New foundation strengthens Dutch Computational Science
Addressing major societal challenges such as clean energy, sustainable food systems, and improved water management increasingly depends on computational science. To strengthen Dutch expertise and innovation in this field, the Computational Science NL Foundation was established on October 15, 2024. The establishment of the Stichting marks a significant milestone for computational science in the Netherlands. This newly established foundation will drive the activities of the Computational Science NL platform, The aim is to strengthen the Dutch computational science knowledge and innovation ecosystem and drive future strategic investments in research, infrastructure, and human capital.
The founding members of the board are Johan Mentink (Radboud University), Bianca Giovanardi (TU Delft), and Linn Leppert (University of Twente), who will be chairman, secretary, and treasurer of the foundation board of directors, respectively. Together with Alfons Hoekstra (University of Amsterdam), Mark Roest (VORTech), and Wil Schilders (TU Eindhoven) they are also part of the Computational Science NL Strategy Board, established earlier this year. CWI, the NWO institute for research in theoretical computer science and mathematics, will serve as the foundation’s seat.
National agenda Computational Science
The Computational Science NL platform is built on and implements a roadmap outlined in the National Agenda for Computational Science, created by a coalition of Dutch scientists and industry representatives chaired by Kees Vuik, scientific director of the TU Delft Institute for Computational Science and Engineering. The National Agenda was presented to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZK) in 2022. This agenda highlights the critical role of computational models and simulations in addressing societal challenges and creating a sustainable future.
Arriving at the most sustainable solution with computational power
"The problems of our time, such as the transition to a sustainable future, are so complex that it is impossible to solve them with only theory or experiments," professor of Numerical Mathematics Kees Vuik explains. "Indeed: to arrive at a solution in this complex matter, you have to work through countless predictions, and that can only be done with (super-)computers. Take the course of our rivers under a changing climate, for example; you can't test or theorize that. You need models and simulations for that. In other words, Computational Science."
Supercomputers
The connected computing infrastructure for research and education of the Delft High Performance Computing Centre (DHPC) and supercomputer DelftBlue is available to Delft researchers and students. In addition, there’s of course SURF’s ICT infrastructure, which is vital for computational science professionals to conduct cutting-edge work.
