Abstract
Water and energy. Two deeply interconnected issues in today's world. Two extraordinary challenges for our society, requiring extraordinary solutions. The impact of fundamental science can be decisive in this struggle. Opening up radically new avenues to alleviate constraints on the path towards a world that will necessarily be different. But do we still have time ?
The question of commitment in the face of the environmental challenge is one that scientists are now facing head on. But how can we reconcile the time needed for fundamental research with that needed for the technological innovation that draws on it ? How can the discoveries of fundamental science be brought out of the laboratory in the shortest possible time ?
Scientists have learned to tame this tension between fundamental research and technological innovation. They now know how to think of their discoveries in terms of innovations. And the creation of start-ups is a powerful tool and transmission belt for getting discoveries out of the laboratory. In this way, science can be fully engaged to have an impact on the world.
