Netherlands gives little money to STEM sector     Dutch spending on STEM is lagging behind internationally and recruitment into undergraduate programmes is relatively low, writes education minister Dijkgraaf.   VVD and ChristenUnie wanted more clarity on the distribution of research and education resources across the various science fields in the Netherlands, compared to other…

More participation in educational innovations     The Dutch parliament voted in favour of a motion to involve co-determination in educational innovations from the start on 24 October. Then fewer things will go wrong, is the expectation.   The reason for the motion was an issue at the Fontys University of Applied Sciences, where major…

Investigation into inappropriate behaviour in higher education     The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has asked Government Commissioner Mariëtte Hamer for advice, claiming too little is currently known about sexually inappropriate behaviour at higher education institutions.   At the moment, Hamer is in talks…

Dutch unions and universities have reached a preliminary agreement on a new collective agreement.

  Extra millions for safety in higher education     A special program to improve social safety in Dutch higher education will be introduced, for which 16 million euros are reserved. Furthermore, laws and regulations will be stricter, announced Education Minister Dijkgraaf in a parliamentary letter (in Dutch) on social safety.   Already, a budget had…

Still institutional rate for refugee student     Refugee students without residence permits will continue to have to pay institutional tuition fees in the coming years, a narrow majority in the Dutch Parliament decided on Tuesday.   Students awaiting a residence permit are considered ‘international students’, which means that they are not eligible for the…

Concrete Canoe Race on May 13th     Study association U-Base (for master students of Construction Materials and Structural Engineering at CiTG) is organising the Concrete Canoe Race in the weekend of 12 to 14 May, with the actual races on 13 May in Delftse Hout. The event is open to all, but there is…

Higher education minister: more courses in Dutch     Dutch as a language of education, science and science communication is relevant throughout higher education, thinks (in Dutch) higher education minister Dijkgraaf. He agrees with the Dutch Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), which asked parliamentary questions about this, ‘that Dutch (or if necessary multilingual) education should be…

Master in science communication ends for good     The master programme in science communication is ending for good. From next academic year, no new students will be able to register. The Faculty of Applied Sciences (AS), under which the master’s programme falls, announced this by letter to its students in February. The programme would…

Fewer premaster students at university     According to the latest figures, which came out this month, universities welcomed 60,000 new undergraduate students this academic year (2022). That was 2,900 fewer than in 2021.   That appears to include the ‘switching students’: the students of premaster programmes. These study on paper with a bachelor’s programme,…