Origins Center awarded National Science Agenda funding
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded funding to eight thematic research programmes as part of the National Science Agenda. They are to receive a maximum of 2.5 million euros each. One of the programmes is the Origins Center, which tackles the origins of life on earth and in the universe.
The National Science Agenda is based on more than 11,000 questions submitted by members of the public in the early part of 2015. Last year, the Dutch ministry of Education, Culture and Science announced that it would invest 30 million euros in the agenda's implementation. Most of that money has been earmarked for research into three themes handpicked by the ministry and represented by eight 'routes'.
One of the aims of the National Science Agenda is to close the gap between science and society by fostering collaborations between scientists, experts, social organisations and businesses. That's why the ministry invited broad 'consortia' of as many partners as possible to submit proposals for each of the eight routes. It asked the Netherlands Orgasation for Scientific Research to assess the proposals.
Origins Center
One of the three themes picked by the ministry because of its links to ministerial policy and current topical debates is "how can scientific knowledge contribute to innovation?" The first of three 'routes' that are meant to link various scientific disciplines within this theme focuses on the very origins of life on earth and in the universe.
A unique aspect of the National Science agenda is that each 'route' is championed by a small number of prominent scientists who act as 'figureheads' for that route. To be eligible for ministry funding, the broad consortia that submitted proposals had to work closely with these figureheads. In the case of the 'origins of life' route, one of the three figureheads is NIOO-director Louise Vet.
The programme supported by Vet and the other figureheads was named the Origins Center. It brings together 17 universities and research institutes across seven major scientific disciplines. Each discipline is represented by its own working group. Louise Vet is a member of the Ecology & Evolution working group, as is her NIOO-colleague Marcel Visser (Animal Ecology).
Big and important
"The general idea is that we try to learn as much as possible from each other", says Visser about the mix of ecologists, astrophysicists, geologists, systems biologists, chemists and others. "When we get stuck working on something, scientists from some other discipline could step in and break the deadlock."
The Origins Center now has a budget of 2.5 million euros to turn those encounters into actual results. In a press release, NWO stresses that the topics the Origins Center focuses on constitute "a big and important part" of the National Science Agenda.
The awarding of the funding was hailed by National Science Agenda chairman Louise Gunning as "a successful first step" towards the agenda's implementation, and the minister for Education, Culture and Science likewise welcomed the completion of the procedure. Other themes and 'routes' included in the National Science Agenda will receive funding later through other means.
(Image Galactic outflow - ESA/ATG medialab)
