The Netherlands
20 September 2021
Resilient crops and trustworthy artificial intelligence. Two large research consortia around these two themes will be given the opportunity to further develop their research plans for the next ten years. Their final proposals will then go through the regular assessment process with referees and an selection committee, after which NWO will contribute a total of a maximum of 40 million euros.
The two research proposals that have now been selected focus on the intelligent cultivation of resilient crops for agriculture and on making the operation of artificial intelligence trustworthy and transparent. The plans have been drawn up by consortia with partners from the broad innovation chain, including both public and private parties. During the elaboration of the programmes, new partners can join the consortium.
Selected Long-Term Programmes
Plant-XR – A new generation of intelligent breeding tools for extra resilient cropsThe Plant-XR consortium wants to collaborate on research into extra resilient crops with 16 partners, including 4 knowledge institutions, 9 companies and 3 public institutions. Sustainable agriculture is fundamental to our future on this planet. An important cornerstone is the use of resilient crops that are able to maintain their productivity even when faced with adverse and fluctuating environmental conditions or plant diseases.
Resilient crops are an essential basis for sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation. The Plant-XR programme can give the Netherlands a significant boost in knowledge development and innovation, to the Dutch economy and contribute to making global agriculture more sustainable and climate-proof.
Programme leader Guido van der Ackerveken (Utrecht University)
The total budget for this research is 50 million euros. Programme leader Guido van den Ackerveken (Utrecht University): “Resilient crops are an essential basis for sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation. The Plant-XR programme can give the Netherlands a significant boost in knowledge development and innovation, to the Dutch economy and contribute to making global agriculture more sustainable and climate-proof.”
Read more about this Long-Term Programme (KIC) in development.
ROBUST - Trustworthy AI-based systems for sustainable growth
The ROBUST consortium wants to carry out multi-year research into reliable artificial intelligence. A total of 54 partners are working in the research, 21 of whom are from knowledge institutions including four universities of applied sciences, 23 partners are from companies and 10 from civil society organisations. The research seeks to realise breakthroughs in five core dimensions of robust artificial intelligence (AI): accuracy, reliability, repeatability, resilience, and safety. The reliability of an AI-based system is formalised through so-called contracts, that is, explicit guarantees about the intended behaviour of the system. Explanations can bring intrinsic trust to general users. Therefore, the development of explanation and evaluation methods is an essential part of this research.
The challenges for developing robust AI are enormous. We focus on three areas: talent development, learning-by-doing and joint knowledge development between knowledge institutions, companies and societal parties. We can't wait to get started!
Programme leader Maarten de Rijke (University of Amsterdam and ICAI)
The total budget of this research is over 95 million euros. Programme leader Maarten de Rijke (University of Amsterdam and ICAI): “The challenges for developing robust AI are enormous. We focus on three areas: talent development, learning-by-doing and joint knowledge development between knowledge institutions, companies and societal parties. We can't wait to get started!”
Read more about this Long-Term Programme in development.
About Long-Term Programmes (KIC)
A Long-Term Programme (KIC) provides a powerful stimulus to the development of a scientific field focused on a societal theme or key technology. With this programme NWO offers a sustainable funding option for structural collaboration between public and private parties and knowledge institutions. NWO makes approximately 80 million euros available for this purpose over a period of four years. Long-term programmes are the strategic outline of NWO's contribution to the Knowledge and Innovation Covenant 2020-2023 (KIC). The KIC research programme stands for groundbreaking innovative solutions with societal and economic impact. NWO brings companies and knowledge institutions together and funds groundbreaking research based on their innovative, high-impact research proposals. This is laid down in the Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) 2020-2023, which is in line with the mission-driven top sectors and innovation policy of central government.
More information: www.nwo.nl/kic
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