RSA CE&C 2015-2021

44 processes in areas that lack resources at the department level. For example, strong collaboration with the Department of Biomedical Engineering expands the span of control towards devices and processes in the health domain, interaction with the Department of Applied Physics generates insights into the fundamentals of energy storage and transport and collaboration with the Department of Mechanical Engineering expands the impact in terms of process engineering and technology. As thegrand societal challenges have a strongmultidisciplinary character requiringefforts across disciplines and cross-fertilization, scientists of the department will remain actively involved in the TU/e Eindhoven Institute for Renewable Energy Systems and the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems. With the increasing importance of big data and artificial intelligence, participation in the Eindhoven Artificial Intelligence Systems Institute may be considered. Active participation in partnerships outside of TU/e remains one of the strategic targets of the department. The strong links with other Dutch universities and research institutes in the field of supramolecularchemistry,catalysisandprocessengineeringvia thecurrentGravitationprograms will be continued with new initiatives. The strategic knowledge alliance with Utrecht University, Wageningen University and University Medical Center Utrecht will strengthen the impact of our research on circularity, biomass and food. Chemelot InSciTe enables the scaling up of our research on sustainable conversion processes. The strong involvement of the department in the public-private partnership Advanced Research Center Chemical Building Blocks Consortium (ARC CBBC) offers opportunities to strengthen the collaboration with dedicated partners from the chemical industry. Similar opportunities will arise from the new Mission-driven Top Sector and Innovation Policy of the Dutch government in which societal challenges such as climate change, the energy transition and circularity will be addressed. We initiate and actively seek out collaboration to define programs and shape proposals. This requires support at the department level for smaller disciplinary-oriented proposals and strong support at the TU/e level for large multidisciplinary proposals (e.g., the National Growth Fund). To further strengthen our involvement and position outside of the ecosystem of TU/e, we will build on the collaborative and entrepreneurial nature of our people and make use of existing individual collaborations of our scientists to enhance coordinated collaboration in large research programs with other scientists, industries and societal organizations. We will continue to stimulate and facilitate spin-off activities, such as through the Faculty of Impact program. TU/e has the intention to create an incubator on campus to support staff members and (PhD) students in creating a company based on research in the department. We will establish an academic and an industrial academic advisory board to mirror our ambitions and ideas in an environment of academic excellence and societal relevance. Scientific excellence The complexity of solutions for the grand societal challenges requires excellence in science and engineering, imagination, and creativity. We want to be and remain scientifically leading at a national and international level in the three points of gravity that naturally evolve from the department’s shared expertise and focus areas: 1) interactive polymer materials, 2) molecules, materials and processes for energy conversion and storage and 3) molecules, materials and processes for the recovery of resources and circular processes.