FOM, NWO-ALW and Unilever start IPP to investigate the physical behaviour of everyday products

The Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM), NWO Earth and Life Sciences (ALW) and Unilever will start on June 1, a strategic joint research programme into understanding hybrid soft materials. FOM and NWO-ALW will be investing € 400,000 per year. Unilever will do the same. The goal of the collaboration is fundamental research and industrial valorisation, organised in each of the partners' locations (Vlaardingen, Amsterdam (AMOLF, UvA) and Wageningen). All three parties agreed to commit to the new five year agreement on May 12, 2015.

The collaboration will form the latest FOM Industrial Partnership Programme (IPP), with which FOM and NWO-ALW aim to link academic knowledge to industrial ambitions. In this case, this will be achieved by undertaking cutting-edge physics research on soft matter in collaboration with Unilever industrial scientists.
The aim of this IPP is thus to understand and predict the stability and in-use behaviour of everyday consumer products. The main focus is to build a detailed physical understanding of the relation between the molecular, microscopic and mechanical properties of complex product matrices. In addition to this, the team will look for inspiration and will study structures made by nature, and will try to translate these lessons into the design of better, healthier and more sustainable materials and products.

IPPs have been set up to increase FOM's contribution to the Dutch knowledge economy. In these programmes researchers from FOM and companies collaborate closely on challenging scientific problems with a large innovation potential.
In an IPP, FOM staff carry out fundamental research over a period of several years in close contact with industrial researchers in areas with a good potential for innovation and challenging scientific questions. It is therefore collaborative research that could deliver groundbreaking innovations.

Proposals for IPPs can be submitted at any time; there are no deadlines.