Universities and science academy say EU research programme needs greater backing and diversity

Horizon Europe, the EU’s research funding programme, must foster more diverse approaches and its budget should be doubled to ensure European competitiveness, according to a position paper from Dutch universities and science organisations.

In response to a European Commission consultation on the matter, the KNAW science academy, the NFU federation of university medical centres and the UNL association of Dutch universities published a position paper on 20 February setting out how to ensure that Horizon Europe will “make a real difference”.

The paper says that the Horizon Europe budget should be at least doubled and that it is essential for member states to meet the Lisbon target of spending 3 per cent of GDP on research and innovation.

In a special appendix to the report, the KNAW also emphasises the importance of swift association for Switzerland and the UK.

Five recommendations

The paper makes five main recommendations to the Commission:

• Invest in research and innovation as a strong strategic priority for Europe as a whole.
• Maintain excellence and impact as key principles throughout the spectrum of research and innovation.
• Unlock Europe’s rich and diverse potential through interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches.
• Prioritise well-functioning instruments and completing the European Research Area.
• Streamline and simplify processes and procedures.

The Dutch institutions say that Europe does not spend enough on research and innovation compared with China and the US, its strongest competitors.

In terms of where that spending should go, the paper says that Horizon Europe should focus on the “best and most impactful” research, and that funding should span the entire chain from basic research to applied innovation.

More money should be spent on proven programmes and funding streams, rather than new and untested initiatives such as the missions on climate change, cancer, oceans, smart cities and healthy soils, the paper says. It highlights the European Research Council as a prime candidate for more funding due to its track record of groundbreaking, internationally eminent research.

The challenges that Europe is facing are “multifaceted and highly complex”, requiring cooperation between disciplines, the paper adds. Horizon Europe should “foster interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches more than ever before”, and the social sciences and humanities must be better integrated throughout.

The report was published two days before similar recommendations on Horizon Europe were issued by several pan-European university groups, including the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities and the European University Association. Those groups mirrored the Dutch calls to significantly increase funding for the first pillar of Horizon Europe, which covers the European Research Council and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions schemes for basic research.

Cooperation uncertainty

The KNAW’s appendix calls on the European Commission to speed up association agreements with Switzerland and the UK to protect collaboration.

“The uncertainty surrounding cooperation with organisations in both countries has caused significant scientific damage, with consortia falling apart or collaborations falling through,” it says.

The KNAW also urges the Commission to reinforce funding instruments that address structural inequalities in pan-European research, in order to help less successful or less well-funded organisations gain access to Horizon Europe. However, the academy says that “research excellence” must remain the main criterion in funding decisions.

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Almost half of awards for established researchers went to women

The NWO, the Netherlands’ largest public research funder, has awarded grants to 18 male and 16 female applicants in the latest round of its Vici funding scheme for established researchers.

The total number of applications was 266. Women submitted just 37 per cent of grant applications but won nearly half of the 34 grants.

The grants are distributed across four domains: healthcare and medical sciences, technical and applied sciences, natural sciences, and social sciences and humanities. The winners, who will receive up to €1.5 million each, will use the money to follow an innovative line of research over the next five years, as well as to expand their research group.

Leaders

The Vici money is aimed at senior researchers who have demonstrated their ability to successfully develop their own laboratories and are on track to become leaders in their field, the NWO said.

One winner will investigate whether fiction contributes to citizenship and community building, while another will research the energy efficiency of the human brain and whether this can be applied to the processing of huge quantities of data.

Further projects look at the decision-making processes of robots and pain elimination after inflammation.

The Vici grants often lead to a permanent professorial position. The grants are part of a three-tier system modelled on the European Research Council, with Veni grants available to early career researchers and Vidi grants for those at the mid-career stage.

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This week: open science, digital twins and new members at the Society of Arts

In depth: Horizon Europe, the EU’s research funding programme, must foster more diverse approaches and its budget should be doubled to ensure European competitiveness, according to a position paper from Dutch universities and science organisations.

Full story: Double Horizon Europe’s budget, say Dutch institutions

Also this week from Research Professional News

Dutch funder announces latest winners of €1.5m Vici awards—Almost half of awards for established researchers went to women  

Here is the rest of the Dutch news this week…

Open Science Fund enters second round

The second round of the Open Science Fund will award €3 million to projects promoting open science practices, with a maximum of €50,000 available per project. The NWO, the Netherlands’ largest public research funder, said the funding aims to boost “recognition and appreciation” of open science by encouraging and rewarding researchers who have taken or want to take the lead in this movement, especially in fields where open science is not yet the norm.

Digital twins for physical ecosystems

A virtual research environment, or digital twin, that simulates changing physical ecosystems will receive €20 million from the NWO, the Netherlands’ largest public research funder. LTER-Life will use digital models to study the ecological makeup of the Wadden Sea and the Hoge Veluwe, both Dutch nature reserves. The money comes from a €140m funding pot paid out by the NWO to support large-scale scientific infrastructure in the Netherlands.

Six members join Society of Arts

The Society of Arts, a branch of the KNAW science academy, has appointed six new members who are leading artists from a variety of disciplines, including visual arts, theatre, dance and literature. They are choreographer Roni Haver, director and choreographer Guy Weizman, visual artist Iris Kensmil, author Marcel Möring, visual artist and director Felix de Rooy and actor Romana Vrede. The latest members will be officially welcomed on 23 March.

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Dutch science minister proposes closer cooperation between academic and vocational education

The UNL association of Dutch universities has welcomed a plan to get its members more involved in vocational training and jobs-based professional education.

Science minister Robbert Dijkgraaf has proposed a system under which higher education and research institutions would play a greater role in vocational training. The UNL said the Dutch education system was “currently not well placed” to meet universities’ ambitions for quality, accessibility and a good connection to the labour market.

Pieter Duisenberg, the president of the UNL, said he hoped that government exploration of the issue would “lead to a system that better suits what is needed in terms of knowledge and talent in these times of great societal challenges”. He said the network of research universities had the “possibility to contribute to a better position for the Netherlands through cooperation between academic and vocational education”.

The UNL added, however, that a clear distinction must remain between vocational and academic courses.

Wider review

The plan to increase vocational training opportunities in conjunction with higher education is part of a larger review of Dutch education. The UNL said it “embraced” this review as a way of improving the position of the Netherlands as a research country.

The components of the exercise, for which a special website has been set up, include a literature review and international exploration, interviews with experts, regional meetings, thematic meetings, an online panel and a page for public reactions. The exercise is being coordinated by the Dutch government and conducted by four research institutes and a consultancy.

