Employers: open call appropriation of NWA science funds is misguided

VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland are unhappy about the way the Dutch government intends to appropriate additional funds for scientific research. Next year, 130 million euros will be available for research that contributes to the Nationale Wetenschapsagenda (NWA), the national science agenda, of which 100 million will be distributed through an open call. In a letter to parliament (link in Dutch), the entrepreneurial organizations write that this will thwart collaborative projects between companies and research institutes as well as fragment scientific efforts. They recommend an appropriation mechanism that takes into account the goals of the Topsectors industrial policy.