Minister of Education cuts millions more from NWO

After cutting hundreds of millions from the structural budgets of higher education institutions, Minister Eppo Bruins is now targeting temporary sources of funding. He wrote so in a letter sent to the House of Representatives last week. 

The minister argues that, by reducing the amount the Dutch Research Council (NWO) can spend on research, he is restoring the “structural relationship” between fixed primary funding and temporary secondary funding. Secondary funding includes support for temporary research projects, such as NWO’s annual Veni, Vidi, and Vici grants.

The additional cuts come as an “unpleasant surprise” for NWO. “It’s concerning that research and education are being hit again”, said its President, Marcel Levi.

Funding slashed
From 2026, Bruins will reduce the research funder’s budget by 8 million euros a year, building up to a structural budget cut of 21.9 million euros from 2029. These cuts will come on top of previously announced reductions. Last month, the government announced that NWO can expect its annual budget to drop by 40 million euros from 2031. Another 50 million euros or so will be cut from the budget for specific projects and due to a price adjustment.

In his letter to the House of Representatives, Bruins goes into detail about the cuts set out in the new government’s outline coalition agreement. Before forming a cabinet, the right-wing parties PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB agreed that several ministries would have to cut an additional billion euros in funding, of which 361 million euros will now be coming from the Ministry of Education. Most of the shock will be felt by primary and secondary education.

Unused money
The potential for cuts in higher education was limited, writes Minister Bruins, as a large proportion of temporary funding was been converted into permanent funding in recent years. In total, the higher education budget will be reduced by 38 million euros – or just under 60 million euros if NWO is included.

Part of these 38 million euros will come from unspent funds, such as the 11 million euros earmarked for plans to ease the continuation requirements for first-year students. There’s also money left over from a training programme for imams, which was expected to cost around 400,000 euros but never got off the ground, and from a shelved project to improve the quality of education at higher education institutions.

“Potentially detrimental”
But funding that is actually used, such as PhD grants for teachers, will also disappear. From 2028, four of the five current grant programmes will be discontinued, saving 13 million euros but also prompting another worried response from NWO: “It’s hard to understand why these grants are being terminated when everyone knows that education in the Netherlands needs to be improved”, states NWO President Levi.

Minister Bruins acknowledges that the cuts to scientific research budgets are "painful" and “potentially detrimental to the Netherlands’ competitive position”. He will consult with NWO on the exact details of the reductions.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health announced that it will be eliminating grants for scientific research too. The ministry’s budget for researchers studying the quality of care and the effectiveness of healthcare spending will be cut by 72 million euros.