For the Nationale Wetenschapsagenda, Ontwerpwerk designed and built a digital platform that makes a large, interconnected network of research projects, routes, programme lines and knowledge questions accessible, and makes the story behind the research visible.

The project started from the user experience rather than from the data: how different audiences orient themselves, what they are looking for, and how the platform can help them find something and understand how it connects to everything else. A smart taxonomy system ties the platform together. Pages point to related content, filters reveal connections between topics, and every page offers a way to keep exploring. The platform supports both focused searching and open-ended discovery.

Video, strong photography and an interactive map of the Netherlands give the content a sense of place and scale. Abstract programme lines and knowledge questions are grounded in real geography, and the research is presented as something to explore rather than a static archive.

Behind the scenes, project information and cluster questions are imported directly from NWO‘s knowledge system through a data connection. Everything built around that data is managed independently by the editorial team in Drupal, which keeps the platform current and easy to maintain.

The platform gives the Netherlands’ research community, and the public, a way to see how the country works on the questions that matter most.