Growth fund: billions for research, education has yet to prove itself
With the billions from the National Growth Fund, the cabinet wants to stimulate all kinds of scientific research. Education, on the other hand, is poor in the first round.
Picture: Type tank
Soon the Netherlands will run out of natural gas. Where, then, does our wealth come from? The idea behind the National Growth Fund is based on knowledge, innovation and infrastructure. The cabinet has reserved 20 billion euros for the next five years.
The fund is intended for large, one-off expenditures that benefit the future 'earning capacity' of the Netherlands. The idea is that if we make a few brave investments, the Netherlands will be able to cope with future storms.
The cabinet has asked a committee of heavyweights to review a series of applications and the outcome was announced on Friday. Investments in infrastructure are still pending, but there is good news for scientific research, as well as some good news for education.
There is good news for scientific research, as well as some good news for education
Total
In this first round, a total of EUR 646 million will be awarded, of which EUR 525 million is conditional. Almost 3,5 billion euros is being set aside, “pending further substantiation or proven success”, as the advisory committee writes.
The projects will not all be equally successful, the committee predicts: “Some may be more than expected, others less. The point is that the portfolio as a whole will have a positive effect on sustainable growth. ”
Research
Research and innovation are the big winners. 121 million euros has been pledged directly for applications in artificial intelligence, in quantum computers and in regenerative medicine (with stem cell and gene therapy).
Research and innovation are the big winners
On top of that, 400 million 'conditional allocation' is added: the projects receive that money if certain extra conditions are met. This also includes two projects for national health data and for hydrogen as sustainable energy. And then there is also a 'reservation' of 833 million euros for these five projects: money that can come later.
Education
Two applications for education will only receive funding under certain conditions. It concerns 45 million for 'lifelong development' and 80 million for better education with ICT. An application for 'policy experiments' in education did not receive a stamp of approval.
'Lifelong development' is about training in the later career, so that people remain flexible and continue to acquire new knowledge. The applicants want to develop a digital training overview and experiment with special 'development advice': they can (again: under certain conditions) receive millions for it. They also want to make funded post-initial education more flexible, but they don't need a lot of money for that, the committee believes.
Two applications for education will only receive funding under certain conditions
The corona crisis has rather accelerated the transition to digital education, but it can probably be better than it is now. A National Education Lab could contribute to this, the committee believes, so money will go there (under certain conditions).
Infrastructure
Infrastructure does not receive any money at all, not even conditionally. That can still change. Extending the Amsterdam North-South line to Schiphol and Hoofddorp, for example, is a good idea, but requires a better plan. But other ideas are in the trash. Make the rivers more navigable? Tube connections? Light rail? The committee does not yet see where the big profit is exactly.
Commission
The selection committee includes physicist Robbert Dijkgraaf, Executive Board chairman Robert-Jan Smits of Eindhoven University of Technology and rector Rianne Letschert of Maastricht University.
The business community is also represented: the chief economist of ING, the CEO of ASML and the former CEO of DSM are sitting at the table. Prince Constantijn also participates. Jeroen Dijsselbloem (former PvdA Minister of Finance) is the chairman.
The proposals have been analyzed by the Central Planning Board for the benefit of the committee. The questions were: should the government get involved, does it generate real money and does it promote prosperity for everyone? All kinds of experts were also consulted.
Striking
The investment in quantum computers is particularly striking. The idea behind these computers is that in the future bits can be not just 1 or 0, but both at the same time. That could provide extreme computing power. The research was recently hit hard when an article about a scientific breakthrough had to be withdrawn: the existence of the so-called majorana particles, which could provide stable quantum computers, had not yet been proven. But the development of such new computers does not rely on these particles alone.
Cabinet
“This advice sets a high standard for the following rounds and thus guarantees that proposals financed from the National Growth Fund actually make a maximum contribution to the earning capacity of the Dutch economy,” write the ministers of Economic Affairs and Finance, Van 't Wout and Hoekstra.
Universities
The universities are pleased with the outcome, according to a press release from the VSNU umbrella association. “We see the leverage effect here, whereby public investments also attract new private investments,” says chairman Pieter Duisenberg.
We see the leverage effect at work here, with public investment also attracting new private investment
In one effort, he argues for investments in the base: the universities will be 1,1 billion euros short of their basic funding, is his plea. But that is actually separate from these one-off investments from the National Growth Fund.
What about projects that have been dropped, such as an application entitled Foodswitch? The universities 'regret' this choice, but otherwise say little about it. They don't mind that the money for 'lifelong learning' is not thrown into their lap either: "We will work together on new, well-founded plans, in which we make clear choices together."