The UNL said that education in the Netherlands was struggling to stay internationally competitive due to talent mismatches, high work pressure on staff and the locations of universities, which put huge pressure on cities while leaving the countryside underserved. The group said it hoped that previously stated concerns and ambitions, including problems with housing for international students and oversubscription on some degree programmes, would have a place in the review.

Incentives and support

One crucial issue highlighted by the UNL was the potential removal of an incentive that distributes funding to universities according to the number of students at an institution and its “market share” in education. “The current model is a distribution model and that does not fit the tasks we all face,” the body said.

In addition, the UNL wants to see more state support for turning research results into products or companies, as well as consistent funding for lifelong development.

For the UNL, these developments should lead to an “open academic community”, where all talent is recognised and everyone feels welcomed. To achieve this, the group said, the Netherlands must stay committed to spending 3 per cent of its GDP on R&D activities.

The UNL has set up a working group, led by Elmer Sterken, a former rector of the University of Groningen, to lead its input to the review.

A version of this article appeared in Research Europe

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ZonMw launches grant to study long Covid, warning of lack of diagnostic tests and treatments

The Netherlands has next to no capacity to diagnose or adequately treat symptoms of long Covid, according to ZonMw, a medical research funder.

The funder said that a significant number of people were experiencing long Covid symptoms that impacted their health, despite having recovered from the virus. ZonMw will launch a grant next month with the aim of stimulating innovative research on technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of Covid and long Covid.

The funder said that identifying long Covid was difficult as there were no diagnostic tests. In addition, the number of treatment options that can reduce symptoms or eliminate the causes of symptoms is still very limited, it said.

Better understanding

The March grant, which is expected to see the first projects launched in November, focuses specifically on digital and life sciences technology in support of a better understanding of Covid.

ZonMw said that continuing to fund Covid research was important even as the pandemic wanes, as the results from such work could improve diagnostics and treatment of other infectious diseases, including new diseases. Another important goal is to build and strengthen public-private partnerships between knowledge institutions, healthcare institutions and companies in the Netherlands, the funder said.

This will hopefully lead to a “solid core infrastructure” in the field of pandemics, it said.

The grant will be delivered in two phases and the maximum project duration will be 12 months.

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This week: an associate member for the UNL and a vice-president for Science Europe

In depth: The UNL association of Dutch universities has welcomed a plan to get its members more involved in vocational training and jobs-based professional education.

Full story: Universities embrace vocational training plan

Also this week from Research Professional News

Dutch medical funder offers support for long Covid research—ZonMw launches grant to study long Covid, warning of lack of diagnostic tests and treatments

Here is the rest of the Dutch news this week…

First associate member for UNL

The UNL association of Dutch universities has welcomed its first associate member: the University of Humanistic Studies. This denominational university, inspired by humanist traditions, will formally join on 1 June, giving it access to various lobbying networks and administrative consultation opportunities. The UNL recently added two new forms of membership besides regular membership: associate membership and network membership.

NWO leader appointed vice-president of Science Europe

Marcel Levi, chair of the board at the NWO research council, has been appointed as a vice-president of Science Europe, an association of research funders and performers. He succeeds Ángeles Gómez Borrego. Levi was already a member of the governing board of Science Europe before taking up his role on 1 February. Science Europe brings together expertise from research organisations and has 40 members from 30 countries. The NWO is a co-founder of the group.

Early Career Award for big data professor

Bart van der Sloot, associate professor of privacy and big data at Tilburg Law School, has received the Early Career Award from the KNAW science academy. Van der Sloot, who majored in law and philosophy, analyses the extent to which new legislation is needed to steer technological developments.

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Careful spending can make humanities faculty “more stable and stronger in the long term”

The dean of humanities at Utrecht University has issued a warning after his department was awarded enough money to hire 44 lecturers.

The university’s board had earlier decided that the humanities department would receive around a quarter of a €50 million funding injection from the Dutch government. In addition, a plan agreed between science minister Robbert Dijkgraaf and universities as part of a nationwide initiative will create an extra €3.2 million a year for humanities research and teaching at Utrecht.

In his new year’s speech, summarised by the university on 8 February, humanities dean Thomas Vaessens said he was himself “surprised” by the size of the investments—especially since an “unexpectedly large part” of funding heading to the university will be spent on the humanities.

However, he said that the funds, which are intended to improve university departments and the sustainability of certain disciplines, must be spent carefully. The funding should not be seen as an “all-purpose dishcloth” that can be used to wipe away all the problems of recent years. It cannot be divided evenly among all employees and all areas of the humanities to make up for the low funding and lack of collaboration opportunities they have faced, he said.

“If we were to do that, we would be back to square one in 5 or 10 years,” Vaessens said. “We now have the opportunity to make our faculty more stable and stronger in the long term.”

Priority areas

The 44 vacancies, all of which are for permanent contracts, are part of an agreement between Dutch universities and Dijkgraaf under the existing ‘sector plan’ for the social sciences and humanities. Seven will be recruited internally, while the remaining 37 are open to external candidates.

With this recruitment, the university aims to invest heavily in education and research that connects to today’s major social issues, Vaessens said. These include themes around climate issues, opportunity inequality and the public values of an open society.

Other themes in the sector plan include artificial intelligence; cultural heritage and identity; languages, cultures and prosperity; and participation and citizenship in a digital world.

Vaessens told the DUB, the university’s campus magazine, that he wanted to focus on themes that students and young researchers saw as urgent. “We want to be a faculty where they can engage directly with such questions,” he said.

Another priority for the funds will be interdisciplinary cooperation. Vaessens said that the themes agreed in the sector plan left plenty of opportunity for humanities researchers to cooperate with their colleagues, and even with researchers from the natural sciences.

He said that an interdisciplinary approach was essential to maintaining a variety of specialisms. However, he clarified that this would not impact specialised courses or research projects.

Vaessens also refused to guarantee that the workload of humanities researchers at Utrecht would decrease because of the funding. High workload has been an ongoing issue for all academics in the Netherlands, and Vaessens said it was not entirely certain the money would ease this burden.

However, he said that workloads could improve simply because extra capacity was being added. “More than 40 people will join us, and we will certainly not be teaching more students,” Vaessens said. “Add to that the extra research time people will get, and in the long term this should lead to a reduction in work pressure.”

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Research ministry urged to develop legislation that will allow English courses only in exceptional circumstances

MPs have passed a motion in support of requiring all universities in the Netherlands to teach undergraduate degrees in Dutch.

During a parliamentary debate on the recruitment of international students on 31 January, five MPs, led by independent MP Pieter Omtzigt, introduced a motion to “develop clear standards for the use of Dutch during the bachelor’s phase”. The motion was passed on 7 February.

