Science Café Nijmegen is kicking off the new season with a special event. During Fête de la Nature, the Science Café will move out from the pub into the wild, beautiful nature of the Waal beach of the Ooyse Schependom. On the evening of Sunday September 4th, around sunset, professors David Kleijn (WUR) and George Kowalchuk (UU) will bring us up to speed (in Dutch) on the topic of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. It’s no secret that matters are looking dire in this area. Recent decades have seen an unprecedented rapid decline in the amount of plant- and animal species, resulting in an increasing pressure on nature, being largely caused by human actions. Does this also mean that the right actions can reverse this trend and prevent a collapse of vital ecosystems? What are the right actions? David Kleijn tries to answer this question using insights in ecological mechanisms and processes, and by factoring in agronomic, economic, and social aspects. Amid the Waal river landscape he will discuss effective strategies for realizing sustainable land use and nature management. The vast majority of biodiversity is invisible to the naked eye; this part is microbial and located underground. George Kowalchuk will introduce us to this bustling, hidden world. He will also discuss plant-microbe interactions and the essential role of the soil microbial flora in the conservation and restoration of nature and biodiversity. This evening by the riverside Tia Mangola will fuel the ambience with their Brazilian samba and bossa nova; will you bring your snacks and drinks (and maybe also something to sit on)? Everyone is invited to come enjoy and participate, weather permitting. Keep an eye on the known SC channels to be sure!
Chip Integration Technology Center (CITC) and Henkel announced today that the organizations have formalized an agreement to collaborate on the development of high-thermal die attach solutions for RF and power electronics. Under the terms of the partnership, Henkel will supply commercialized and developmental pressureless sintering die attach formulations and CITC will provide testing and analysis of the materials within next-generation package designs.
CITC’s Thermal High-Performance Packaging program focuses on thermo-mechanical design strategies and device packaging platforms that integrate low-stress, high-reliability rugged interconnect solutions. As die attach and molding materials are often limiting factors for the optimal operation of RF and power packages, Henkel is the ideal partner or innovation in this application area.
In addition to ongoing work in its state-of-the-art R&D centers, Henkel wants to accelerate time-to-market for its semiconductor packaging materials through strategic relationships across industry, government, and academia. CITC, which collaborates with leading power and RF device packaging companies, provides a unique opportunity to characterize and analyze Henkel’s high-thermal die attach formulations as an enabler for leading-edge device designs.
“Henkel’s pressureless sintering die attach materials are already proven in certain mobile applications,” explained Ramachandran “Ram” Trichur, the company’s Global Market Segment Head, Semiconductor Packaging Materials. “We want to extend that success to other sectors such as automotive, where large, high-power chips are the norm. Our pressureless sintering solutions are unique because they deliver the simple, low-stress processability of conventional die attach adhesives and very high thermal conductivity capabilities. The work at CITC will augment our in-house projects, allowing additional performance and reliability validation.”
The new die attach technology has the potential to enable the replacement of lead (Pb) within RF and power semiconductor devices that incorporate larger die on copper leadframes, allowing the introduction of high operating temperature gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) power die technologies. Many of CITC’s partners are actively integrating these new chip structures, making the cooperative project an excellent proving ground for Henkel’s pressureless sintering platform.
“In Henkel, we have found a material innovator that will enable the development of power and RF devices with a holistic approach that leverages the latest in die attach technology,” concluded CITC General Manager, Jeroen van den Brand. “With many major power device manufacturers based in Europe, and in Nijmegen in particular, we view this partnership as vital to satisfying the current and future demands within these important market sectors.”
Join the Vibe of the Future – September 8 at Novio Tech Campus!
Inspiration festival for innovators in health & high tech.
To most of us, the future remains a mystery. Yet there are some who dare to look far beyond what is known, seen as normal or generally accepted as common thinking. At Vibe of the Future, we share the stories of these people. We will explore new perspectives on entrepreneurship, science and innovation, with leading changemakers like Bas Bloem and Lucas de Man. All while enjoying art, creative foods, new connections and chill and lounge!
We set up an inspiring, surprising and fun program – hosted by Tom van ‘t Hek. We will be publishing the final schedule in the coming weeks, but you can already find the current program overview below.
16:00 hrs – Afternoon program starts on the mainstage:
Wilhelm Huck (Radboud University)- about establishing a robotlab, with supercomputers that will use AI for optimizing industrial standards and search for the origins of life.
Work Hard, Play Hard – about the race for talent, from the perspective of the talents.
Erwin van Wijk (Radboud University) – and one of his patients, about his research and its impact on Usher Syndrome.
Byondis – with a sneak peek into the wonders of pharma and drug discovery.
18:00 hrs- Evening program starts on the mainstage:
Bas Bloem (Radboudumc) – about the unexpected values of art and creativity and what it can mean for the research and treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
Lucas de Man (Company New Heroes) – with a talk on biobased design of the future.
#womenintech – three women about their experiences of working in health & high tech.
