Tuesday, November 22, 2011
‘Overall, NGI’s output is higher and has more impact than originally planned and has thereby exceeded expectations.’ This is the conclusion of the Midterm Review of the second phase of the Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI), recently conducted by an international committee of experts. In the report, the Review Committee expresses its concern about the future. ‘We miss a sense of urgency by policy makers to secure and foster what NGI has achieved.’
Since 2002, the government has invested through NGI over half a billion euro in the Dutch Life Sciences sector. 'NGI has proved to be highly successful in creating the conditions for a coherent genomics knowledge infrastructure, in which excellent research, enabling technologies, valorisation, and social embedding are integrally approached and organised,’ concludes the international panel of experts.
Return on investment
To enable the committee to reflect on the output of the investment, NGI initiated amongst other things a survey to determine the multiplier factor: the yield of investments made by NGI in terms of return on investment, newly generated income and benefits for society. For all NGI Genomics Centres, this factor has been determined to be 4 on average. This means that every euro ever invested in NGI, is now worth four times as much.
The committee concludes that: ‘NGI has performed very well in genomics research, exceeding the targets for publications, both in terms of quantity as well as quality. Besides this, NGI has achieved impressive results in terms of valorisation. The organisation has strongly contributed to positive awareness towards valorisation of scientific results. Furthermore, NGI was successful in creating a trans-disciplinary approach to genomics and life sciences by bringing together researchers from different disciplines. Finally, NGI functions as an incubator for new public private partnerships in life sciences, in which the participation and contribution of industry increases as the programme progresses.’
The committee also praises the relatively low overhead of 3 per cent, and the results achieved in the field of societal research.
Concerns about the future
NGI’s mandate expires in 2013. At this moment, it is not sure what will happen with some of the most successful programmes and initiatives. The committee therefore urges NGI’s Supervisory Board and other policy makers involved to take the necessary measures to ensure sustainability of the investments made in the past ten years, despite the current budget cuts.