STICHTING NETHERLANDS ESCIENCE CENTER

Their core work

The Netherlands eScience Center provides research software engineering expertise to scientific projects, building and optimizing computational tools that enable large-scale data analysis and simulation. They specialize in making climate models run on high-performance and exascale computing infrastructure, and in building interoperable research data platforms that follow FAIR principles. Their core contribution is bridging the gap between domain scientists and advanced computing — turning scientific questions into working, scalable software.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2016-2019) centered on open science infrastructure and FAIR data principles, contributing to foundational projects like EOSCpilot and early climate prediction efforts. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted decisively toward high-performance computing, exascale readiness, and operational climate simulation — keywords like HPC, scalability, portability, and workflow optimization dominate their recent projects. This trajectory shows a move from building data-sharing frameworks to making computationally intensive science actually run at scale.

They are positioning as the go-to partner for making scientific simulations run on next-generation exascale computing infrastructure, particularly in climate science.

How they like to work

They never coordinate — all 9 projects are as participant or third party, which reflects their role as a specialist service provider rather than a domain leader. With 158 unique partners across 29 countries, they operate as a high-connectivity hub that plugs into diverse consortia wherever research software engineering is needed. This makes them easy to work with: they bring technical skills without competing for domain leadership.

Exceptionally broad network of 158 partners across 29 countries, spanning climate research institutes, HPC centres, and domain science groups across Europe. Their reach extends well beyond the Netherlands, with strong ties to major European climate and computing consortia.

What sets them apart

Unlike traditional research institutes that focus on domain science, the eScience Center's value is purely in research software engineering — they make other people's science computationally possible. This makes them a rare and versatile partner: they don't compete with domain experts but amplify their work. For any consortium needing to scale simulations, build FAIR-compliant data platforms, or optimize code for HPC, they bring dedicated software engineering capacity that most academic partners lack.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EUCP
  Largest single funding (EUR 591K) and most aligned with their core mission — building the European Climate Prediction system with regional modelling capabilities.
• ESiWACE2
  Directly targets exascale weather and climate simulation, representing their strategic direction toward next-generation computing infrastructure.
• ReaxPro
  Their only manufacturing/materials project — signals capacity to apply research software engineering beyond climate science into industrial modelling.