De Nieuwe Oost – Dance & Spoken Word performance
Throughout the entire festival, you can enjoy and visit:
Inspiration lounge – meetup with innovators, entrepreneurs and changemakers in health & high tech (like Health Valley network area, HAN University and Radboud University education and innovation square, young talent communities and many more)
Soccerclub NEC – sports and vitality check-up.
Art & Design Technology – creative and artistic exposition, by students of ArtEZ, who dove into health & high tech and reproduced their findings and interpretations.
Food & Drink court – creative and tasty foods and drinks.
Films & Talks – with InScience Film Festival!
Organized by: Briskr, Byondis, CITC, HAN University of Applied Sciences, Health Valley Netherlands, Into Nijmegen, Kadans Science Partner, NEC, Nexperia, Noviotech Campus, NXP semiconductors, Oost NL, Radboudumc, Radboud University, The Economic Board.
Novioscan makes a positive impact with its solution for one of the biggest hidden problems the world is facing: incontinence. Their story is a great example of a bright idea turning into a reality by finding skilled people to believe in your vision.
The basic idea of Novioscan’s invention is simple: avoid wet accidents by notifying the child or patient that they have to go to the bathroom or get help. Rob Tweehuysen, one of Novioscan’s co-founders, explains: “We noticed a great need for a solution like ours. We started with the objective to help young children, who don’t want to wear a diaper at school. But we learned that incontinence is a bigger societal problem, so we are working on solutions for older generations as well”, he says.
Briskr was right across the street Novioscan started with an idea, which quickly became a real-life solution. Their location in Nijmegen, with loads of supply in terms of knowledge and chip industry, surely helped. Finding your way in that maze of possible connections is not always easy, says Rob. “Right across the street was Briskr. We needed a networking organization like them to be able to connect to others like HealthValley, OostNL, and the University. It’s an ongoing process, but it sure is nice to have a guide.”Diligent, but accurate Novioscan’s technology works through ultrasound. A small device is placed on the abdomen, right where the bladder is. It sends sound signals inwards to receive an echo. Based on the time it takes for that echo to reach the device, it can precisely measure the amount of urine in the bladder. An invention that has changed lives, says Rob. “The problem is largely hidden, one in fifteen children has a problem with continence.”
The potential impact is not restricted to young children, as incontinence is a problem that older generations are facing as well. Novioscan is currently working on the ‘adult version’ of their product. “We are working on pilots with adults. The device needs to have the ability to measure at more points due to the various shapes of bladder that adults have, but we are confident that we’ll be able to apply our proprietary technology. Eventually, the goal is to make the product even smaller and therefore more diligent”, says Rob.
Managing continence instead of treating incontinence Turning innovation into an actual product takes more than just a good idea. In their search for investors, Novioscan found worldwide hygiene and health company Essity, quickly after they started their mission. Axel Nordberg is a global director for digital solutions at Essity, who is the owning partner of Novioscan. He is very excited to be involved in developing Novioscan’s product. “There are 400 million people in the world with incontinence, but the problem is often underestimated, due to stigma.” Essity is one of the biggest global companies in absorbent products with a clear agenda in digital solutions. They invest in good ideas to improve the quality of life. “We develop a lot of products ourselves, and Novioscan’s solution ticked many of the boxes we look for. It comes down to this: we want to support our customers and consumers to manage continence instead of thinking about treating incontinence”, says Axel.
For a relatively young company like Novioscan, Essity proved an ideal partner, says Rob. “Thanks to Essity, we could actually take the product to the market.” Axel adds that this is very important to further develop the product to fine-tune the product. “Feedback from users gives us information about our user’s needs. People stay at home in fear of leakage, compromising their freedom. We want to hear how they are best helped by applying technology.”
Health Valley organiseert op 15 november speciaal voor ondernemers een bustour naar de MEDICA; dé medische vakbeurs in Düsseldorf. De MEDICA biedt de mogelijkheid tot het spotten van nieuwe innovaties, het bijwonen van symposia en volop manieren om te netwerken. Kortom, de plaats om je te laten inspireren, maar ook om nieuwe verbindingen te leggen!
For the EFRO program period 2021-2027, the new website www.efro-oost.eu was recently put online. On this site, you can find all the current information about the program EFRO 2021-2027 for Eastern Netherlands.
In the coming period, the site will be further supplemented with information about the grant opportunities, openings, rules, budgets, news, stories from entrepreneurs/beneficiaries and information needed for progress and final reports. Keep an eye on this website if you are an entrepreneur and would like to make use of it. (Please note, the website is in Dutch)
To keep your public speaking skills fresh you should work on them on a regular basis. For most of us however the trigger to work on these skills is when we have to give our next presentation. To make it easy to keep your presentation skills on top of mind he started #FrankSays. With this hashtag he publishes, every Thursday, a practical pitch tip on Linked In.
Leading and managing a team is rewarding, complex, sometimes frustrating and amazing! Most entrepreneurs know more about their industry or craft than about getting the most out of the team that they work with. Yet fulfilling that role as a leader well is crucial to the success of your business, to your happiness at work and that of your employees. Something that investors also look at when deciding to put more money into your business or to keep you in your role as CEO as the company grows. Whether you have issues with your team, or everything is fine in that area but you would like to keep it that way, this afternoon will be well spent as good staff are harder to find and keep.
