Station
During the cryo-EM sample preparation, it’s very common that parasitic ice crystals from contaminated liquid nitrogen to grow on the sample. Hence, you need a low-humidity and space-saving sample preparation environment to secure your cryo lamellae. CERES Clean Station is the perfect tool as it provides a less than 1% humidity/100 ppm water environment, which promises you with no more effort wasted preparing precious samples only to get it ice contaminated. Thanks to the user-friendly gloves design, you can also expect a high agility while handling the fragile samples.
CERES Vitri-Lock
From the survey results, half of researchers think the ice contamination during sample transfers bothers them the more than other issues. CERES Vitri-Lock, a high vacuum cryo transfer (HVCT), ensures that cryogenic samples stay vitrified during all the cryo sample transfers, in between the preparation station, fluorescent light microscope (FLM), scanning electron microscope (SEM)/FIB and TEM. Additionally, ‘cold time’ is also prolonged up to 30 minutes so that transferring samples between stations won’t require you running anymore.
CERES Ice Shield
The survey results also showed that 13% of researchers expressed their struggles with ice growth during sample thinning, which definitely held them back from an automated milling process. As certain ice contamination rates are currently admitted by major cryo FIB/SEM suppliers, SEM users are forced to experience time pressure during the milling process. Our patented innovation, CERES Ice Shield, was therefore created to give ultimate protection to the sample within the FIB /SEM chamber. By providing a colder surface within close proximity to the cryo sample and preventing any residual moisture in the chamber to condense on the sample, CERES Ice Shield enables you to take your time during sample milling and even leave lamellae in the cryo-FIB/SEM overnight without any contamination concerns.
Working with CERES Ice Defence System (For FIB/SEM)
Load plunge frozen samples into Clean Station via the antechamber, perform C-clipping and sample-shuttle assembly on the LN2 cooled preparation table in the chamber, pump Vitri-Lock chamber to high vacuum and then load the sample-shuttle into Vitri-Lock for transfer to the cryo-FIB/SEM for lamellae preparation. When the lamellae samples are prepared, transfer the samples to Clean Station from the cryo FIB/SEM using Vitri-Lock. Use the cassette loading module on the preparation station in Clean Station to load samples with lamellae into the cassette for the downstream cryo-TEM process.
DeCERES Ice Defence System is user-friendly solution in the market, that secures your cryogenic samples to the maximum. Without ice contamination challenge, you can concentrate on acquiring more data to understand the building blocks of life with ease. Visit our website to learn about how CERES Ice Defence System can boost your productivity: https://www.delmic.com/en/products/cryo-solutions/ceres-ice-defence-system
The Dutch Top sectors are calling for continued investment in human capital
In the run-up to a new cabinet, the Dutch Top Sectors are calling for continued investment in people, especially now. They advocate an investment of 50 million euros per year over the next four years for, among other things, the upscaling of Learning Communities in which working, learning and innovation reinforce each other. That investment is desperately needed to continue to make good use of new technology and innovation.
A lot of technology and innovation in our country is at risk of not being exploited due to a growing shortage of people with the right knowledge and skills. To turn this tide, a transformation of the labor market is needed. The targeted increase of the skills of the working population yields a 2% growth in productivity, according to research by the OECD, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Sufficient employees with the right knowledge and skills also ensure that the Netherlands can continue to work on major social challenges in the field of Energy & Sustainability, Health & Care, Agriculture, Water & Food and Safety.
Learning Communities strengthen working, learning and innovation
The Top Sectors advocate an investment in the development and upscaling of Learning Communities as sustainable partnerships in which working, learning and innovation are closely organized. In this way, knowledge can circulate faster, training is more effective, more attractive and more accessible for a large group of pupils, students and employees.
Position Paper (pdf)
Extra impulse of 1.35 billion euros for innovation from the National Growth Fund (Groeifonds)
Press release April 9, 2021
1.35 Billion euros will be made available from the National Growth Fund (Groeifonds) for artificial intelligence, regenerative medicine, infrastructure for health data, quantum technology and hydrogen / green chemistry. This concerns the funding of 5 proposals (awards and reservations) for research and innovation submitted by State Secretary Mona Keijzer (Economic Affairs and Climate) on behalf of cooperating companies, knowledge institutions and governments.
According to the independent advisory committee, they contribute to economic growth, the strengthening of research and innovation ecosystems and the international knowledge and competitive position of the Netherlands. The decision of the advisory committee on the first round of the National Growth Fund was adopted by the Council of Ministers today. In addition to supporting innovative strength, proposals for strengthening infrastructure (IenW) and knowledge development (OCW) were also assessed. It concerned a total of 15 applications.
