Research funding shuffle in Holland

Dutch universities fear that as many as 1,100 jobs could be in danger if planned changes to the funding of scientific research go ahead. The Education Ministry in the Netherlands plans to shift responsibility for reviewing research grant proposals to the Organisation for Scientific Research. A ministry spokesman told the Dutch news agency ANP that jobs might be lost at some universities, while new posts could be created at other institutions. The ministry denied that it was cutting total expenditure in research funding.