Facilitating innovative, fundamental physics research in the Netherlands continues to be the driving force behind FOM/N. The new strategic plan contains five lines of action: continuing to perform top physics, a firm commitment to physics for society and collaboration with industry and the technology sector, a clear focus on research into sustainable energy, increasing the proportion of women in Dutch physics, and obtaining and providing access to large international joint research facilities.
Besides curiosity-driven fundamental physics research (Physics for Science) there has been a growing interest within the organisation in recent years for Physics for Society. In the new strategic plan, this line is continued in a stronger form. An important component of this is energy research. FOM will set up a broad national coordinating institute for basic energy research, which will emerge from the current FOM Institute DIFFER (former FOM Institute for Plasma Physics Rijnhuizen). As previously agreed, the principal site of this national institute will be located at the Eindhoven University of Technology campus. Within the framework of this national institute, FOM shall set up several energy focus groups over the next few years, which will be located at other universities. Grants will also be awarded to the young, highly promising energy researchers (the YES! programme).
More effort will be put into valorising the knowledge generated by FOM/N research in the period 2010-2015. The ambition is to increase the number of Industrial Partnership Programmes (IPPs) and to increase the incentives for researchers to think about the possible applications of their research.
Increasing the proportion of women working in Dutch physics is another line of action in the strategic plan. In order to achieve this, the ’20 in 2020’ plan of the chair of the National Network of Female Professors, Prof. Els Goulmy, and FOM director Dr Wim van Saarloos will be embraced. By 2020 this plan envisages at least 20% of the scientific staff being women. At present this is scarcely 10%.
The final plan was realised after one-and-a-half days of intensive discussions with more than 100 representatives from science, industry and other research institutions.
Summary Strategic Plan FOM/N 2010-2015
FOM invests in:
Top quality physics research
- effective funding instruments, solid infrastructure & competitive climate
- ample opportunities for new developments
- open to multidisciplinary collaboration
Physics for society
- valorisation of knowledge from current research
- collaboration with industry and technology institutions
- research subjects relevant to society
Sustainable energy
- national institute for fundamental energy research
- focus groups at universities
- specific instrument: YES!
The science system
- Sector Plan Physics and Chemistry
- women in physics
Research facilities
- large research infrastructures
- positioning HFML as an international facility
- focus groups at universities
The complete Strategic Plan FOM/N 2010-2015 is only available
in Dutch. Enclosed you will find the English summary of the Strategic Plan as a bookmarker.
English summary Strategic Plan 2010-2015 (
55KB
)