The move is part of a political backlash against the high number of international students in the country.

Article 7.2 of the Dutch Higher Education and Research Act states that education and examinations shall be given and conducted in Dutch. However, there are exceptions to this article, including if the programme of study is about a specific language, if the course is taught by a guest lecturer or if the origin of students in the course makes this necessary.

During the debate, Omtzigt said that these exceptions had enabled universities to switch teaching to English in order to attract more international students.

As part of the motion, the lower house has requested better enforcement of the article and clarification of standards. MPs have also asked science minister Robbert Dijkgraaf to check whether existing legislation is sufficient and to report back to the chamber by 1 June.

However, Omtzigt demanded that Dijkgraaf explain sooner how he intends to implement the motion and how he will ensure that Dutch becomes the main language of teaching at Dutch universities. He said he expected to hear back from the minister within a week.

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This week: climate protests, a maths leadership appointment and an ICT research prize

In depth: The dean of humanities at Utrecht University has issued a warning after his department was awarded enough money to hire 44 lecturers.

Full story: Utrecht faculty dean urges caution after humanities windfall

Also this week from Research Professional News

MPs pass motion to reinforce Dutch as teaching language—Research ministry urged to develop legislation that will allow English courses only in exceptional circumstances

Here is the rest of the Dutch news this week…

Climate activists demand break with fossil fuel industry

Erasmus University Rotterdam and Leiden University have been urged to stop working with or taking funding from the fossil fuel industry. A building at the Rotterdam institution was occupied on 7 and 8 February by activists from OccupyEUR. On 8 February, a group of students and activists from Leiden and Delft, under the name End Fossil Leiden/Delft, disrupted the opening speech of Leiden rector Hester Bijl, who was attending a ceremony.

Next director picked for Leiden maths institute

On 1 May, Gianne Derks will become the scientific director of the Mathematical Institute at Leiden University. She succeeds Hermen Jan Hupkes, who temporarily assumed the role after the previous director stepped down. Derks, a professor of mathematics at the University of Surrey in the UK, will hold the post for four years. The institute said she would bring an “international outlook” to the post.

Amsterdam researcher wins ICT prize

The Dutch Prize for ICT Research 2023 has been awarded to Cristiano Giuffrida, a computer scientist, for “exceptional achievements” in research into vulnerabilities in computer systems, including a scientific breakthrough in the field of hardware vulnerabilities. Giuffrida is an associate professor and co-leads the Systems and Network Security Group at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The prize comes with €50,000 to spend on research.

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Dutch project aims to figure out how artificial intelligence can represent complex humanities data

The leader of a project aiming to help humanities researchers access digital methods and artificial intelligence has won a €2 million Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council.

Marieke van Erp, head of a digital humanities group at the KNAW science academy, will use the funding to try to understand how AI can best be deployed in the humanities.

At present, Van Erp said, AI technologies are unable to represent complex concepts such as identity and changes over time. The Trifecta project will combine different AI technologies, such as language and semantic web technology, to extract contextualised information from digitised sources.

This has great potential for exploring the millions of pages of texts scanned in recent years by Dutch institutions in “innovative ways”, she said.

Complex concepts

As part of Trifecta, researchers will attempt to create frameworks for databases describing complex entities and concepts, to advance research on big data within the humanities.

“I will focus on three core challenges: identity, change and the long tail—less frequent entities and phenomena,” said Van Erp. “By improving the complexity of the information we can get from texts and how we organise this information, we can make improvements in many domains.”

As it stands, databases are designed for information that is unambiguous and unchanging in time and place, Van Erp said. Humanities information, however, is based on terms and definitions that change over time, vary by place and depend on who is writing about it.

Van Erp said she was aiming to improve technologies to deal with changes in time and place and create links to different narratives. This, she said, has the potential to advance research on big data as a whole.

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This week: teacher PhDs, a lack of circular economy progress and a solar energy appointment

In depth: Dutch science minister Robbert Dijkgraaf has conceded that the Netherlands has reached full capacity in terms of the number of international students its universities can take on, but he says he needs more time to propose a solution.

Full story: Dutch minister hints at permanent cap on international students

Also this week from Research Professional News

Digital humanities researcher wins €2m ERC grant for AI project—Dutch project aims to figure out how artificial intelligence can represent complex humanities data

Here is the rest of the Dutch news this week…

Time and money for teacher PhDs

The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has issued grants to 23 teachers to undertake a PhD while working. The ministry makes €9 million available annually for the programme, which is intended to strengthen the connection between universities and schools and give teachers the chance to develop their careers. The winners will conduct research over the next five years, leading to a PhD.

Work to be done on circular economy

A report by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency has concluded that the Netherlands has hardly made any progress towards its planned transition to a fully circular economy by 2050. The use of most raw materials, for example, has not declined at all. According to the report, it is “commendable that the Dutch government has set ambitious circularity targets”, but the document highlighted a mismatch between compulsory targets and related policies whose adoption remains voluntary.

Director change at solar energy partnership

Angèle Reinders, a sustainable energy professor at Eindhoven University of Technology, has been appointed director of Solliance, an international research partnership on solar energy. She said that one of her goals was to broaden the scope of the partnership’s work. Solliance focuses on circular design for thin-film solar panels and is a partnership between research institutes from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

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Robbert Dijkgraaf says he will propose legislation in March

Dutch science minister Robbert Dijkgraaf has conceded that the Netherlands has reached full capacity in terms of the number of international students its universities can take on, but he says he needs more time to propose a solution.

During a lively debate in parliament on 31 January, the minister, who in previous debates on the matter has emphasised the importance of internationalisation, agreed that legislation was required to control the number of international students in the country.

He will propose that legislation in a policy document called a February letter, but he said he now needed until mid-March to produce that letter, because it required fine-tuning and coordination within the cabinet.

Pieter Omtzigt, an independent MP, expressed concern that any proposal published in March might be too late to affect the next international student recruitment period. 

But Dijkgraaf pointed out that late last year, at the request of MPs, he had asked universities to stop actively recruiting international students until the publication of the February letter. He said that universities had heeded his request.

Maximum capacity

Dijkgraaf admitted during the debate that the Netherlands was “at its maximum” in terms of the number of international students it was able to host. Since mid-2022, several Dutch universities have raised the alarm over their lack of facilities and appropriate student housing to deal with an ever-increasing number of students coming from abroad.

According to Statistics Netherlands, around 40 per cent of first-year students starting their degree in the Netherlands last year were from abroad. The number of international students in the country has more than tripled since 2006, the statistics bureau said.

However, the minister underlined that the problem varied from region to region and said that in any new legislation there had to be “an eye for the big differences” in the Netherlands. The proposed legislation should include room for exceptions, he said.

