Research with impact.
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The National Research Institutes of KNAW and NWO
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Science is of great value to society and continues to amaze and inspire us. Scientific independent research helps us to better understand the world around us and brings technologies and insights beyond our imagination. Through scientific research, we aim to find solutions to major societal challenges such as climate change, energy transition, social inequality and pandemics. Science contributes to a flexible, resilient knowledge-based society and to innovations aiding Dutch and European competitiveness, now and in the future.
To find solutions for these current, complex societal and scientific challenges, expertise is needed in the natural and technical sciences, life sciences, social sciences and humanities. The Netherlands is in an excellent position to make a significant contribution to solving these challenges given the high level of Dutch science across the full range of disciplines, the close ties between Dutch universities and knowledge institutes and their excellent international networks.
The unique role of our 22 national research institutes
The twenty-two national research institutes of KNAW and NWO focus on fundamental scientific research and are important partners in the broad Dutch research landscape together with universities and other knowledge institutes.
Figure 1: The 22 national research institutes of KNAW and NWO are located across the Netherlands, often in close proximity to the Dutch universities. Important role in academic Dutch ecosystem.
Empowering the Dutch research community
The national research institutes empower their respective research communities in various ways. They do so by fostering extensive collaborations with universities and other public or private partners, by providing their communities with vast and important collections and access to large-scale national and international research infrastructures and[HD2] by developing scientific instruments, or by any combination of these. As such, the national research institutes are perfectly equipped to fulfil an important role in the Dutch ecosystem of science, research and innovation for the benefit of society at large.
The research performed within the institutes is at the cutting edge of scientific developments in the respective fields and requires a high level of expertise, a long-term perspective, quite often costly research infrastructure and alignment with national or international organisations. In close collaboration with the universities (see figure 2), the national research institutes of KNAW and NWO advance scientific endeavours in the Netherlands and position themselves at the forefront of global science.
Over 180 researchers hold professorships at Dutch universities, and all of our PhD students are enrolled at Dutch universities and their respective graduate schools. This shows that institutes and universities are intrinsically connected in research but also in teaching.
Figure 2: The 22 national research institutes hold over 180 professorships at all Dutch universities, showing the strong interconnection and contribution to the research and higher education system.
Responsible research practices
In all their activities, the institutes promote and adhere to high ethical standards of academic freedom, academic responsibility and research integrity. The two parent organisations (KNAW and NWO), the twenty-two institutes and their supporting central offices work closely together in the development of research policy and in adapting this policy to current developments. This includes, but is not limited to, open science, academic culture, professorship policies, research security and knowledge transfer.
Serving society through research
The national research institutes of KNAW and NWO serve society through their fundamental research, collections and research infrastructure across all of the humanities, social sciences, life sciences, natural and technical sciences. They generate knowledge and develop solutions to tackle current and future intellectual, technological and societal challenges. Through active collaboration with universities and other knowledge partners and through sharing of expertise, the institutes drive innovation and deliver evidence-based insights for a broad spectrum of users, ranging from governments and NGOs to companies.
Over recent decades in each of the scientific domains, the institutes have contributed to important societal or technological insights and breakthroughs. Examples include the development of wireless communication, a reliable and easy-to-use lead detection test kit, contributions to the national neonatal heel prick, the discovery of organoids as a replacement for animal testing in drug research, insights into the societal consequences of demographic development, the long-term social consequences of historical events such as world wars and genocide and the impact of colonial and postcolonial processes. Our insights and breakthroughs have led to the creation of spin-off companies, licensing agreements, policy changes, and have shaped agenda-setting processes across society.
KNAW’s and NWO-I’s strategic narratives
Both the KNAW and the NWO institutes (NWO-I) have produced more detailed strategic narratives consistent with this umbrella approach. Together with a brief description of each of the institutes, these strategic narratives provides a clear illustration of the relevance of the national research institutes for the scientific community and their benefit to society.