‘Collaboration is essential to scientific breakthroughs’
How do we create a healthy, inclusive, digital and sustainable society? And how do we keep it that way? If science is to provide answers to these questions, the universities of Leiden, Delft and Erasmus will need to work together. This is what Wim van den Doel, the new figurehead of the LDE Alliance, said at a network meeting on 13 February.
How do we deal with climate change and what place do we give new digital developments such as artificial intelligence in society? How do we make our cities liveable and how do we generate and supply carbon-free energy? How do we create a circular economy and inclusive society?
To solve these major challenges, we desperately need scientific breakthroughs, and interdisciplinary collaboration is an essential part of this. We have already committed to this within the LDE Alliance, the partnership between Leiden University, Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam. The new figurehead of this alliance and Professor of Contemporary History at Leiden University, Wim van den Doel, introduced himself at an LDE network meeting in Delft on 13 February. He spoke about the four strategic themes that the three universities will focus research, teaching and knowledge transfer on over the coming years: healthy society, inclusive society, digital society and sustainable society.