His comments were supported by Hatte van der Woude, an MP for the conservative VVD party. Van der Woude said that customisation of the rules was important to ensure international students could be recruited in subjects where they were needed, while limiting intake in courses that were oversubscribed and where most students did not stay in the country.

“These are students who did not pass the selection at home, come here to study and leave immediately after obtaining their bachelor’s degree,” Van der Woude said.

Peter Kwint, a Socialist Party MP, said there were worries about the large number of courses offered in English.

Kwint also expressed concern that leaving room for exceptions in a number cap would lead to every institution making the case for one. “An exception that applies to everyone is ultimately no longer an exception,” he said.

A version of this article appeared in Research Europe

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Different models under review for oversubscribed courses, with opinion split over fairness of exclusion thresholds

MPs in the Netherlands have debated the introduction of random selection to fill places on oversubscribed university courses—a system that was previously banned for being too arbitrary.

The Dutch government has issued a bill proposal that would involve drawing prospective students at random from a pool of qualifying applicants. The cabinet said it would be up to universities and individual courses whether to make this an unweighted or a weighted draw.

In an unweighted draw, all applicants that fulfil basic requirements to enter higher education would be considered equally, regardless of previous school performance. But in a weighted draw, selection may also be based on high marks, for instance.

The cabinet’s proposal contains an option for a mixed weighted draw. Under this system, candidates with high marks would be admitted directly, while the rest would have to undergo random selection.

Oversubscription

The Netherlands previously had a system of random selection for university places, but this was banned in 2017, along with limits to the number of study places. As a result, almost all qualifying applicants to university were admitted, but this has created oversubscription on popular courses, which some student and academic unions say is lowering the quality of education.

During a debate in the Dutch lower house on 24 January, the governing parties VVD, CDA and CU included an amendment to the bill that was proposed by several universities, university medical centres and student unions. This was that there should be an option under which the top and bottom students are excluded beforehand, so that the random draw only affects the students in the middle.

Under the amendment, called the Klaas Visser model after the psychologist who devised it, the top 25 per cent of students would be admitted directly, while the bottom 25 per cent would be excluded from the draw. However, universities would be permitted to set their own limits on what percentage of top and bottom students to exclude from the draw.

Inequality

The opposition Labour Party, Socialist Party and Groenlinks, as well as the coalition partner D66, said during the debate that this system could be unfair. The parties said that prospective students from richer families can more easily go to commercial tutoring agencies. Peter Kwint, an MP for the Socialist Party, said that tutoring increased the chances of admission to highly sought-after degrees, for example in medicine.

His views were echoed by Lisa Westerveld, an MP for the green Groenlinks party, who pointed to advertisements from tutoring companies claiming that students in their programmes had a 90 per cent chance of being chosen for their favoured course.

“It cannot be that if you can pay a few hundred euros more, you are more likely to attend a certain university course,” Westerveld said. “That is inequality of opportunity.”

Capacity problem

The two national student unions in the Netherlands, the ISO and the LSVB, also voiced different opinions about the proposal. The ISO supported the plan, along with the IMS and DG medical student unions, saying the Klaas Visser model was “better than other options”.

But the LSVB said that the option of preselecting top and bottom candidates was unfair, as “talent is subjective”. Instead of forcing students to undergo a process akin to a lottery, the union said the government should address the “capacity problem” in Dutch universities.

Opposition to the Klaas Visser model also came from science minister Robbert Dijkgraaf, who spoke out in favour of a model under which all students were equally subject to random selection. He said the proposal under which universities could set their own definitions of top and bottom students was at odds with the principle of accessibility in higher education and was “completely arbitrary”.

“I think we would be on a slippery slope if this amendment were to be adopted,” Dijkgraaf said. “After all, we are then going to give institutions the role of independently setting minimum admission requirements for our courses.”

The lower house will vote on the proposal on 31 January, and the bill is expected to pass with a slight majority.

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Tax rules and lack of grants place burden on at-risk scholars, report says

The Dutch system to support scientists seeking refuge in the country is not working well, despite a heightened awareness of their plight, the country’s Young Academy has warned.

The collective of young scientists, part of the KNAW science academy, said the war in Ukraine had brought pre-existing problems to the surface. In a report published on 23 January, it highlighted a series of hurdles preventing refugee scientists from settling in the Netherlands.

In the process of compiling the report, the Young Academy interviewed 15 staff members of Dutch knowledge institutions and other representative bodies. The group issued eight main findings, as well as recommendations on how to improve the situation.

Tax barriers

The academy warned of a lack of funding options for temporary appointments and little in the way of bursaries to support refugee scholars. Tax rules are part of the problem, limiting proper financial support, the academy said.

It called for a “national structure for the registration and reception of at-risk scholars” in the Netherlands, in order to track and support their integration.

The Young Academy commended the fact that many initiatives to help refugee scientists had been set up since the war in Ukraine began, but it urged the government to improve the framework in which these operate.

The academy said that the education ministry should enter into talks with finance minister Sigrid Kaag and the Netherlands Labour Authority to clarify that there will be no taxation of flexible grants paid to refugee scientists to work at Dutch universities. This is one of the main barriers in properly funding scholars at risk, the academy said.

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This week: Earth observation, health innovation and degree creation

In depth: MPs in the Netherlands have debated the introduction of random selection to fill places on oversubscribed university courses—a system that was previously banned for being too arbitrary.

Full story: Dutch government moots random selection for university courses

Also this week from Research Professional News

Young scientists criticise Dutch support for refugee academics—Tax rules and lack of grants place burden on at-risk scholars, report says

Here is the rest of the Dutch news this week…

Millions for Earth observation and planetary research

The Dutch research ministry, the NWO research council and the Netherlands Space Office have awarded €4.5 million to 15 research projects through the Go funding programme to give scientists access to space research infrastructure for Earth observation and planetary research. The researchers will study other planets as well as activity on Earth such as forest and wildfires. The next round of the Go programme has a deadline of 9 May.

Funding awarded to pioneering health research

Six organisations in the east of the Netherlands have awarded funding to 11 research projects on new technology in healthcare. The funding was provided by a university, a college, three medical research institutions and an investment company. The annual budget of their Pioneers in Health Care Innovation Fund, which aims to make healthcare more patient-friendly, is €660,000.

Minister proposes changes to degree creation rules

Science minister Robbert Dijkgraaf has opened a public consultation on his proposal to boost cooperation between universities by asking them to share plans for new degrees at an earlier stage, before they are ready to apply for permission to launch the programme. This would give room for more consultation and less duplication, Dijkgraaf said. Interested parties can comment on the proposal until 16 February.

