Dutch universities strengthen ties with Wetsus

Wageningen University & Research (WUR), the University of Twente (UT) and the University of Groningen (UG) are intensifying their cooperation with European centre of excellence for sustainable water technology Wetsus in Leeuwarden. To this end, the universities will support Wetsus in its transition from depending on a temporary funding model to relying on a more structural one. Over the next four years, the joint contribution from the three universities will amount to € 750,000 per year.

In addition to the funding provided by the universities, the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy have made transitional funding available to Wetsus for the coming years, which can be used for a better positioning of structural funds. In the Wetsus research programme, 23 European universities and 110 international companies are working together to develop groundbreaking technology for sustainable water treatment.

WUR, the UT and the UG consider their cooperation with industry and government within the Wetsus project important because the roles of the universities have, until now, mainly comprised the scientific supervision of research. In addition, collaboration between these universities and Wetsus has already been taking place for several years in running the Wetsus Academy, a two-year joint Master’s degree programme in Water Technology, which is related to the Wetsus research programme. Graduates of this programme receive a combined diploma from all three universities.

The universities now want to secure the innovation programme for the coming years with their financial contribution, in the hope that the important work of Wetsus can be safeguarded with structural funding. This will allow research into sustainable and circular innovations to continue, such as the work involving the recovery of raw materials and energy from water and manure, the production of hydrogen and bioplastics from waste water and the removal of viruses and medical residues from water. The Dutch water sector is of great economic importance and is known across the globe for being prominent and innovative. The research conducted by Wetsus supports this position.