In 1998, the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science introduced a new policy instrument: the Research School Incentives Strategy. Its purpose was to identify and encourage national clusters of top research schools that would conduct outstanding scientific research. The current funding period ends in 2013, and the Minister asked the Academy to advise on the way forward.

The Academy published its advisory report in 2010. The report addresses the following questions:

• Has the instrument been successful until now? 
• Is there a need for such an instrument? 
• What form would a new and more dynamic instrument take?

The Incentives Strategy Committee, chaired by Steven Lamberts, concluded that there is most definitely a need for a revised Incentives Strategy, which should focus on:

• unfettered fundamental research;
• clusters of researchers, that is top researchers who join forces;
• relatively stable collaborative relationships between researchers, and not on groups assembled purely for the occasion;
• proposals that convincingly describe how extra funding will be used to make a significant international breakthrough within the foreseeable future.

Activities and plans

The advisory report was offered to the Ministry in July 2010, after which the Ministry sent it to the Dutch Parliament. The Ministry will publish its response in 2011.

Schedule

August 2009 – July 2010