The CvB expects that the number of PhD candidates will decrease by 25 percent due to these measures. At this moment there are some 850, while in 2012 there will be 90 less already and in 2015 223 less. CvB member Jo van Ham: “For now we are more concerned about the impact this will have on our research output than about realizing a balanced budget.”
In recent years TU/e has also lost some market share in the Bachelor intake as well as in the number of doctorates conferred. CvB chairman Arno Peels: “We were doing very well as far as the number of PhDs was concerned, but Delft and Twente universities of technology are making up their arrears fast. Apart from that, the overall intake of students has been on the increase for years, whereas our intake has remained stable for years. This means that we are losing market share.” Which will cost TU/e no less than 4.2 million as early as in 2012.
An efficiency cutback in research will cost TU/e an almost identical amount that year: 4 million. A loss of cover contribution for PhD positions combined with a retrenchment for educational quality and humanities results in a further loss of 1.6 million.
Peels has the impression that deans and heads of services are fully alive to what the university will be facing in coming years. “We shall have to make a big effort to find other opportunities to secure funds, within the European context in particular. As long as we keep embracing the starting points of the strategic plan 2020, this downturn will make us stronger.” (HK) |