The Minister for Education, Culture and Science receives recommendations for strengthening physics and chemistry

In the Vision on Science 2025, the Dutch government requested the Breimer Committee to make recommendations for a further strengthening of the natural sciences disciplines. The report 'Koersvast' is a response to this request. It is also an initial elaboration of the Vision document 2025 in which the Dijkgraaf Committee described physics and chemistry as disciplines ideally suited to providing solutions for the problems faced by society. In 'Koersvast' the Breimer Committee states the bottlenecks that are obstructing the development of the natural sciences disciplines.

The most important bottlenecks are:

• The Netherlands is increasingly less able to attract and retain top researchers in physics and chemistry. The lack of funding is particularly acute.
• The influx of women and students from ethnic backgrounds into physics and chemistry courses lags far behind; the student populations are not a reflection of society and this has a spillover effect in the education. Outreach activities are targeted too little at these groups.­
• There is little interest for the university teacher training courses in physics and chemistry. This poses a threat to the quality of pre-university education and the continuity of the teacher training courses.­
•   Universities are experiencing problems in funding the education and research infrastructure.

Since 2011 some of the deficits in the natural sciences disciplines have been resolved through the realisation of the Sector Plan Physics and Chemistry. Important results have been achieved, such as a strong growth in the number of students in physics and chemistry and an improved study success rate for the BSc courses. New, nationally coordinated efforts are needed to embed these positive developments and to achieve the remaining goals. On various fronts the importance of physics and chemistry is being underlined: the sector has been allocated crucial tasks in the Dutch National Research Agenda as well. The sector must be better equipped to do its work.

The Breimer Committee calls for a national plan for physics and chemistry. Paying for the measures proposed by Breimer and others requires a structural increase in funding of M€ 119 per year. With these funds a considerable contribution can be made to reducing the natural sciences deficit of M€ 270 per year; this is vital for ensuring that efforts in chemistry and physics are once again more in line with international standards.­

In 'Koersvast' the Breimer Committee recommends how the most urgent bottlenecks can be tackled effectively. The Committees thinks that strengthening the natural sciences disciplines of physics and chemistry must primarily be realised via three related perspectives: education, research, and society and innovation.

A summary of the recommendations:

Education
Outreach activities aimed at women and ethnic minorities - at all levels - must result in a substantial increase in the number of students, to more physics and chemistry teachers in secondary education, and to a greater representation in the academic staff of universities from these groups. In addition, powerful measures are needed to encourage university-trained physicists and chemists to become teachers. The increase in the number of students will require a structural effort to maintain the educational infrastructure in terms of laboratories and equipment.­­

Research
That top researchers are not choosing the Netherlands will have a negative effect on the quality of the scientific research in physics and chemistry in our country. The disciplines currently belong to the world top. The Breimer Committee recommends a more active government policy and adequate funding to enable young and mid-career researchers to do research.

Society and innovation
By nature chemists and physicists already look to collaborate with each other as well as with mathematicians, biologists, technologists and medics to jointly answer research questions. Chemistry and physics are important for top sectors such as Chemistry, HTSM, Energy, Water, LSH and AgriFood. However, the financial possibilities are too limited for the development of strategic research programmes. Physicists and chemists frequently and successfully collaborate with industry. The recommendation is to make more public funds available for the co-funding of public private partnerships.

In perspective
The Breimer Committee realises that the proposed measures are considerable, just like the proposed structural funding increase of M€ 119 per year. This budget increase (of thirty percent) can accommodate a doubling in the number of students but also facilitate the funding of a research agenda relevant to society and a strengthening of the Netherlands' competitive position.

Committee chair Douwe Breimer is pleased that the importance of physics and chemistry for education, science and society is now recognised by everybody. Breimer: "The Sector Plan and the availability of additional budget have worked well. However, we are not there yet. In 'Koersvast' we emphasise the current shortcomings. In physics and chemistry the Netherlands has wanted a top-flight position with a minimum of investment and consequently the natural sciences disciplines have been eroded. A modern knowledge economy like that of the Netherlands cannot permit this. The funding of university education and research in physics and chemistry must be further increased to a level that is clearly more comparable with that at the international top."

The Breimer Committee and the Sector Plan Physics and Chemistry
The Breimer Committee, under the leadership of professor Douwe Breimer, was appointed in 2009 by the former Minister for Education, Culture and Science Ronald Plasterk. The Committee is responsible for ensuring the realisation of the Sector Plan Physics and Chemistry that was put together by representatives from the field. The Sector Plan focuses on university education and scientific research: modernising the research landscape, strengthening research in focus areas established in profiling plans, and the creation of focus and mass within the institutions. Since 2011 the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has made a budget of 20 million euros per year available for the Sector Plan. The Breimer Committee advises about the allocation of these funds in continuous consultation with the deans of natural sciences faculties and NWO.

With the publication of the Second Intermediate Report in 2014, several goals had been realised: besides the strong growth in the number of students and the improved study success rate for the BSc programmes, considerable progress has been made in linking the master's education to the focus areas for research.

The final report of the committee is due to be published at the start of April 2016.

For further information please contact the secretaries of the Breimer Committee
Drs. H.G. (Hendrik) van Vuren, +31 30 600 12 25
Dr. T. (Tanja) Kulkens, +31 70 344 07 69

A copy of the 'Koersvast' report is attached.
A photo of the presentation is available.
This can be requested from Anita van Stel, +31 30 600 12 11 or +31 6 51 04 62 78