SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - The new Caribbean Research Platform Foundation (stichting CaRP) is receiving a grant of 1.4 million euros from the Dutch Research Council (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NWO) to provide support services to the research community in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. A request for applications for CaRP board members started today, with at least one board member being sought from each of the six islands.
Support for researchers and knowledge utilisation
The CaRP Foundation was founded on Bonaire in April 2026. The grant will be used to support the regional research community on several fronts through work packages.
The platform assists, for example, with (training in) applications for research funding and encourages the translation of research findings into policy, education and the business sector.
CaRP also supports sustainable regional data storage and exchange, helps to strengthen research skills and ethics across all levels of education and is supporting the establishment of a graduate school to train researchers.
Stella van Rijn, Rector Magnificus at the University of Curaçao: “The Caribbean Higher Education Council of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (CHECK) is looking forward to working with CaRP on giving the research sector in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom a significant boost.
“We are confident that CaRP will be committed to providing support in areas in which our regional research sector has identified its needs. By bringing together knowledge, networks and initiatives, we can continue our joint mission of building a more sustainable and robust research ecosystem for our universities, other research organisations, researchers who work for NGOs and independent researchers alike. By working together, we can make a bigger impact.”
Board members sought per island
CaRP is a non-profit foundation, and its services are available to all researchers in the region. A regional board comprising local representatives from the islands will oversee the foundation and organise collaboration with the academic institutions and researchers on the islands.
The board will determine exactly how the platform is to perform its work, in close consultation with the research community on the islands. That is why the board member recruitment process is starting today. At least one board member is being sought for each island in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
In this way CaRP hopes to guarantee that the activities and support align with the needs on all six islands. The six members of the board will be responsible for developing CaRP’s governance structure in more detail.
From advice to implementation
The basis for CaRP is set out in the report entitled, Dutch Caribbean Research Platform. Sustainable strengthening of the knowledge system in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Naar een duurzame versterking van het kennissysteem in het Caribisch deel van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden), that was presented by Jorien Wuite and Wiebe Bijker in 2021.
The recommendations made in the report were adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, which then commissioned NWO to implement them. NWO supports the further development of scientific research on the islands in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in close collaboration with knowledge institutions and the research community in the region.
A task force consulted with representatives from the regional research sector on the SSSABC Islands in the period from 2021 to 2023. They determined which activities the platform should carry out in order to promote scientific research. A regional focus group, which included representatives from island authorities, research institutions and associations of young researchers, subsequently agreed on an approach consisting of eight work packages to be implemented on the islands.
More information
More information about CaRP and the board vacancies can be found here: www.nwo.nl/en/carp