The post Netherlands news roundup: 21-27 January appeared first on Research Professional News.

This week: a PhD withdrawal, a protest against the Taliban and funding for postdocs

In depth: The Dutch government has announced plans to create Erasmus-style grants to boost student exchange between the countries and municipalities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Full story: Erasmus-style grants could boost exchange within Dutch kingdom

Also this week from Research Professional News

Police break up student climate protest in Amsterdam—Student activists occupied building over concerns about university’s collaboration with oil company Shell 

Here is the rest of the Dutch news this week…

Utrecht pulls PhD over data problems

The doctorate board of Utrecht University has decided to withdraw a doctoral degree awarded in 2008 because of concerns over scientific integrity. The university said on 18 January that complaints had been submitted about the validity of the data used in the thesis, which were investigated by Utrecht’s scientific integrity committee. Henk Kummeling, the university’s rector, said there was an ongoing concern that the issues were not spotted by the PhD student’s supervisor or the doctoral committee at the time.

KNAW condemns Taliban ban on female academics

The KNAW science academy has co-signed a statement condemning the Taliban’s ban on women attending universities, announced in December. The statement, compiled by the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies, said the ban would have a “devastating impact” on the next generation of scientists in Afghanistan and was a “gross violation” of the fundamental human right to education. As a result, the ban risks causing “lasting harm” to Afghanistan’s development, the network said.

Rubicon grants for freshly minted PhDs

The medical research funder ZonMw and the NWO research council have awarded Rubicon Grants to 15 gifted early career researchers who have recently obtained their PhD. The grants will allow the holders to conduct research at an institution abroad for up to two years. The most popular destination for this funding round was the US.

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Ministers make proposals to improve opportunities for students in Dutch Caribbean territories

The Dutch government has announced plans to create Erasmus-style grants to boost student exchange between the countries and municipalities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The plans were discussed this month in Curaçao at the annual meeting on education, culture and science policy of the four countries that make up the kingdom: the Netherlands itself and the Caribbean countries of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten.

At the meeting, education ministers from the four countries discussed the barriers faced by Caribbean students when planning to study in the Netherlands, including a lack of financial support, which can be an issue for students from the historically poor Caribbean territories.

As well as the four countries, the Kingdom of the Netherlands includes the special municipalities of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius. Together, the Caribbean parts have around 300,000 inhabitants, and all citizens are eligible to attend university in the Netherlands.

In a statement on 17 January, the Dutch government said that students from the Caribbean territories can apply to the EU’s Erasmus+ exchange programme and receive an Erasmus+ grant anywhere in the EU—except for the Netherlands, where special entry permissions apply.

To rectify this situation, the science ministers of the four countries discussed the creation of a mobility programme, modelled on Erasmus+ and with similar bursary amounts, to boost student exchange between all parts of the kingdom.

“It is important that we offer the young people of the islands a better perspective by using the power of the kingdom,” said Dutch science minister Robbert Dijkgraaf. “That is why I am pleased that we are going to take concrete steps to increase the study success of students.”

Academic orientation

The ministers also discussed curricular differences and the problem of education in the Caribbean states not providing ideal preparation for studies in the Netherlands.

They proposed combining existing initiatives to prepare Caribbean students for entry into Dutch academia, as well as the creation of a “Caribbean academic orientation year”, a preparatory phase for students before they study in the Netherlands.

The three universities in the Caribbean territories are expected to set up a joint programme of science collaboration with universities and universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands, the Dutch government said, adding that in the long term, the quality of secondary education in the Caribbean territories has to improve to make it easier for local students to enrol at Dutch mainland universities.

The ministers also agreed to find ways to “improve the connection between education and the labour market”. The proposals emerging from the conference will now be “worked out in more detail” in collaboration between the countries.

The Caribbean nations are considered equal partners in the kingdom and have their own parliaments, but some matters, including foreign policy and defence, are decided by the Netherlands.

A version of this article also appeared in Research Europe

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Student activists occupied building over concerns about university’s collaboration with oil company Shell

The University of Amsterdam called police to break up a climate protest on its property on 16 January, after students refused to leave a university building.

The protests, organised jointly by University Rebellion’s University of Amsterdam branch, End Fossil Occupy NL and the squatters’ movement Mokum Kraakt, were against what the protesters said was a close relationship between the university and the oil company Shell. Members of the activist groups occupied the building and refused to vacate it despite talks with Geert ten Dam, president of the university’s executive board, and vice-president Jan Lintsen.

According to university management, police were called and the building was cleared by 11.45pm that night.

Close ties

The protest groups said they were upset by guest lectures given by Shell staff in the university’s degree programmes on auditing, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, the groups protested against financial contributions made by Shell to research taking place at the university.

University Rebellion pointed out that many science and learning institutions had formally cut ties with Shell, including the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum. The municipality of Amsterdam has also enacted a ban on marketing by fossil fuel companies.

In its manifesto, the group demanded the creation of a student and staff assembly to “create a comprehensive set of climate policies and monitor their implementation”.

Representatives from the University of Amsterdam said the university’s management was “understanding” of the concerns. “We agreed that it is a matter that deserves close attention,” said Lintsen. “We have therefore indicated that we want to conduct the debate on collaboration with third parties—Shell in particular—on a university-wide basis.”

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Climate, health and digital issues front think tank’s plans for future research and debate

The Rathenau Institute, a think tank that facilitates public debate on science in the Netherlands, wants to focus its work on digitalisation, climate and health—with a specific focus on public values.

The three themes were chosen for the institute’s work programme 2023-24, which covers the main focus of advice, reports and events originating from its work. The institute said the topics represented the major societal challenges coming to the Netherlands in the future.

Science, technology and innovation play a major role in these themes, the institute said. A fourth, overarching theme—knowledge for transitions—deals with the role of knowledge in enabling societal changes.

The institute said it wanted to build on existing expertise in these areas. In doing so, Rathenau aims to provide insight into how science, technology and innovation can contribute to pressing social issues.

Societal transitions

The Rathenau Institute said that digital technology would be “of great importance” as it underpins all societal transitions but can also “frustrate” a lot of progress. For instance, technology’s ability to replace some jobs can ease labour shortages, but this can also create ethical issues and unemployment.

The topic of climate change requires many important transitions, Rathenau said. This includes finding ways to reshape the food chain, adapting the energy grid and ensuring that industry operates within planetary limitations.

The health theme will cover issues such as maintaining facilities, obtaining and improving the latest technology and uncovering how changes in lifestyle affect people’s health.

The knowledge for transitions theme will be both its own research topic and a basis for the other three themes. It will focus on how innovation and knowledge development should be organised to ensure societal acceptance and participation.

