Our story and mission

Descin began with Paul Bessems and Ralf Zaal, while working as grant advisors and project and finance controllers in the academic sector. There, they saw how difficult it was for researchers to balance groundbreaking science with the administrative demands of securing funding. And after a few years, they realised something needed to change.

Researchers should be able to focus on discovery, not drown in paperwork.

So in 2014, they founded Descin—Dutch Excellence in Science and Innovation—with a clear mission:
to make sure researchers can focus on the research and relieve them of administrative burdens.

From the moment Descin was founded, the mission quickly resonated. What began as a small initiative soon grew: first one project, then another. And, before long, researchers, universities, startups, and industry partners from across Europe began turning to Descin for support.

What started as a vision between two people has grown into a full-service support partner that helps brilliant ideas become a reality without getting lost in bureaucracy.

Today, we are proud to be a dynamic and diverse team that still believes what Paul and Ralf believed from the start: 
science moves forward when researchers are free to focus on what they do best: innovate.

We are here to make sure that happens.

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Our team