The Raad van Bestuur has approved the designation of five Top Research Programs. For the next six years, these programs will receive extra attention and support, and will be used to profile Radboudumc's research to the outside world.
The Top Research Programs
- Hearing & vision for all: from diagnosis to treatment
- Gynecologic oncology
- Vector-borne diseases and zoonoses
- Parkinson & other movement disorders
- Atherosclerosis & Thrombosis
Why this matters
Since Radboudumc Research Institute for Medical Innovation was formed in 2023 through the merger of three research institutes, the resulting portfolio of over 40 research programs has been rich, but also fragmented, making it harder to tell a sharp external story about where Radboudumc truly leads. The Top Research Program status is designed to solve two problems at once: bringing focus to Radboudumc's external, narrative communication, and prioritising a growing demand for support (in business development, grant support and communication) without adding to the overhead.
How the five were chosen
The designation follows directly from RIMI's SEP (Strategy Evaluation Protocol) assessment, the six-yearly external evaluation all Dutch research institutes undergo. An international committee of 21 reviewers, assessed RIMI's institute and its 47 research programs during a five-day site visit to Radboudumc in November 2025, building on self-evaluations, recorded pitches and SWOT analyses submitted in advance. The committee scored programs against three criteria: research quality, societal impact and viability. Its final report was delivered on April 2026, followed by the Executive Response in May. On 7 July, the Raad van Bestuur formally decided to grant Top Research Program status to the five programs above, and to adopt the accompanying support package.
“We view this evaluation not as the end of a cycle but as the beginning of the next phase of development,” the Executive Response states, expressing confidence that RIMI “will continue to deliver outstanding science, meaningful impact, and a supportive academic environment in the years ahead.”
What's next
RIMI is responsible for working out the support package in practice; expect more detail on how programs can draw on it in the coming months. The Top Research Program status runs for six years, in step with RIMI's SEP evaluation cycle. It also lands alongside a broader push, flagged in the SEP evaluation, to move RIMI's wider portfolio of research programs toward a more focused structure in which each RGL contributes to only one, maximally two research programs.
