For the energy transition and the issues surrounding sustainable health, the Eindhoven University Fund has come up with the Energy and Health theme funds. TU/e alumni can thus make important research possible for which funding would otherwise be more difficult to obtain through the established channels. Ton Backx, director of the UFe, Mark Boneschanscher, director of EIRES, along with Harrie Noy, donor and former CEO of Arcadis, explained how this development aroused their enthusiasm.
"Within the university, we put a lot of effort into developing talent. And those young people have quite a challenge at the beginning of their careers in the current system to find funding for their own original research ideas," explains Ton Backx, director of the Eindhoven University Fund (UFe).
When you bring together young, scientific talent and major societal challenges, that's where the best developments come from and often the big breakthroughs.
- Ton Backx, director of the Eindhoven University Fund
He continues: "On the other hand, we are currently facing enormous challenges within our society, but we are hesitant and sluggish in really getting to grips with those challenges. In any case, this is how it is for the energy transition, where the discussion has been going on for 50 years and we have known for 30 years that we urgently need to start doing things differently. Add to this the fact that many people are living increasingly longer, fortunately, while we as a society are insufficiently prepared for this longevity wave along with the demand for care that goes with it."
"If you bring those things together, i.e. those young scientific talents on the one hand and those big societal challenges on the other, that's really where the best developments come from and often the big breakthroughs. That means allowing scope for curiosity and ambition. What could be better than to give those young people some impetus with the resources we as UFe have from our donors, mostly also alumni of our university, who pursue those same developments? The theme funds were created on the basis of that thinking," Backx says enthusiastically.
Ambitions brought together
Donor Harrie Noy elaborates: "I would like to contribute to those social issues and bring focus to shaping themes - that's an enormous help to really get something done. In 1974 I graduated as a civil engineer from TU/e, then the 'Technische Hogeschool'. Immediately after that, I started working for the company with which we were collaborating during the final phase of my study: Arcadis, as it is now. I ended up being CEO there for twelve years. So I owed a lot to my education here. Not only because of the skills I gained, but also because I came into contact with Arcadis during my studies. Now I look back, after a successful and rich career, and would like to do something in return by promoting scientific research at the university that educated me."
"When considering this, I looked at a named fund with a focus on energy transition research. But the disadvantage of such a named fund is that it does not attract other alumni to participate. In conversations with Ton, the theme funds that were still to be established at the time came up. The potential of these appealed to me tremendously, and that certainly applied to the energy transition fund. Because if there is one great challenge at the moment, it is the energy transition to combat climate change. Coupling that with offering opportunities to young talented scientists, I think is a really fine idea. And that's how I ended up donating to the 'Energy' fund," Noy explains.
I would like to contribute to solving these societal issues, focusing on themes helps enormously to really get something done.
- Harrie Noy, donor Eindhoven University Fund