State Secretary Mona Keijzer (EZK): “Innovation aimed at digitization, sustainability and health immediately acquired a prominent place at the start of the National Growth Fund. That is good for all Dutch people. After all: research and development is the key to sustainable growth and thus our jobs and income for the future. ”
The State Secretary continues: “The large-scale public funding for these five innovative applications will make an important contribution to keep our country prosperous. It is necessary for the government to take on a more active role to further develop research, innovation and technology, to allow start-ups to continue to grow, to attract talent, to maintain innovation in the Netherlands and thus to strengthen our international position. I see great opportunities for the cooperating companies, knowledge institutions and governments involved in this to capitalize on these challenges. ”
The five funded proposals from research and development (R&D) and innovation are:
Quantum Delta Nederland – 615 Million Euro
The Dutch knowledge position in the field of quantum technology is among the best in the world. The proposal to further expand the ecosystem and convert it into business is fully funded (615 million euros). Quantum Delta Netherlands works in Amsterdam, Delft, Eindhoven, Leiden and Twente with a large coalition of companies, universities and other knowledge institutions on setting up the necessary infrastructure, developing the technology and its applicability. Part of the plan is also investing in employees for the future, so that this new sector will soon have enough trained personnel.
Quantum technology uses two principles: entanglement and superposition. Entanglement means that two particles are non-physically connected. If one changes, the other changes immediately: faster than light. This makes new, extremely safe and fast (communication) networks possible. Superposition ensures that, instead of regular bits that can be either 0 or 1 alone, qubits are 0 and 1 at the same time. That releases a lot of computing power. A quantum computer can do calculations that modern computers would take centuries to do.
Quantum Delta Netherlands is developing the first quantum computer that is of great importance for more efficient production or transport due to the calculation speed. But is also working on the first larger quantum network and on quantum sensors that are able to measure changes in very small particles, such as in DNA. Another future contribution is the contribution to cybersecurity via a secure (quantum) internet.
Regenerative medicine: RegMed XB – 56 million euro
The amount requested for two biomedical innovation proposals is fully funded. The first is RegMed XB (56 million euros), which will build four Dutch pilot factories (Eindhoven, Leiden, Maastricht, Utrecht) for the development of regenerative medicine. This focuses on the repair of damage to cells, tissues and organs, so that chronic diseases can be prevented or cured.
Healthcare is a global, growing market due to an increasing population and an aging population. Effective treatments with gene and stem cell therapy are therefore also a great economic opportunity. The economic goal of RegMed XB is to enable Dutch businesses to develop these innovative products and processes together with researchers and to respond to a rapidly growing foreign market.
Health-RI: infrastructure for health data – 69 million euro
The second proposal within the theme of biomedical innovation is about setting up an integrated and secure national health data infrastructure. This involves pooling and reusing Dutch knowledge in the field of health, not a data infrastructure for patient care. The requested amount of 69 million euros from the public-private partnership Health-RI is also fully funded.
Data is currently still being managed in a fragmented way by many healthcare and science organizations such as the University Medical Centers. Joining forces is essential to develop new and more effective (personalized) solutions for diagnosis, treatment and prevention more quickly and cheaply. The large amount of new fundamental knowledge about lifestyle, health and disease, combined with a technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), contributes to both our health and to Dutch companies that are active in this field.
Scale up of Opschalen van hydrogen and green electrons in industry – 338 million euro
The Green Power proposal is partially funded (338 million euros) and is aimed at the upscaling of hydrogen and the application of green electrons in energy-intensive industries. It concerns an integrated approach by companies, governments and knowledge institutions in this sector, including a broadly coherent research and innovation program and an education agenda. Moreover, development can make a significant contribution to the climate challenge.
Public investments must create a powerful and flexible hydrogen ecosystem that forms the basis for the upscaling of hydrogen and electrochemistry. Industrial clusters with opportunities for this are the Northern Netherlands, Amsterdam, Rotterdam / Moerdijk, Zeeland, Arnhem, Brainport Eindhoven and Limburg (Chemelot).
More research and innovations are needed to ultimately be able to use green hydrogen efficiently and more cheaply. This also creates interesting revenue models for the Netherlands, both in a possible role as producer or international distributor.
AiNed: investment program artificial intelligence – 276 million euro
The Dutch AI Coalition (NL AIC), a public-private partnership of more than 250 participants, has been largely funded (276 million euros) for the first phase of its investment proposal for artificial intelligence (AI). The ambition of the so-called AiNed program is to get the Netherlands in the international leading group of countries, both in terms of social conditions and the economic utilization of AI.
AI can be widely applied for, for example, more efficient energy systems, smarter mobility and logistics or better healthcare. The proposal focuses on a coordinated Dutch approach to strengthen knowledge and applicability of AI through research, innovation, valorisation, education and to ensure people-oriented, responsible application of AI in society.
The focus in the approach for the accelerated application of AI in the Netherlands is on sectors that generate the most earning potential: high-tech industry, mobility, logistics, energy, health and care. The strategic program therefore invests in attracting and retaining talented AI scientists, training and education, developing social frameworks for applications and intensifying participation in European programs, so that more EU money comes to the Netherlands.
