Universities of applied sciences keen on teaching the army, universities hesitate

The Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences has signed a “letter of intent” about cooperating with the armed forces. The outgoing State Secretary for Defence, Gijs Tuinman, also signed the letter, as did the MBO Council and several private education providers.

"The Ministry of Defence faces the challenge of increasing and sustainably securing its personnel readiness," the declaration states. "Given recent geopolitical events and the growing demand for training capacity, cooperation with external training providers is necessary and desirable."

No obligations
The letter of intent was signed at the end of November, but the text was only released this week. In it, the parties express the "joint ambition" to increase training capacity "in addition to the core activities of the Ministry of Defence". The collaboration should contribute to "scalable and future-proof armed forces."

However, the document also states: "This declaration does not create any legal obligations or financial guarantees. It serves as a starting point for further discussions and further policy development."

Deliver
Universities of applied sciences may tailor part of their education to the army: "The parties are investigating whether, how and to what extent they will become part of the armed forces' personnel replenishment system in times of crisis and war."

Avans and Fontys have already started to do this. They have partnered with the Ministry of Defence to develop a minor that trains students to become reservists in six months. Students at Avans can already register for it in February, with Fontys following suit a little later.

Universities
Research universities are not among the signatories, but some of them have been investigating ways to collaborate with the Ministry of Defence for some time. For example, students at the University of Groningen can participate in the National Resilience Training. The University Council of the University of Groningen recently asked critical questions about this.

Technical universities are also raising concerns regarding partnerships with the Ministry of Defence. Scientists in Eindhoven note that they are not used to keeping their research secret, while the Ministry of Defence sometimes demands secrecy.

In Twente, scientists are grappling with dilemmas surrounding dual use. Could their civilian inventions end up in military hands, and would it be a bad thing if they did? An academic from Twente expects this to be a hot topic. "Let's continue to disagree internally, so that we can make better, more careful decisions."

Framework
The association of Dutch universities (UNL) wants to take these discussions one step further. The umbrella organisation is working with the Ministry of Defence on a “framework agreement” for joint research. This agreement should simplify the cooperation between universities and the Ministry of Defence, according to a UNL spokesperson. "The framework agreement concerns the manner and conditions for cooperation, not the content." The spokesperson expects the agreement to be ready in the first semester of 2026. "Then, it will be up to each university to decide if they want to sign it."