Historical Background

In the early nineties, the Dutch government launched the idea of so-called ‘Leading Technological Institutes' (LTIs) in key areas of the Dutch industry. Reports, showing that R&D activities in The Netherlands showed a relative decline in comparison with other OESO countries, induced plans to establish ‘Leading Technological Institutes' as joint ventures between industry and the academia (public-private-partnership).

In 1997, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fishery granted four proposals/business plans out of a total of 18 proposals, leading to four LTIs:

• Dutch Polymer Institute - DPI
• Materials innovation institute (M2i)
• Top Institute Food and Nutrition (TIFN)
• Novay

The entire Dutch polymer producing and converting industry is involved in DPI, including major producers such as DSM, Dow, Shell, LyondellBasell, Akzo Nobel and Sabic, high-tech users of polymers such as Philips and Océ, and TNO, the governmental organisation for applied research. TNO is not only a member of the industrial consortium, but can also execute research within DPI.

The polymer producers in DPI are key players in the world of plastics and, moreover, strong competitors in the market. The challenge is that these companies have decided to establish a joint institute for generic, long term research in their key areas of interest, synthetic polymers, and are jointly owner (a requirement imposed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs) of the research results produced.

In 2006 some more LTIs are established:

• Dutch Separation Technology Institute (DSTI)
• Top Institute Pharma (TI Pharma)
• Wetsus (water technology)