Dutch universities reject foreign researchers and collaborations
In recent years, hundreds of international collaborations and job applications from foreign researchers have been rejected.
Published on March 24, 2025
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In recent years, hundreds of international collaborations and job applications from foreign researchers have been rejected at Dutch universities due to potential security risks. This is done on the advice of special security teams that are tasked with preventing sensitive knowledge and technology from falling into the wrong hands.
Countries such as China, Russia and Iran are being scrutinized particularly closely. In addition to concerns about knowledge theft, universities also want to prevent foreign governments from influencing education and research or putting pressure on their students. These measures have been tightened since 2022, partly in response to warnings from the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV). According to the NCTV, large-scale (digital) espionage campaigns pose a real threat to Dutch knowledge institutions.
At TU Delft, approximately 15% of the applications assessed receive a negative recommendation. At TU Eindhoven, that percentage is 30%.
Approach harms innovation
Critics fear that this strict approach will damage scientific collaboration and hinder innovation. Universities are balancing between international progress and national security—since every collaboration is now under a magnifying glass.
An opposite movement
While Dutch universities are screening foreign researchers more and more strictly and rejecting collaborations to protect knowledge security, an opposite movement is simultaneously gaining momentum. The Dutch government wants to actively attract top international scientists, especially from the United States.
Minister Eppo Bruins emphasizes the importance of this strategy: “Top-level international scientists are invaluable in boosting knowledge and innovation.” The Netherlands is positioning itself as a safe haven for academic talent, while science in the US is under pressure from political interference and stricter rules, especially under the Trump administration.
To facilitate this scientific migration, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) has been tasked with setting up a special fund. This fund must offer quick and accessible financing to researchers working in an unfavorable climate.
A fund is not a vision
The new NWO instrument is well-intentioned. However, as Bart Brouwers, founder of IO+ and professor of journalism, wrote earlier in his column: “Without a broader, consistent vision of the future of higher education in the Netherlands – including funding, workload, internationalization, and academic freedom – it will remain stuck in treating the symptoms.”
Brouwers is referring to the fact that universities are groaning under increasing workloads, years of underfunding, and increasingly restrictive policies regarding internationalization. The “Internationalization in Balance” act – currently in consultation – aims to reduce the number of international students by, among other things, making it compulsory for programs to be taught in Dutch. And then there are the announced cutbacks in higher education and research, which will pressure the room for experimentation, innovation, and international cooperation.
Funding for international top scientists, cutbacks for the rest
There is something fundamentally wrong between a fund for top scientists and cutbacks in higher education, says Bart Brouwers.