New teams HTSF round 2 present themselves

All news

Since this autumn, the teams of the four new High Tech for a Sustainable Future (HTSF) programmes are at full strength and will be able to start their high-tech research on themes such as the heat-free city, personalised healthcare, green sensors and the food system of the future.

The teams distinguish themselves by their balanced composition, both in terms of representation from the four TUs, and nationalities, as well as male/female divisions and scientific disciplines.

The teams consist of a programme coordinator, programme members with representation from the four technical universities, PhDs and new tenure trackers paid for three years with 4TU budget. Read more about the policy around Tenure Trackers in the section below.

In the 21-person team of RECENTRE (personalised healthcare), for example, there are eight different nationalities, the male/female ratio is 7:14, and the scientists work in 12 different disciplines ranging from technical medicine to electrical engineering, and from behavioural sciences to nutrition & dietetics.

The composition of the research staff is 1 programme coordinator (Annemieke Witteveen, UT), 1 programme manager, 11 programme members, 6 new Tenure Trackers and 3 PdDs. And 3 more PhDs will be added to the team.

Annemieke Witteveen, who coordinates the research group, is looking forward to working with this diverse team. She says: ''RECENTRE is a group of enthusiastic, multicultural and transdiciplinary scientists who are highly motivated to make a real impact in clinical practice using ehealth technology for people at risk of late effects from cancer or obesity."

The research composition is 1 programme leader (Miranda Meuwissen, WUR), 8 programme members, 5 new Tenure Trackers and 1 PhD. The team will be further expanded with 4 PhDs.

Miranda Meuwissen about the drive in her team: '4TU-Redesign is really about a new food system. Our consortium is very motivated to work on this together.'

Wim Timmermans is proud of the social impact of the programme, saying, "By providing people with the right information and getting them more involved, you can encourage them to take steps of their own to reduce the heat in their city. We are primarily a technical programme but if we can achieve this kind of citizen ownership as a side effect, I am very proud!"

The research composition is 1 programme coordinator (Eldert van Henten, WUR), 11 programme members, 4 new Tenure Trackers, 2 PhDs with 2 more new PhDs on the way.

Eldert van Henten praises the diversity of the consortium: 'Coordinating multiple expertises in a consortium of four technical universities poses a challenge, yet it also holds the potential to develop complementary technologies, an opportunity also much valued by our partners'.

HTSF Crossover Event

The round 2 programmes were kicked off on 9 June by the four 4TU rectors (Arthur Mol, WUR; Tim van der Hagen, TUD; Sylvia Lenaerts, TU/e and Tom Veldkamp, UT) at the HTSF Crossover Event. Read the recap.

The Tenure Trackers behind HTSF

In the High Tech for a Sustainable Future (HTSF) capacity building programmes of our four technical universities, talented scientists work on socially relevant themes such as personalised healthcare, a sustainable food system and the heat-free, green city.

In 2018, the first round of HTSF programmes started. Now, after five years, the Round 1 HTSF programmes are ready for their independent existence and the new Round 2 programmes are starting.

The HTSF programmes encourage structural and sustainable research and education cooperation between the four technical universities. A second aim is to attract new scientific talent through Tenure Trackers, who do both research and teaching. This not only guarantees the continuity of the research lines, but at the same time ensures the connection between research and education.

This not only ensures the continuity of the research lines, but at the same time ensures the connection between research and teaching. A total of 19 Tenure Trackers will be appointed in the rpound 2 programmes, all of whom will also receive a starter package allowing them to immediately appoint a PhD student. By creating permanent scientific positions, cooperation will also be continued after the programme ends. To ensure that research results will actually lead to innovations that benefit society, cooperation with external partners is also explicitly being pursued.

Also take a look at the round 1 programmes