This is the impact of budget cuts for start-up grants for young scientists

Three hundred thousand euros to spend on research as you see fit over six years. Matthijs Korevaar (31), associate professor of economics at Erasmus University, immediately knew which topic he would use the start-up grant he was awarded by the university late last year for. He was going to delve further into the housing market, a highly topical subject. He hardly had time for that otherwise; his main job as a university lecturer was lecturing to students. Now he did get that opportunity. 'You can use the money, for instance, to hire a PhD student, with whom you work', he says. 'In addition, I want to spend it on purchasing additional data files.'

The start-up grants for young scientists were established in 2022 by the previous cabinet. There were also incentive grants for more experienced scientists. They were part of an administrative agreement that then minister Robbert Dijkgraaf (D66, Education, Culture and Science) concluded with universities and colleges. He also freed up money for 1,200 extra jobs. Due to high student numbers, higher education increasingly emphasised teaching and the workload was high. Now there was more room for research.

'It is too early for conclusions'

But the agreement did not last long. The new minister, Eppo Bruins (NSC) is scrapping the grants from next year. The OCW Budget 2025 explains that they were "complex in practice in terms of implementation" and that there is "no unequivocal evidence that they are an effective means to sufficiently reduce the workload". A premature conclusion, thinks Korevaar, who was exploring with others in Rotterdam how best to use the money. 'The grants have only existed for two years. It is too early for conclusions.'