After cutting hundreds of millions from higher education institutions’ fixed budgets, it is now time to look at temporary sources of funding, Minister Bruins writes in a letter sent to the House of Representatives today.

By tightening the purse strings for the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the Minister explains, 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 once again being hit”, said board 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. This is in addition to previously announced reductions. On Budget Day last month, it became clear that NWO can expect its annual budget to fall by 40 million euros from 2031. Another 50 million euros or so will be cut 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, PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB agreed that several ministries together would have to cut an additional billion euros in funding, of which 361 million euros will now be coming from the education ministry’s budget. The brunt of this will be borne 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 has already 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 this 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 being used, such as PhD grants for teachers, will also disappear. From 2028, four of the five current grant programmes will be discontinued, Bruins notes, 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”, said board president Levi.

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

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