Second round of financing from National Growth Fund
In total, State Secretary Mona Keijzer submitted six proposals on behalf of the parties involved for the first round. The FoodSwitch proposal has not been accepted. The National Growth Fund has announced that a second round will follow this year in which improved and new proposals can be submitted for funding. Research and development (R&D) and innovation remain one of the pillars of the fund. A total of 20 billion euros is available from the fund until 2026, in the first round, 4 billion euros (partly conditionally) has been allocated and reserved today.
Surfix celebrates its 10th anniversary
Today Surfix celebrates its 10th birthday! Surfix was founded as a spin-off from Wageningen University. Recently, the company has been making big steps towards maturity.
Wageningen, The Netherlands, April 1st, 2021
Ten years ago, the founders of Surfix recognized that control of surface properties is a key requirement for successful application of micro- and nanotechnology. And more importantly, they also saw the business opportunity this represented.
Han Zuilhof, founder of Surfix and professor of Organic Chemistry at Wageningen University, said: ”During 15 years of research in my lab we published a number of patents on chemical surface modification. Starting a company seemed like the best way to get something out of them, and I already knew the best person to do this: my former PhD Student Luc Scheres. With Lionix and Aquamarijn we found investors who were not only in it for the money, but also wanted to contribute in other ways. With this combination of conceptual innovation, high-energy drive and sound business experience, we were good to go!”
Surfix started as a provider of R&D services in the field of nanocoatings. In the past decade, Surfix has been growing steadily, developing custom nanocoatings in a wide range of projects for customers of all sorts and sizes. Gradually, a focus on nanocoatings for biosensors and microfluidic devices arose. In this process, Surfix also strengthened and expanded its technology base by developing several new proprietary nanocoating processes.
The next major milestone for Surfix was its acquisition by Dutch companies Lionix International and Qurin Diagnostics in 2019, followed by an additional investment from PhotonDelta in 2020. Surfix is now focusing on developing and marketing a diagnostic platform based on a photonic biochip.
CEO Maarten Buijs said: “Surfix started by developing nanocoating processes, then moved to nanocoating-enhanced components, and is now making the next step to integrate these components in a product. During the last year we have focused on becoming a diagnostics company. All signs are there that Surfix’s unique capabilities in photonic biosensing will enable wide-scale deployment of point-of-need diagnostics in a variety of areas. The initial target areas are early cancer diagnosis, covid-19 detection, and detection of pathogens in water for aquaculture”.
CTO and founder Luc Scheres said: “I am very happy and grateful to celebrate Surfix’s tenth birthday today! We would not have reached this milestone without the hard work of our staff, the loyal trust of our customers and suppliers, and the loving support of our family and close friends. We have come a long way, and I am looking forward to many more exciting developments at Surfix in the years to come!”
Contact info@surfix.nl for more information or visit www.surfix.nl.
About Surfix
Surfix was founded as a spin-off from the laboratory of Organic Chemistry of Wageningen University & Research in 2011, and was acquired by Dutch companies Qurin Diagnostics and Lionix International in 2019. Surfix received financial support by public private partnership PhotonDelta in 2020 to further grow its photonics business.
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MIT Scheme for SMEs
Holland High Tech (TKI HTSM) helps high tech SMEs innovate within the knowledge and innovation agendas in the Mission-driven Top Sectors and Innovation Policy. The RVO scheme for SME innovation stimulation Region and Top Sectors (MIT) stimulates innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises. RVO offers various instruments for this, of which Holland High Tech facilitates two instruments for the high tech sector;
Network Activities (NA)
Innovation Broker (IM)
Both the NetworkActivities and innovation advisory services by InnovationMakelaars must fit into one of the roadmaps of the Knowledge and Innovation Agenda, or in the KIA ICT.
Network Activities Regulations (NA)
Network activities may consist of: master classes, workshops or conferences to promote knowledge sharing and networking between SME entrepreneurs. The Network Activity itself and the results (presentations, knowledge documents, insights) must be accessible to all SMEs. For Network Activities, TKI HTSM uses a required statement of approval from a roadmap leader.
InnovatieMakelaars Scheme (IM)
Through this scheme, TKI HTSM enables SMEs to make free use of innovation advisory services from InnovationMakelaars affiliated with TKI HTSM. The type of advice may include the following services: consulting and knowledge transfer assistance; acquisition, protection and exploitation of intangible assets; the use of standards and rules in which these are laid down.
The advice offered by TKI HTSM is aimed at innovation of products, processes or services; providing technological assistance or technology transfer services. A direct link to one SME is mandatory for this. These SMEs are referred to by name on settlement. Indirect advice is not permitted, such as co-writing innovation agendas, participation in symposia or advice to clients other than SMEs.
Contact
For more information about the services and procedure, please contact Petra Wicherink, MIT officer Holland High Tech, via MIT@hollandhightech.nl. You can also find more inforamtion about the Innovatie Makelaars on the overview page of TKI HTSM.