Growth fund provides vital boost to knowledge and innovation Today, the advisory committee of the National Growth Fund will advise the Dutch government to invest €1.6 billion in the plans for knowledge and innovation.

Not a coalition agreement for four years, but a plan for the long term, based on science. The universities of the Netherlands present - just after the elections and in the middle of the formation - an alternative coalition agreement. Fourteen students form the first Dutch Student Cabinet, each representing an own ministerial post with a suitable plan for the future of the Netherlands.

In recent years, the Netherlands has performed excellently in the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020. Dutch universities and university clinics received a total of EUR 2.56 billion: half of the total subsidy of over EUR 5 billion allocated to our country.

‘We are barely keeping our heads above water. Invest 1.1 billion euros. This is essential to restoring the level of Dutch university education to a Normal Academic Standard.’

Scientists must be able to conduct their research and publish their findings safely and freely. Harassing and threatening our people is a direct attack on academic freedom and freedom of expression.