The Council’s mission
As an independent foundation, the Council aims to promote the interests of chemistry in the field of academic research and education, from an initiating, signaling role. The Council also propagates the importance of chemistry for our current and future society, based on a long-term vision and in consultation with other disciplines.
How does the Netherlands valorise fundamental top chemistry?
The Council advocates strengthening the national chemistry through significant investments in untied and strategic research.
The Netherlands is one of the world’s top chemical scientific research. At a national level, chemistry is crucial for the knowledge economy and for innovations in industry and society. That should not change, the Council firmly believes. That is why significant investments in untied and strategic research are now required. Well-chosen, widely supported multidisciplinary spearheads offer opportunities to keep Dutch chemistry at the global top and contribute to major social and scientific issues. In Groei binnen grenzen (Growth within Borders (2020), a pamphlet in Dutch), the Council proposes three routes: strengthening through core funding, rolling grants and investments in infrastructure.
Vision
In the coming years, chemical research is essential to accomplish the missions set on the national and European agendas. The research community advisory committees in chemistry and the Chemistry Round Table have recorded their key role to this end in their vision for 2040 (vision-for-chemistry-2040.pdf). This vision is an open invitation to the research field to contribute to the chemical community in the Netherlands and to take part in the dialogue on the long-term vision for the chemical science and engineering in the Netherlands. The factors presented that are essential for realising the 2040 vision tie in well with the Council’s spearheads. This makes the vision 2040 complementary to the Council’s pamphlet.