Afbeelding van deeltjesversneller Large Hadron Collider bij CERN

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

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SURF participates in 8 cutting-edge projects

Ministry invests millions in large-scale infrastructures for groundbreaking research

Eleven consortia from various disciplines are set to launch projects of great value to the research community. A funding of 197 million euros will enable the construction of essential research infrastructures. Such as building the world’s largest digital twin for studying energy systems, and creating a powerful tool for investigating complex societal issues at scale.

SURF’s aim to build digital commons

SURF's digital infrastructure is an important foundation for research. The Large-Scale Research Infrastructures (LSRIs) play a major role in this: many researchers rely on them. SURF aims to use generic building blocks as much as possible to support the LSRIs, which can be reused for other projects - the so-called “digital commons”. This makes the infrastructure easier to maintain and more affordable.

Advanced research instruments widely accessible

State-of-the-art research requires advanced research instruments, such as telescopes, medical scanners or energy system simulators. “This research infrastructure is costly”, Minister of Education, Culture and Science Gouke Moes declares on the NWO website. “By supporting the development and purchase of instruments, the government is laying a solid foundation for new research that will strengthen our economy and help solve major social issues. Furthermore, we can immediately ensure that these research instruments are widely accessible, so that we can make the best possible use of them.”

National roadmap for essential research infrastructures

The funds are made available to NWO by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) for the National Roadmap Large-Scale Research Infrastructures and will enable the construction or renovation of these essential research infrastructures. 

These are the research infrastructures that SURF participates in:

  • BioBeyond_NL: Molecular Complexity Beyond the Genetic Code (Maastricht University)
  • eBrains-Neurotech: Assembly Line for Brain Reading and Writing (University of Amsterdam)
  • EMPower: Electron Microscopy from whole organism to atomic resolution (Utrecht University)
  • FastTrack / Ultra-fast imaging of particle collisions at the LHC (National Institute for Subatomic Physics Nikhef)
  • KM3NeT++: Deep-Sea Infrastructure for Neutrino (Astro)Physics and Beyond (Nikhef)
  • The Macropscope (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
  • The Netherlands Cohorts Consortium (Maastricht University/Erasmus Medical Centre)
  • Utopys: Understanding Large and Complex Power Systems (Delft University of Technology)

Read more on the NWO website

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