The cabinet has announced the outcome of the third round of the National Growth Fund (NGF). WUR participates in five knowledge and innovation programmes that are funded conditionally and for which the government has earmarked subsidies within the fund.
The committee that decides on how the billions in the National Growth Fund are distributed has announced this on Friday, 30 June. The government uses the fund to invest in programmes that contribute to long-term sustainable economic growth.
Conditional allocation
A conditional allocation means that the commission feels that the proposal is attractive in some respects but needs more work in others.
Conditionally approved proposals in which WUR participates:
| Biobased circular | (102 million granted conditionally, 236 million earmarked contingent on the adjustment of particular elements). BioBased Circular (BBC) focuses on creating and demonstrating circular value chains for polymers based on high-carbohydrate bio feedstock in the Netherlands. |
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| Re-Ge-NL | (129 million granted conditionally). The proposal aims to demonstrate in practice that the transition to regenerative farming is possible. Regenerative agriculture is a farming method that combines food production and nature recovery. This prevents the soil from becoming depleted. |
Earmarked
When funds are earmarked, the committee is convinced of the proposal's value but asks the initiators to detail certain elements and re-submit the proposal within nine months. The committee may also grant a budget conditionally of reserve a part of the requested budget. The latter applies to the BioBased Circular proposal in which WUR participates. Added conditions may include such aspects as increasing the contribution made by businesses, including specific organisations or a more concrete detailing of the proposed project or activities.
| Biobased circular | (236 million earmarked) |
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| Centre for Animal-free Biomedical Translation | (125 million earmarked). Biomedical translation is the translation of scientific knowledge gathered in model systems, to applications for humans. This may yield new medicines, medical technologies and foods that improve our health. The consortium proposes the founding of a Centre for Animal-Free Biomedical Translation in an effort to improve biomedical translation and make it animal friendly. |
| Delta plan Valorisation | (417 million earmarked). The Delta Plan Valorisation aims to expand the current valorisation system used by universities and colleges to better utilise the Netherlands' knowledge position in scientific, applied and practical research. |
| Holo-microbiome | (200 million earmarked). This proposal aims to intensify and merge research on microbiomes in the Netherlands within a yet to be established "Holo-microbiome Institute". Microbiomes are complex communities of bacteria, fungi and viruses that play an important part in many processes. |
