The Netherlands and California strengthen their connections in education and science
NWO and President Janet Napolitano of the University of California (UCOP) have signed a memorandum of understanding about challenges with respect to energy and sustainability and an exchange programme for researchers. The signing took place during a meeting in Oakland on Thursday 17 March in the presence of the Dutch Minister for Education, Culture and Science, Jet Bussemaker. The aim of the agreement is to realise a further strengthening of the existing collaboration between the Netherlands and California for tackling worldwide challenges in the area of science.
Education as a solution
The State of California and the Netherlands are among the world leaders in education and science. The intentions stated in the memorandum of understanding emphasise their ambitions to tackle the most urgent threats for our society through education and science. This mainly concerns problems such as climate change and the provision of energy. Minister Bussemaker and President Napolitano talked extensively about the role of education in tackling problems in the area of diversity and immigration. These issues are currently high on the agenda in both California and the Netherlands. They also emphasised the need to keep higher education accessible to all layers of society.
(Gender) diversity
During the meeting between Bussemaker and Napolitano it was emphatically stated that diversity – including gender diversity – are necessary for tackling the major societal challenges the world faces. They also declared that they are major proponents of competitive research funding, as a result of which all possibilities for realising new ideas and new research directions are utilised. The intended exchange of researchers from California and the Netherlands should, amongst other things, generate new research in the area of societal and ethical aspects of energy transitions.
About UCOP
The University of California consists of ten campuses, five medical clinics and three national laboratories and it has more than 234,000 students as well as 208,000 members of staff and faculty employees. UCOP has an annual budget of about $24 billion.
FOM is the lead party for the theme Sustainable Energy
In the memorandum of understanding with the University of California, challenges in the area of energy take centre stage. FOM/N is the lead party for the NWO theme Sustainable Energy and in this it collaborates with the NWO divisions Earth and Life Sciences, Chemical and Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Technology Foundation STW. FOM is also the lead party within NWO for the Top Sector Energy. For further information please see the FOM website.