If universities are short of money, they may give new assistant professors in permanent employment a lower starting grant than originally agreed.
A researcher in a TU Delft lab. (Photo: Justyna Botor)
The starting grants were originally a standard amount of EUR 300,000 per person. As of 1 April 2024, universities may reduce the grants to at least EUR 150,000. This was put down in writing (in Dutch) in a letter by outgoing Minister of Education, Robbert Dijkgraaf, to the House of Representatives shortly before the Christmas recess.
Peace and space
One of Dijkgraaf’s biggest actions in the academic world was that, from 2022, universities would receive EUR 300,000 per year for grants for new assistant professors and for incentive subsidies. This would give academics more ‘peace and space’ as they could use it to fund research with no conditions attached.
Starting grants (in total EUR 156 million per year) were intended for new assistant professors on permanent contracts. Incentive grants (EUR 144 million per year) were for other researchers such as assistant professors on permanent contracts, associate professors and professors.
Too little money
Since the grants were introduced, more and more assistant professors were getting permanent contracts. At the end of 2022, only 20% of them were on temporary contracts compared to 30% the previous year. But this has led to universities not having enough allocated funds for starting grants.
In its 2022 annual financial report, TU Delft stated that it did not know how to best divide the limited allocated funds (EUR 5.7 million for new assistant professors and incentive grants for that year). This led to TU Delft deciding to wait until 2023 before making payments.
House of Representatives
But clarity on how best to use the grants when there is too little money available has only emerged now. Not only may universities reduce the starting grants from April onwards, but they may also give the budget for the incentive grants to new permanent assistant professors.
The outgoing Minister did write that he assumed that universities ‘would use all the resources intended for the starting grants on issuing starting grants’ and as far as possible keep the incentive grants for ‘sitting university teachers, assistant professors and professors’.
The House of Representatives will discuss the education budget for 2024 next week. What the House of Representatives thinks of Dijkgraaf’s decision – whether it is in fact a subject of discussion now that the negotiations for a new Cabinet are underway – will then become apparent.
HOP, Bas Belleman/Delta, Saskia Bonger
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