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Debates around student number caps and quality assessment will force Dutch researchers to take sides

Two main topics are set to dominate the Dutch higher education world in 2023—and both are likely to rouse passionate debate among academics.

The first big issue is a cap on the number of international students allowed to enter the country, which was passed by the Dutch parliament in November. The government and some of the big universities say the cap is necessary to ensure students from abroad can find accommodation, and to reduce the problem of over-subscription in some courses. The cap was first mooted in August, after the University of Amsterdam pleaded with international students to give up their places if they could not find accommodation.

But the proposal has been met with derision by smaller institutions and applied universities, which say they are essential to plug talent gaps in subjects such as national sciences and engineering. They warned that stopping all “active recruitment” abroad, as the government asked, would create a dearth in numbers as well as income, as non-European students pay around €8,000-€14,000 in tuition every year.

With students from abroad making up around 40 per cent of first-years in the Netherlands in 2022, there is definitely an issue. The big debate in 2023 will be whether this presents a problem or an opportunity for growth.

The other topic likely to dominate academic’s minds and hearts is that of measuring research quality. In its final report in 2022, the AWTI, the Dutch science advisory council, said that quality assessment needed change away from publication-based metrics and output—towards criteria that honour creativity and public engagement.

Eppo Bruins, the chair of the council, said Dutch researchers deserved acknowledgement for work that had “meaning” to society. But how such meaning can be measured remains to be defined.

Nonetheless, the debate about science quality has raged in the Netherlands for several years. 2023 might be the year where new criteria are finally proposed and put on the table. Whether they will be to the liking of those who will be measured, however, remains to be seen.

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This week: an artificial intelligence research fund, hydrogen patents and institutional involvement in farming

In depth: The introduction of the knowledge safety test, a system to ensure that Dutch research results and knowledge are kept safe in collaboration, is to be delayed, according to the research ministry.

Full story: Minister delays introduction of ‘knowledge safety test’

Also this week from Research Professional News…

Rathenau Institute presents two-year work programme—Climate, health and digital issues front think tank’s plans for future research and debate

Pro or contra—Debates around student number caps and quality assessment will force Dutch researchers to take sides

Here is the rest of the Dutch news this week…

NWO to fund decade of AI research

The NWO, the largest Dutch public research funder, is planning to spend €25 million on a 10-year research programme called Robust. The programme will use artificial intelligence to provide sustainable solutions to socially relevant issues in areas such as healthcare, logistics, media, food and energy. AI can contribute to sustainable growth, the NWO said, but this will require reliability and public understanding of the technology’s reach and limitations.

Netherlands third for hydrogen patents

The Netherlands is third in Europe in terms of the number of patent applications per year for innovation in hydrogen production. This number more than doubled from 21 applications in 2011 to 47 in 2020, according to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Almost 60 per cent of Dutch patents in this area come from large companies. The rest were submitted by small and medium-sized companies, including 10 startups.

Study urges public institutions to get involved in farming

Public institutions can play a crucial role in initiating research on food production and facilitating changes towards more sustainable farming methods, a study has shown. The study, undertaken by the Dutch branch of the CGIAR farming research institute, found that small farmers especially needed the support of strong institutions to adapt to climate change. Public-private research partnerships and participation in international research were also found to be of value.

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Robbert Dijkgraaf says initiative to determine collaboration safety in research needs amendment

The introduction of the knowledge safety test, a system to ensure that Dutch research results and knowledge are kept safe in collaboration, is to be delayed, according to the research ministry.

In a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives, science minister Robbert Dijkgraaf said this was because an amendment to the initiative was needed before its introduction. The minister said he wanted to formulate an assessment framework for individuals who had applied to study at a Dutch university.

The knowledge safety test will also require additional laws and regulations to be passed before it can be rolled out, Dijkgraaf said.

Helpdesk

Until the formal introduction of the test, universities wanting to collaborate with partners abroad will have to use external assessors and the government’s Knowledge Safety Desk, the minister said. The desk was created last year to answer questions about international collaborations between institutions, companies or researchers associated with foreign institutions.

Since its launch, the desk has received nearly 150 queries about collaborations, the minister said. Most questions were about collaborations with Chinese, Russian and Iranian parties.

Dijkgraaf also issued a warning that many Dutch knowledge institutions were insufficiently prepared to keep information safe when collaborating with other institutions.

According to the AIVD, the Dutch intelligence service, the threat to national security from foreign entities is increasing. In a letter, interior minister Hanke Bruins Slot wrote that “Dutch companies, knowledge institutions and scientists are targeted on a large scale through digital activities to capture high-quality technology, for example through cyber espionage or circumventing export restrictions”. He said that China was identified as the origin of the biggest threats.

Security guidelines

In early 2022, the Dutch government issued National Knowledge Security Guidelines. According to the AWTI, a science and technology advisory body, most universities in the country have used this to gain a better picture of knowledge security risks.

Some institutions appointed coordinators and set up advisory teams to guard their knowledge in a geopolitical context, the council said. However, according to Dijkgraaf’s letter, some institutions are lagging behind.

The minister said that, based on conversations he had held with managers, “not all institutions have come as far with the risk analysis” as he had hoped. He also said that the research topic that proved the most difficult for universities to assess was dual-use research, which can be used for both military and civilian purposes.

Risks and opportunities

According to the AWTI, the main problem is that not all collaborators at universities are aware of the risks of working with international partners. The minister called on all knowledge institutions in the UNL association of universities and the VH association of universities of applied sciences to conduct a proper risk analysis before joining international teams.

The minister said that an external audit of all existing collaboration projects would be undertaken next year. This would map out how institutions are now dealing with knowledge security, he said.

This audit is a response to an emergency debate, following news reports on potential information leakage in several defence collaboration projects between the Netherlands and China.

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This week: a digital competence centre, a simplified grants process and a Mastodon move

In depth: Research institutions in the Netherlands need wider and more inclusive methods for evaluating scientific quality, according to the AWTI, a science and technology advisory body.

Full story: Dutch advisory body proposes revamp of quality assessment

Also this week from Research Professional News…

Study shows benefits of diverse tasks for university staff—Moving away from strict research focus could make Dutch universities more resilient in jobs crisis

Here is the rest of the Dutch news this week…

Digital competence centre ready to launch

A centre on digital competence in the social sciences and humanities is ready to start work, according to the KNAW science academy. The academy announced on 4 January that a network manager and community coordinator had been appointed for the Thematic Digital Competence Centre on Social Sciences and Humanities. The centre is part of the KNAW’s competence centres programme, which aims to implement a series of roadmaps to improve collaboration.

