Leiden Delft Erasmus Universities Space Campus Collaboration
In the last three months, our new LDE Liaison Officer Space Campus Peter Batenburg has been actively exploring the possibilities and direction of the collaboration between Space Campus and the LDE universities on space . Meetings with researchers and staff from the three universities as well as with representatives from ESA ESTEC, institutes like SRON, TNO and NLR and the space sector have given a clear and positive indication for collaboration between the universities with and via the NL Space Campus.
Regarding education a strong interest for interdisciplinary educational activities has been identified with students and universities’ staff. In particular opportunities for students to work together in interdisciplinary teams, with representatives from different universities, on design and study challenges set by real life problems from institutes and industry. As a first step LDE universities and NL Space Campus will work together on organising a LDE Space Campus Summer School where students can meet and learn from the space sector and work together on a wide range of projects reflecting the full value chain of the space sector from upstream to downstream.
The work so far has also show the interest for and expertise in working on the full value chain from upstream technology development and research to downstream applications where technology and knowledge is actively provided to the general public to overall benefit the society. The LDE universities and the sector can work together via NL Space Campus through Space Data. Space Data touches every discipline that the Netherlands has to offer in the fields of space; from the small sat platforms with instruments from industry and institutes that generate the data, to the analysis and processing of data in the research institutes and universities, to creating downstream applications via ESA BIC programme and the many start ups that is has generated.
The LDE Space Campus Liaison officer will the coming period continue working out the plans to find specific cases for collaboration and work out the details of the forward LDE Space Campus plan in educational and research activities.