In his annual science lecture, KNAW President Robert Dijkgraaf presented a passionate plea to respect the fundamentals of science. On this occasion, he presented a new science agenda consisting of 49 scientific challenges to state secretary Halbe Zijlstra, who accepted the agenda emphasising his view that the research pipeline is broken. Dutch research excells in fundamental and applied science, he stated, but the pipeline breaks down where science needs to be translated into innovation. For that reason, the government wishes to stimulate and reward research leading to innovative startups, hence the 9 top focus areas for innovation which have been selected for government support.