RSA CE&C 2015-2021

28 • During the review period, the landscape for research grants and contract research (external funding) significantly changed. In the past, resources for funding provided by the Dutch government were distributed competitively through the Dutch Research Council (NWO) as personal grants or for smaller consortia. This latter aspect has now changed to funding for large, highly-complex consortia of academia, universities of applied science, research institutes, industrial partners and societal organizations. Despite an overall increase in financial resources, the level of competition for such large prestigious grants has increased and is enormous. In addition, part of the governmental funding nowadays is also competitively distributed through other means than by NWO (e.g., the Growth Fund). Although the department is well-equipped scientifically, this complexity strongly increases the efforts required. • The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on the department’s research and education. At the start of the pandemic, the department building and experimental facilities wereclosedtoall research for eightweeks.After thisperiod,on-campusexperimental research was possible to a certain extent but was limited to small groups of researchers to guarantee social distancing rules. The opening and closing times of the building were enhanced to allow work in shifts. All employees were encouraged to perform non-experimental work at home using the department’s office supplies (including chairs, computer accessories, etc.). The impact on the research of many researchers was significant, delaying some projects and increasing theoretical and modeling components in many research projects. Upon request and with solid arguments, the university is providing additional financial resources and extensions of contracts for temporary researchers that have experienced delays due to COVID-19.