NWO rolls out pre-proposals in talent grant schemes

The 2023 funding rounds of the Veni, Vidi and Vici grants will involve a preliminary phase to select the proposals most likely to win, thereby cutting paperwork for applicants. The NWO, the research council that administers the programmes, announced in December that this two-phase assessment would also reduce both the number of interviews applicants would have to attend and the burden on referees. The Veni, Vidi and Vici grants are for excellent researchers at different career stages.

Universities eye Mastodon for future social media focus

The UNL association of Dutch universities and the education ICT group Surf are working on a proposal to create their own server on the social network Mastodon to reduce universities’ reliance on Twitter. The two organisations announced in December that they would run a Mastodon pilot in the first quarter of 2023, allowing members to experiment with exchanging messages and information on the platform. The UNL and Surf said they wanted to move away from Twitter after Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform resulted in what they described as the silencing of journalists and scientists and reduced efforts to fight fake news.

The post Netherlands news roundup: 17 December to 6 January appeared first on Research Professional News.

Moving away from strict research focus could make Dutch universities more resilient in jobs crisis

Universities in the Netherlands should take a broader approach to hiring staff, giving greater emphasis to other academic tasks besides research, a think tank has said.

The Rathenau Institute, which facilitates public debate on science in the Netherlands, published the results of a study on time use and motivation at universities late last year. The survey of more than 2,200 academic staff found that for many, science means doing more than “just research”, with respondents reporting higher motivation and more willingness to stay in academia when they had a variety of tasks to carry out.

To improve motivation, universities should ensure that staff can focus on a wider variety of core tasks, such as teaching, leadership and working on social problems, Rathenau recommended.

At almost all the institutions covered by the survey, scientists spent most of their time researching, followed by teaching, knowledge transfer and administration. While most scientists said they would like to spend even more time on research, they also reported that the highest positive impact on their motivation was derived from working with smart colleagues, doing socially relevant work and engaging in curiosity-driven academic activities.

Those factors were more important in maintaining academic motivation than salaries and pension plans, the study showed.

High research demands

The Rathenau Institute suggested that the academic qualification system itself was deterring candidates with broader interests due to the high research demands placed on PhD candidates and the need to write a dissertation.

“This will deter people who don’t feel like spending four years on research,” the institute said in a statement summarising the study. “These may very well be people who do have the ambition and capabilities to provide high-level education, to transfer knowledge to policymakers and civil society, or to manage a complex organisation.”

Rathenau added that a tightening labour market might make it necessary to recruit staff for whom building a research career is not a priority.

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Quantitative measurements fail to capture breadth of science activities, AWTI says

Research institutions in the Netherlands need wider and more inclusive methods for evaluating scientific quality, according to the AWTI, a science and technology advisory body.

The AWTI said in a letter submitted to parliament in December that narrow, publication-based measurements of quality were pushing scientists towards an exclusive focus on research activities. This can undermine the “meaning that science has for society” and have a negative impact on the quality of decision-making, said Eppo Bruins, chair of the AWTI and main author of the letter.

The letter, submitted at the request of parliament’s standing committee on education, culture and science, was addressed to House of Representatives speaker Vera Bergkamp. The AWTI said it aimed to describe how scientific quality could be interpreted in novel ways.

Rich and nuanced palette

In the letter, the group said that activities such as international collaboration, the training of early career scientists and engagement with the public were all essential aspects of scientific quality. However, these were rarely captured by traditional metrics such as publication and citation rates, it said.

“Quality of science is about the qualities of science—the values attached to certain scientific activities,” the letter stated. “This has to do with the significance that some activities have for science itself, via enrichment of the knowledge base, education and the training of students and researchers.”

The letter said that over the past two decades, Dutch scientists had become increasingly dissatisfied with the strong focus on quantitative assessment of scientific quality. This had created a “one-sided” approach to quality measurement, which did not reflect the true nature of academic science, it said.

“To be able to interpret the plurality of qualities of science and scientists, a rich and nuanced palette of quantitative and qualitative methods and indicators is needed that complement each other,” said Marleen Stikker, an AWTI council member.

Diverse criteria

In its letter, the AWTI noted that the NWO research council and the ZonMw health research organisation had already implemented more diverse assessment criteria in their evaluations of research proposals to reflect a broader interpretation of quality.

The AWTI urged the government to revise its own criteria for science quality assessment through a process that “involved everyone in science”, including laypeople, politicians, businesses and early career researchers. This effort should include detailed mapping of alternative quality measurements and assessments of their effects, in order to identify what factors are important.

Such “diverse” criteria would help researchers to shape their careers better and focus on activities that are of huge importance to science but are difficult to measure quantitatively—such as building international partnerships, communicating science results or improving teaching. There should also be more focus on, and recognition of, collaborative work to reflect the fact that most scientists now work in teams, the AWTI authors said.

“Quantitative data can indeed be informative about quality, but having room to include everyone’s talents means that more attention should be paid to content, scientific integrity, creativity and impact,” the letter stated.

The AWTI argued that this new approach would be crucial to maintaining the competitiveness of Dutch science internationally—as other countries are increasingly changing their science assessment systems to become more inclusive. Quantitative assessment will also be impacted by the rollout of open-access publication, the authors said, which is expected to reduce the emphasis on ‘prestige’ in rating academic journals.

A version of this article appeared in Research Europe

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Survey shows that three-quarters do not feel well informed about funding decisions and direction

Nearly three-quarters of Dutch citizens would like more clarity from the government on the decision-making processes behind climate policy and funding, a survey has shown.

A report compiled by the TNO, a public innovation funder, showed that 72 per cent of people in the Netherlands think there is insufficient openness on the steps being taken to combat climate change and help the country adapt. Meanwhile, 67 per cent said there needed to be more information on what has already been achieved.

The majority of respondents said the most important information needed was on the pros and cons of different climate adaptation strategies, and what they will cost.

More than half of the people surveyed by the report want this information to be delivered via television, followed by government websites (44 per cent) and newspapers (38 per cent). Only 15 per cent said they were most likely to pick up such information on social media.

More action

Geerte Paradies, an innovation researcher at the TNO, said 65 per cent of respondents were concerned about climate change, and that most thought the Dutch government was not doing enough to achieve emission targets.

“A large proportion of people have little confidence that the government is doing enough and they also feel that their individual interests are not being sufficiently taken into account,” she said. “They want the government to be a reliable partner for them.”

The report recommended that the government study different communication strategies to ensure Dutch people feel informed about climate policy. It also said the public should become more involved in climate policymaking to make sure their concerns are being considered.

Planned policies

Rob Jetten, the Dutch environment minister, said the government was already working on making it “easier and cheaper” for people in the Netherlands to make sustainable choices. He highlighted a plan to increase air passenger taxes and use the proceedings to subsidise train travel.

