Six new projects are to receive funding from Wageningen University & Research's Interdisciplinary Research and Education Fund (INREF). The funding will be applied towards research that combines different scientific disciplines. Thus, the projects aim to study various complex issues, such as the interaction between biodiversity and pandemics, and the development of data-driven methods to enhance food safety.
The research and education fund INREF was founded by Wageningen University & Research (WUR) to stimulate researchers to do interdisciplinary research and education. The conviction is that the complex sustainability issues in developing nations require collaboration. Hence, the fund supports projects that foster interdisciplinary collaborations between scientists from various fields and local stakeholders.
INREF stimulates interdisciplinary collaboration to unite scientists in their efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations. The new projects further various goals, including food safety, health and well-being, sustainable cities and ending poverty.
Consequences of biodiversity loss
BIO4HEALTH will study the interaction between biodiversity, ecosystem services and epidemics. Can human activity go hand in hand with increased biodiversity and a lower risk of diseases transferred from animals to humans? The project will create Living Labs in, among others, Sierra Leone, where local scientists will study rabies. Thus, BIO4HEALTH aims to gain insight into the link between ecology, sustenance and disease.
The FSI - Food Security Intelligence for the Global South project's point of departure is the insight that food systems are a complex combination of factors which must be unravelled to achieve food safety. This calls for the analysis of a large amount of data. FSI will develop a new approach to these complex data, combining big data with expert knowledge. The INFREF funds will allow FSI to create a framework for this approach.
First steps towards innovation
These and a further four projects have received seed money funding which allows the projects to take the first steps towards developing their ideas. The funds will be applied towards creating partnerships, organising workshops, conducting studies and gathering data. Projects such as these initiate collaborations that could culminate in ground-breaking innovations.
