Research capacity Dutch universities

Total research capacity of Dutch universities by funding flow

Analysis
The total research capacity of the Dutch universities shows a regular upward trend over the period 1997-2017, with a small dip in 2007. In the period 1997-2014, the research capacity of first funding flow as a share of the total research capacity shows a downward trend, while the shares of second and third funding both increase during this period. From 2014, the share of direct funding seems to be increasing again.

Research capacity by scientific area

Analysis
Total research capacity is by far the largest for Health sciences, comprising 30% of total university research capacity. Engineering (19%), the Natural sciences (18%) and the Behavioural sciences (12%) follow. The remaining scientific areas employ about 20% of total university research capacity.

When considering the shares of the different funding flows, Law and Economics each have a large share of their research capacity in the first funding flow, with a share of respectively 73% and 62%. The Natural sciences have a large share of their research capacity in the second funding flow, compared to the other scientific areas (34%). The third funding flow is most important compared to total research capacity in Agriculture (52$), Health sciences (37%) and Engineering (35%).

Research capacity by position

Analysis
We see that most professors, associate professors and assistant professors spend 40% of their time on research. Most researchers and PhD students spend more time on research, 90% and 80% respectively. These percentages - from the Association of Universities in the Netherlands - correspond well with the percentages of research time from the study 'What motivates researchers?', for almost all positions. Only for researchers the percentage of research time is slightly lower in the 'What motivates researchers?' study.