In this workshop, hosted by Lizanne Jakobs, we will work on crafting our knowledge and skills on:
– Your role as a leader
– The difference between managing and leading
– What to do when there is friction
– How do you keep people on track and motivated in the short and long term
Lizanne Jakobs is an award winning business coach and speaker and an entrepreneur herself. She is the founder of Brilliant Work, named best business coaching and consultancy firm in the Netherlands for small to medium sized companies two years in a row. Her workshops are always interactive, useful and engaging. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English and a Master’s in International Business Communications, both from the Radboud University and is a DiSC accredited trainer. The team of coaches at Brilliant Work help clients grow and professionalise their companies. Most of these coaching engagements are aided by one of the many different subsidies they are accredited for.
Programme
The workshop will run from 14.30 to 17.00, with doors opening 15 minutes before hand. Half way through there will be a break and from 17.00 onwards it will turn into a networking opportunity.
Ep. 11 – Adaptive Learning Listen to this episode from AI for Life on Spotify. The latest podcast about AI in Nijmegen is about adaptive learning. More and more schools are using digital tools to help students learn, and increasingly these tools are becoming intelligent. By giving real-time feedback and adapting the lessons for the individual student. In this podcast, we discuss the current state of the art and some of the challenges of this technology. How do you balance the needs of an individual student with those of the rest of the class? How do you use these tools in hybrid environments of physical learning and digital learning? And are these tools suitable for all teachers and learners?
In this podcast we talk to: Inge Molenaar, associate professor of educational studies at Radboud University Marieke van Osch, educational expert at the Ministry and Radboudumc and Jorieke Willems of the education company Gynzy.
If a company develops technical new products or services in the Netherlands, they could be eligible for Dutch tax incentives. These tax incentives can be very attractive for most business. In order to qualify for the tax incentives, several criteria have to be met. BDO can assess if your company could qualify for the tax incentives. Thereby we can support with the application and implementation of the tax incentives.
The Dutch government offers companies two tax incentives: the WBSO and the innovation box. These tax incentives encourages companies to occur Research and Development (R&D) activities in the Netherlands.
WBSO
You can invoke the WBSO during the research and development stage of your innovation. This entails a reduction in the payroll tax liability for wage and other costs as well as expenditures associated with the research and development work for your innovation. This reduction may run up to 40%. For the WBSO is involved the development of (components of) technically innovative physical products, physical production processes or software components, or technical and scientific research.
All kind of innovative developments could be eligible for the WBSO. The WBSO can take effect at any time during the research and development stage, however the WBSO does not have retrospective effect. Applications for the WBSO can be submitted at RVO each month and the application period could start (at least) on the first day of the following months. Only exception is applications starting as from 1 January, which should be submitted before the 20th of December. The period for which a company could opt for the WBSO, should be at least three months within the same calendar year.
Innovation box
The innovation box offers a reduction on the corporate income tax paid on profits generated from innovations. Subject to meeting the conditions, companies will owe no more than 9% corporate income tax on your ‘innovative’ profits. With effect of 1 January 2017, a patent or plant variety right alone is no longer sufficient to qualify for the innovation box. To demonstrate that you have self-developed an innovation, qualification under the WBSO is now the decisive criterion.
Large companies with a global revenue of more than 250 million euros over five years or income from innovations of more than 37.5 million euros over five years are required to meet additional criteria, i.e.:
A patent or plant variety right (granted or requested);
Software;
Authorisation for marketing a medicine;
A protection certificate from the Netherlands Patent Office;
A registered utility model to protect an innovation (not being a design right).
The innovation box can be applied to the years in which the conditions are being met. Contrary to the WBSO, the innovation box can be applied with retroactive effect to all years for which the corporate income tax assessment is not final yet.
BDO: specialist in tax incentives
The WBSO and innovation box could offer companies significant tax savings in the Dutch wage tax and the Dutch corporate income tax. Unfortunately, our experience shows that companies often do not (optimally) use these tax incentives. BDO has experience with the WBSO and innovation box for a variety of companies. We can assess whether your company could qualify for these tax incentives and if so, file an application at the competent government agency. Furthermore, we can also help you with the implementation and optimization of the these tax incentives.
Yours to gain
Savings on wage and other costs as well as expenditures;
Reduction in corporate income tax liability;
Alleviation of administrative burden;
Boost in innovation.
New transparency
Tax laws and rules are constantly changing and tax issues are becoming increasingly complex. What is more, the social pressure for transparency is intensifying. How can you, as a managing director and/or business owner, best maintain a clear overview when facing such a dynamic tax landscape? And how do you set clear tax objectives for the future? BDO tax advisers provide new transparency by examining your business from a fresh and independent perspective. We are able to translate complex tax issues into coherent recommendations and tangible solutions. We work closely with you to ensure your professional and personal goals are attained. In dialogue with you, we develop a clear-cut tax strategy that leads to sustainable success.
More information?
BDO specialises in tax incentives. Our specialists combine their knowledge with practical experience of your sector to provide tailor-made services. The initial scan is always free of charge.
