Funding and output

Research funding

In university funding, three flows of funding (geldstromen) are distinguished, defined by their origin. The first flow concerns direct government funding, the second consists of research project funding awarded by Dutch research councils NWO and KNAW, and the third is money coming from third parties, both public and private (such as companies, the EU etc.). About 10% of third flow funds is provided by the private sector (source: Key figures 2003-2007 OCW).
See university funding.

Research output and input

Research output at the Dutch research universities has been increasing considerably. Between 1997 and 2007, the number of doctoral dissertations increased from 2606 to 3187, with the largest numbers of dissertations in the area of health, followed by the natural sciences and technology. The number of academic publications rose from 49981 to 60862 in the same period. As with dissertations, the largest share is in health, with technology second and the natural sciences third.

The research fte total at the Dutch research universities has slightly risen in recent years, from 13630 in 1997 to 16511 in 2007. In terms of number of researchers as a percentage of the professional population, the Netherlands ranks low in global comparison, but its publication productivity is high. In terms of number of scientific articles published per researcher (fte), the Netherlands ties with Switzerland for second place worldwide, indicating that researchers in the Netherlands are among the most productive in the world. The Netherlands produces 2.6% of the total number of scientific publications in the world.