The ORC encourages researchers to collaborate with knowledge institutions and societal partners. In this way, knowledge derived from research is channelled into policy and practice. Eleven consortia with a wide range of topics have received funding.

The Living Planet consortium, led by the University of Groningen, brings together the broader knowledge chain and societal partners to generate novel scientific insights, develop educational programs, art science, and citizen science and stimulate public engagement on the evolution of life and planet.

How life and the planet are interdependent

Life and the Earth have shaped one another throughout history. Whilst conditions on Earth influence how life evolves, living organisms also alter the climate, the atmosphere and the geology. This project studies this reciprocal relationship in the past, present and future.

By combining biology, geology and planetary science, researchers aim to understand how Earth’s conditions affect the element cycles of organisms and communities, how life influences chemical and rock cycles, how this alters planetary conditions, and what traces of life this leaves behind. This knowledge helps to predict the future of the Earth and to search for life beyond Earth.

Role of the UvA Faculty of Science

The 15 integrated projects will take place across several Dutch universities and research institutes. Researchers from multiple institutes of the UvA Faculty of Science are part of Living Planet, namely HIMS, IvI, IoP, API, IBED, and SILS. Three PhD projects will be hosted at the UvA Faculty of Science. The scientists will study questions related to the evolution of life, the changes of the planet and their interconnectedness as well as predicting further life and how life would evolve on other planets.

The UvA Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (IIS) will lead an educational living lab where education, research, and society converge. A minor, developed and hosted at the UvA, will allow students to explore how the Earth and life have co-evolved and how all living things are connected as a result. In collaboration with artists, they visualize these concepts for a broad audience and engage in dialogue.

Consortium partners

The Living Planet consortium is led by Prof. Dr. Martijn Egas from Groningen University. Apart from the UvA, the other partners in the consortium are Firma Kluit, Leiden University for Applied Sciences, Amsterdam University for Applied Sciences (HvA), Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science (KNAW), Maastricht University, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Next Nature, NWO-I, Radboud University, Taxon Expeditions, Delft University, Leiden University, Utrecht University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, WAAG Technology and Society, Wageningen University and Research.