How important are biological clocks, and the state of our knowledge about them, for society and for nature? "They're of tremendous importance", stresses light researcher Kamiel Spoelstra. "Society benefits greatly from a population with a healthy biological clock, in a healthy natural environment."
And how unusual is the BioClock consortium? "It's without precedent", says Spoelstra. Both in terms of the sheer range of the research and its practical application, there is nothing like it internationally.
Many of the consortium's members have contributed to ongoing fundamental reseach on the issue for years and years. The grant under the National Science Agenda - which is based on questions submitted by members of the public - will allow them to put the knowledge they've accrued to concrete use in the interest of society.
The researchers want to make our biological clocks healthy again, and to make sure they will stay that way. Their plans cover all of society at large: from human health to living nature and preserving biodiversity.
The six-year research programme runs the gamut from the health impact of shift work and the optimal timetable for flue vaccination and immunotherapy against cancer, to chronotherapy as a treatment for depression and the impact of light pollution on insects and other light-sensitive animals. In these light pollution studies, NIOO has a leading role.
"We see that species in a food web are changing their daily rhythms under pressure from that greatest excess of our 24-hour economy: artificial light at night. The seasonal rhythms of animals and plants are also being disrupted." Spoelstra has studied the effects of different light colours as part of the Light on Landscape (formerly Light on Nature) project over a number of years, using a one-of-a-kind experimental setup comprised of coloured street lights.
Spoelstra is one of only a handful of researchers with extensive experience studying the effects of light on ecosystems. That's why he's been asked to lead one of the three research clusters in the new consortium: Clocks in the Environment. The other two clusters are Clocks in Society and Clocks in Healthcare.
So what exactly are we up against, and what can we do about it? "We know virtually nothing about species-specific shifts in rhythm within our foodweb", says Spoelstra. But we may nevertheless be able to prevent such shifts, by adapting public lighting policy on the one hand and the colours of the light that is being used on the other.
Spoelstra will be looking into the options for this, together with the municipalities of Rotterdam, Apeldoorn, Leiden, Den Haag, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Texel, and the province of Zuid-Holland. He's being joined at NIOO by two young researchers: one who will work on bats in the urban foodweb, and one who will work on the effect of different light colours on insects.
The BioClock consortium is one of 21 consortia that will all work on interdisciplinary research as teams, bringing scientific and societal breakthroughs within reach according to the Dutch Research Council. In all these projects, knowledge organisations and social partners from public and semi-public sectors as well as the business community are entering into intensive partnerships for the purpose of designing, executing and applying research.
Funding for the projects is determined during the second round of the Dutch Research Agenda programme, known as NWA-ORC (Research along Routes by Consortia). Succesful projects focus on questions from society, ranging from the evolution of black holes and the repatriation of colonial heritage, to water management at the foot of the Himalayas and the issue of biological clocks.
The partners in the BioClock consortium are to develop joint strategies for contributing to a sustainable future for our planet and its inhabitants. In addition to eight academic partners, the consortium also includes dozens of societal partners, from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) to municipal authorities, and from environmental organisations to occupational safety & health services.