National sector perspectives on environmental and earth sciences, astronomy, biology and pharmaceutical sciences
17 December 2020
Climate change, a sustainable food supply chain, biodiversity loss, and the development of vaccines combatting infectious diseases are some of the major challenges our society faces. What steps does science need to take in order to address these challenges?
Investment in the four related sectors environmental and earth sciences, astronomy, biology and pharmaceutical sciences not only benefits the scientific sectors themselves but also the employment market and society at large. Stakeholders such as companies and institutions have clearly indicated their need for graduates and PhD candidates that are able to collaborate within multidisciplinary teams, and society is looking towards the scientific community to propose solutions to urgent societal issues.
The sector perspectives are the result of a nationwide collaboration. They were initiated by the deans of science faculties across the Netherlands, and have been drawn up by academics from all universities involved, including input from research institutes affiliated with the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and several societal partners.
The aim is to develop the four sector perspectives for environmental and earth sciences, astronomy, biology and pharmaceutical sciences into sector plans. Such plans have previously been published for sectors such as physics, chemistry, computer science and mathematics. Sector plans are a valuable tool to the national government as they guide and show the necessary investments in the expansion of research capacity via a nationwide, future-oriented plan and good collaboration between universities.