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21 November 2024
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Politics

Science & Education 3 October 2024

Minister makes cutbacks, but demands reduced workload at universities

Cutbacks or not, the workload in science must be reduced. That is what Minister Eppo Bruins writes to the House of Representatives. It’s “worrying” that after all these years, universities haven’t turned words into deeds.
Science & Education 27 June 2024

Governing parties: no wellbeing and a focus on excellence

It should remain possible to graduate cum laude, a majority of the House of Representatives thinks. Programmes also need to start having exit interviews with the late dropouts amongst their students. But an investigation into stress caused by the fine…
Science & Education 20 June 2024

Scientists urge new minister to take his own advice: invest in knowledge

Members of the scientific community are calling on the new government not to cut research funding. PhD students and postdocs urge prospective education minister Eppo Bruins to heed the advice he gave himself 11 days ago: invest in knowledge and…
Science & Education 20 June 2024

How many English programmes will switch to Dutch?

Which regions or degree programmes will soon be able to continue recruiting foreign students in the face of new government restrictions? A roundtable discussion with education delegates at the House of Representatives gave a taste of the issues at stake.
Science & Education 31 May 2024

Minister praises independent journalism in higher education

“It’s vital that news editors at higher education institutions can operate independently”, outgoing Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf has told the House of Representatives. He calls on the executives of these institutions to safeguard that independence.
Science & Education 30 April 2024

Parliament wants to tighten compulsory identification at universities

Higher education institutions have to combat displays of anti-Semitism by banning demonstrations and requiring identification on campus, say a majority of the Dutch House.
Science & Education 18 January 2024

Dutch only? “Those kinds of caricatures are utter nonsense”

In the first education debate after the elections, a lot of attention was paid to the intake of international students. VVD and NSC nuanced their electoral rhetoric, while D66 and GroenLinks-PvdA stood up for internationalisation.
Student Life & Society 24 November 2023

Marcel Levi on election results: ‘Omtzigt is a smart man’

Science braces itself in the wake of the election. Or perhaps things will pan out better than expected? “Omtzigt is a smart guy, so he will understand”, says NWO chair Marcel Levi.
Student Life & Society 26 October 2023

Politician wants to stop tax advantage expats in favor of students

Pieter Omtzigt wants to phase out of the tax advantage for highly-educated expats. The millions of euros this would save could then be used to decrease the interest on loans incurred by students belonging to the ‘bad luck generation’.
Student Life & Society 20 April 2023

Government investigates potential risk posed by Chinese PhD candidates

Chinese PhD candidates attending Dutch universities on a scholarship sometimes pass on sensitive information to China, according to various media reports. After months of delay, Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf announced he is launching an investigation. Replying to written questions from…