News item | 11-04-2023 | 08:00
Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf (OCW) is structurally investing an additional 200 million euros per year in research and education. In the so-called sector plans, universities and university medical centers (umcs) have made agreements on how they will distribute this money. This major annual investment not only solves existing bottlenecks, but also represents a leap in opportunities for research and education. The universities expect to realize at least 1200 extra permanent jobs, which will provide the necessary peace and space. Sharp choices have also been made about the division of tasks between and among universities and UMCs. In this way, the government will ensure that research and education in the Netherlands can once again be practiced at the highest level.
Minister Dijkgraaf: ‘I am very proud of this enormous structural investment in new talent across the full breadth of science. This allows us to maintain and strengthen our top position. With this large amount that we invest in research and science every year, we ensure that many young researchers get permanent jobs, universities can specialize further and groundbreaking knowledge will be acquired, which will be passed on to new generations of students through education. As a result, we not only maintain world-class education and research, but we also train new generations for the scientific and societal challenges of tomorrow.’
Top priority
The sector plans give institutions and sectors the space to specialize, to give researchers permanent jobs and to provide top-level education. In recent decades, insufficient attention has been paid to research and education. Minister Dijkgraaf therefore announced in June 2022 that it would invest more than 10 billion euros in science and education for the next 10 years. After those 10 years, an additional 700 million euros will be invested annually across the entire breadth of research and education. The sector plans form the heart of this investment, for which 200 million euros have been made available on a structural basis each year. Without this investment, the Netherlands will lose its leading position in the world and the workload in research and education will remain unprecedentedly high. As a result, necessary research breakthroughs will not be achieved and students will not receive the level of education they deserve and need.
Additional jobs
Employees at universities and university medical centers will immediately notice the effects of the investments. For example, there is room to hire extra people on a permanent basis, to buy research material, but also to provide room to provide excellent education and to conduct top research.
The annual investment of 200 million euros ensures that at least 1,200 extra permanent positions are created at universities, so that the workload can be relieved. These additional positions consist of researchers, lecturers, but also lab coordinators, data managers and other support functions. The plans for this have now been drawn up, with Minister Dijkgraaf stating that every employee must also be properly included and heard in the implementation of the plans. Until now, young researchers have mainly been given temporary contracts. This often leads to uncertainty, short-term research and inequality within departments. These extra resources make it possible to turn the tide.
Apply focus
An important objective of the sector plans is to promote cooperation between the institutions, the cohesion between education and research and to create focus. Although there is already broad cooperation between institutions in the Netherlands, there is still room for improvement. Until recently, institutions wanted to invest in too many areas in terms of research and education.
The sector plans ensure that the entire field of academic education and research must focus. Together, institutions have made choices about division of tasks and profiling between and of universities and UMCs. For example, it is sometimes much smarter for an institution to focus more on A and another institution to focus on B. What is new is that these choices are prepared at the level of the joint departments instead of by the boards. So exactly where you have a good view of where things are pinching.
All sectors
Sector plans for all sectors in research and education. Until recently there were only plans for a few sectors. The choices made in the sector plans are in line with today’s society, such as; the commitment to sustainable energy in the Science sector plan, medical robotics within the Technology sector plan, and the Social Transition and Behavioral Change theme in the Social Sciences and Humanities sector plan. In addition, efforts are being made to data-driven innovation in the Medicine and Health Sciences sector plan.
National Committee on Sector Plans
The National Committee for Sector Plans has been installed to assess the associated investments of the sector plans. In its second advisory report, the committee advised Minister Dijkgraaf positively: ‘The committee believes that the plans make an important contribution to making the university system future-proof through national cooperation and specialization in the field of research and education. The domains have concrete plans to increase the number of permanent contracts and reduce the workload.’