Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research

The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research^[1] (Dutch: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek, abbreviated TNO, literally "Dutch Organisation for Applied Scientific Research") is an independent statutory research organisation in the Netherlands that focuses on applied science. It conducts contract research, offers specialist consulting services, and grants licenses for patents and specialist software. TNO also sets up new companies to market innovations.

Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek
New Babylon [nl] in The Hague, head office of TNO since 2015
Abbreviation	TNO
Formation	1932
Headquarters	The Hague, Netherlands
Employees	3,900
Website	https://www.tno.nl/en/

Background

TNO was established by law^[2] in 1932 to support companies and governments.^[3] TNO also held 10% of the Austrian research center Joanneum Research from 2004 to 2014.^[4]

Model

The work of TNO is focused on the so-called Top Sectors, and social issues relevant to Europe.^{[citation needed]}

The Early Research Programmes and Shared Innovation Programmes are always funded in part with public funds. Research results are further developed and applied in contract research, which is fully funded by TNO's customers.^{[citation needed]}

Projects

• TROPOMI:^[5] A satellite instrument that carries out measurements on the troposphere.
• Personalised Digital Health:^[6] A personalised diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.
• Hybridisation of Trucks and Buses:^[7] Focuses on the Total Cost of Ownership reduction for trucks and buses.
• Truck Platooning:^[8] This project creates truck platooning technology.
• Blockchain:^[9] Provides a blockchain laboratory.
• Shaded Dome:^[10] In cooperation with the armed forces, it is a dome structure designed to protect against harmful weather conditions and provide ballistic protection.
• The GeoERA programme:^[11] Several institutions from 31 countries are cooperating on geological research projects.
• Innovation for Development:^[12] A programme designed to disseminate research results to small and medium-sized enterprises.
• SolaRoad:^[13][14] Bike path made from solar panels, known as a "SolaRoad". It deteriorated in just a few years and in 2020 it was removed being considered a failure.
• TIM: TNO Intestinal Models, a system of models to mimick the digestive tract.^[15]

Locations

TNO is headquartered in The Hague. Other locations include: Amsterdam, Delft, Rijswijk, Leiden, Groningen, Helmond, Petten, Soesterberg, Utrecht, Ypenburg, Zeist and Eindhoven. TNO also has international branch offices in Shin-Yokohama (Japan), Toronto (Canada), Brussels (Belgium), Doha (Qatar), Singapore and Aruba. The locations of Hoofddorp and Enschede were closed in 2014.^[16]

Criticism

In 2006, a Swiss research group refuted a widely publicised TNO report claiming UMTS radiation was a health hazard.^[17] The organisation also received criticism after the evacuation of 200 residents of an Amsterdam housing estate over fears of its structural integrity when the construction had been technically approved by TNO only five months earlier.^[18] TNO was also criticised for its 2006 handling of an investigation into the collapse of a balcony in Maastricht in 2003 that killed two people.^[19]

In 2018, TNO was accused of committing fraud to disguise the cause of the disaster for their report about the fireworks disaster in Enschede on 13 May 2000, according to an investigation by Paul van Buitenen.^[20]