Universities take action!

Thousands of academics at universities devote themselves to their work every day with a great deal of dedication and pleasure. They ensure that the universities play their part in society – generating new knowledge and transferring this knowledge to the new generation – successfully. All statistics show that research and teaching at Dutch research universities are of a high quality. Researchers and students from abroad are keen to come to the Netherlands.

However the Dutch research universities are not resting on their laurels. The standards imposed on them by society are ever higher. A great deal of work needs to be carried out, including at the universities, in order to ensure that the Netherlands continues to be an internationally competitive knowledge society in the future. This is all the more true now that it has emerged that other countries are not sitting idle, and universities elsewhere are putting their best foot forward. The Dutch universities are responding to the challenge. Together they have identified a number of key focus areas in which they want to achieve visible successes over the next few years.

Four key objectives

• Increasing the study related succes of Bachelor degree students
• Improving the career prospects for young researchers
• Increasing the visibility of top research conducted at Dutch universities
• Reinforcing the international reputation of Dutch Research Universities

The four key objectives are interrelated and complement one another. Together they will ensure that the universities are able to take an even more successful approach to their role in society in the future.

The fourteen Dutch research universities have teamed up to address each of the key objectives. The universities have been carrying out activities that fall under the key objectives for some time now, however they have now adopted a joint approach to implementing and making preparations for a large number of initiatives. What is important is that a great deal of knowledge is exchanged between the universities. This publication provides information on the achievements that have already been made. We will continue to keep you informed of progress over the next few years.