Jetter said the government also had a budget set aside to upgrade building stock to make it more sustainable and to force high-emission industries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50-60 per cent. He pointed to the Dutch government’s €35 billion climate fund, which is expected to fund research, technology upgrades and adaptation over the coming decade.

“I would like to organise a citizens’ forum on these and other concerns in the coming year, the minister said. “Climate problems are not only for politicians to solve. The idea is to have about 200 people who are a good reflection of our society have a say in our climate policy and to influence it.”

The Dutch government commissioned the TNO report to find out how Dutch people engage with climate policy and how policies can be adapted to better reflect their concerns. The innovation institute surveyed around 2,000 people to obtain the results.

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Rolling funding expected to benefit young researchers and improve their career prospects

The Dutch academy of science, the KNAW, has set up a committee to advise the government on the creation of a programme of startup and incentive grants for early career researchers.

These grants should “stimulate unfettered research” but must be easy to access to reduce application pressure and avoid creating extra work for researchers, the academy said. It has appointed Bert Weckhuysen, a professor of inorganic chemistry at Utrecht University, to lead the committee.

The Dutch research ministry, headed by Robbert Dijkgraaf, said the grants would primarily benefit academics who were just starting out in their career. It added around €300 million would be available annually to pay for the grants.

“The startup and incentive grants play an important role in creating peace and space and in solidifying the foundations of the higher education and research system,” the research ministry said.

Support for excellency

A grant system like these startup grants was proposed by the KNAW in 2020, after then-science minister Ingrid van Engelshoven asked the academy how to better support excellent academics. In a report delivered in October 2020, the KNAW said rolling grants for early career academics, such as assistant professors and associate professors, would go a long way towards easing funding worries and academic workloads.

The KNAW said the grants should not have deadlines, so they could be used by researchers “at a time that suits them”. In its 2020 report, the academy suggested a budget of €250,000 to €500,000 per researcher.

While welcoming the appointment of the KNAW committee, the research ministry said it had positive feedback from universities on the idea. “Universities have already started to formulate policy and award the first grants,” it said.

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This week: NWO analysis of digital skills, young academy members picked, Leiden reshapes humanities facilities

In depth: Nearly three-quarters of Dutch citizens would like more clarity from government on the decision-making processes behind climate policy and funding, a survey has shown.

Full story: Dutch people ‘want more openness on climate policy’

Also this week from Research Professional News…

Committee created to develop start-up grants—Rolling funding expected to benefit young researchers and improve their career prospects

Here is the rest of the Dutch news this week…

NWO scrutinises digital skills

The NWO, the biggest public science funder in the Netherlands, has launched a programme to examine the availability of digital skills in Dutch society. Projects funded under the initiative are expected to look at vulnerabilities and resilience among users of digital technology, and how the absence of such skills might prevent some people from participating fully in society. The council has drawn up a list of five main research questions to be answered.

 Academy picks young members

The KNAW, the Dutch royal academy of sciences, has appointed 10 new members to its young academy. The researchers come from a wide variety of fields, including climate law, biology and Islamic history. They are appointed for an initial five years and will formally take up their posts on 28 March 2023, the KNAW said. In their role, they are expected to promote better science policy, interdisciplinarity, and more interaction between science and society.

Leiden to rebuild humanities campus

The University of Leiden has made plans to revamp its humanities departments into an “urban campus” that will provide facilities for both students and local residents. The plan will be available for public comment from 22 December. It includes a park by a canal, a pedestrian bridge and the demolition and reconstruction of two buildings that will be used to provide space for public functions.

The post Netherlands news roundup: 10-16 December appeared first on Research Professional News.

This week: rewards for women scientists, Twente pushes public health agenda, industry demands cheaper energy

In depth: Junior researchers in the Netherlands have been awarded early Christmas presents in the form of prizes for originality in their work.

Full story: Dutch funders reward top early career academics

Also this week from Research Professional News…

Applied science universities slam foreign student cap—Municipalities must step up to fix housing problems for international students, group demands

Here is the rest of the Dutch news this week…

Leading female scientists recognised

The NWO, the biggest Dutch public research funder, has awarded five prizes to scientists who have achieved strong social impact, performed excellent science or worked as an exemplary team. The prizes include the Athena award for outstanding female research, which went to Martina Vijver of the University of Leiden and Monika Mościbrodzka at Radboud University. Both will receive €50,000 to spend on activities to improve the visibility of female role models in science.

Twente consults on preventive healthcare

The Twente region has consulted with researchers and other municipalities on how to improve disease prevention. At a meeting, Twente’s alderman for public health, Jurgen van Houdt, discussed how to improve financing for prevention projects. Officials also asked about the barriers that academics face when trying to raise funding for research into preventive health measures.  

Industry calls for cheaper energy

Ingrid Thijssen, chairman of Dutch industry federation VNO-NCW, has called on the government to help companies with spiralling energy costs. In a radio interview, she cited the US Inflation Reduction Act, which is funding green hydrogen and CO2 storage. She said the Netherlands must invest in green energy to keep prices low and prevent Dutch companies from moving high-energy operations, such as R&D, out of the country.

The post Netherlands news roundup: 3–9 December appeared first on Research Professional News.

Dutch municipalities must step up to fix housing problems for international students, group demands

Universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands have opposed a government motion asking higher education institutions to stop actively recruiting international students.

Vereniging Hogescholen, a group representing applied science universities, said that student recruitment from abroad was crucial to filling gaps in the Dutch labour market. It demanded a meeting with science minister Robbert Dijkgraaf to discuss the measure.

The motion passed by parliament on 29 November includes a proposal to cap the number of international students. The move comes after months of growing alarm expressed by universities across the Netherlands at students’ inability to find accommodation or access services, due to unexpectedly high numbers coming from abroad.

The motion called on the science minister to develop a bill to control international student numbers, including a cap and an end to direct recruitment.

Housing action

“Naturally, universities of applied sciences see the problems surrounding housing,” Vereniging Hogescholen said. It added that members were in discussion with municipalities and students themselves to solve the issue.

The universities said that students from outside Europe number approximately 8,000, and represent just 1.6 per cent of the total number in the country.

“There are major regional differences,” Vereniging Hogescholen said. “Especially in economically struggling regions, it is vital for the economy that the intake of foreign students in higher vocational education, and thus the workforce, remains at the same level and, if possible, even increases.”

The group added that around 20 per cent of international students stayed in the Netherlands after completing their degree and paid tax, thereby contributing to the economy.

Universities in the Netherlands charge non-European students around €8,000-€14,000 a year, with higher costs for medicine degrees. 

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