Tilburg University pleased with government investments in recovery of universities
On Friday, June 17, 2022, Minister Dijkgraaf gave further details of the investments in higher education and research announced in the coalition agreement. The government will be paying €300 million a year towards the personal budgets of university researchers in the form of “starter and stimulation grants”. In addition, the government will be investing €200 million a year in all university disciplines that have submitted sector plans for this purpose. Moreover, Minister Dijkgraaf announced further spending in excess of €200 million a year on such projects as large-scale research infrastructure, student well-being and matching applicants with European research funds.
The government had already unveiled investments of more than €6 billion in research, innovation, and education paid out of the National Growth Fund. These investments will allow universities to get most of their fundamentals back in order. Speaking for the Executive Board of Tilburg University, Paulina Snijders comments: “We are pleased that we can use these investments in our efforts to reduce the heavy workloads of our staff. The resources will go towards expanding capacity, creating more room for recruiting and retaining scientific talent and therefore offering more permanent contracts, improving coherence between education and research, and together with the other universities making clear choices about who does what (profiling) and cooperation. In the coming period we will work out the details for Tilburg University.”