As winter turns into spring, researchers in the Netherlands are mulling one important question: what can research minister Ingrid van Engelshoven do to improve how funding for universities and colleges is distributed?
In April, the Van Rijn commission set up to advise the Dutch research ministry will deliver its opinion on how funding can be better distributed in Dutch universities and colleges. Education and research minister Ingrid van Engelshoven has asked the committee to come up with proposals for various issues in higher education, including which areas should be prioritised. The problem may be complex, but there is one simple fact underlying it: any improvement will be difficult without spending more money.
A large influx of students has forced technical universities to set strict caps on student numbers, to the great sorrow of businesses that are clamouring for more tech graduates. In their coalition deal, political parties agreed to solve this problem within the existing budget. The minister now hopes the committee will come up with a magic solution on how to spend more money without increasing the total budget.
This article on Research Professional News is only available to Research Professional or Pivot-RP users.
Research Professional users can log in and view the article via this link
Pivot-RP users can log in and view the article via this link.