In 2000, the government leaders of 189 countries signed a document with eight millennium goals aimed at halving poverty by 2015. Henk Zijm sees opportunities for the UT in these goals. `Especially universities shouldn't ignore the problems of which the Millennium Development Goals are based upon. No matter how important scientific quality is, there comes a moment when we are not only judged on excellence alone, but also on what we can and want to contribute to innovation and the transfer of technology, including the solution to the North-South problems.' Zijm pointed at the research on membranes in the battle for pure drinking water and the lab-on-a-chip technologies to detect viruses in blood.
In his dies speech, the scientific director of the spear-head IMPACT Institute and professor in fundamental aspects of process technology, Hans Kuipers, viewed fundamental research as a `necessary ingredient' in the solution for the energy problem. `The future supply of energy and minerals for mankind is a gigantic challenge, in which it is essential that multiple disciplines work together to get to real breakthroughs and solutions.' The IMPACT director views the 3TU federations as serving an important role. `Bundling research capacity in the field of sustainable energy is an important winning point to pick up this challenge and to improve long term investment in its research.'
