The government wants students in higher professional education (HBO) to be able to obtain a doctoral title after completing a practice-oriented doctoral trajectory. Minister Rianne Letschert (D66) has proposed introducing a new degree for this purpose: Professional Doctor (PD). In addition, an Engineering Doctor (EngD) will be introduced for technological design trajectories at universities. Both tracks currently already exist as pilots but will be given official status through legislation.
The PD trajectory focuses on practice-oriented research in collaboration with the professional field and, like a PhD, typically takes four years. According to the minister, this is an important step toward better valuing applied research and encouraging directly applicable solutions. If the law is approved, the first candidates could begin the trajectory in the 2027-2028 academic year. (DH)
Student numbers are falling in almost two-thirds of the 150 sustainability courses in Dutch higher education. This is according to unpublished Duo figures seen by the daily newspaper Trouw. Future Planet Studies at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is one of the biggest decliners: the programme shrank from 131 new students in 2020 to just 36 students last year.
Programmes focusing specifically on climate are showing the sharpest decline. Biology is not experiencing a decline, and programmes such as forestry and nature conservation are actually growing.
According to Trouw, the zeitgeist is the main reason for the decline. Whereas in 2019 many Dutch people still saw the climate as the most important issue, attention has since shifted to war, Trump and the rise of AI. (SvdB)
For the ninth year running, the UvA’s Communication & Media Studies programme has been named the best in the world, according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject. The rankings assess disciplines based on research output—such as articles in academic journals and citations—as well as international reputation and teaching quality.
UvA professor Mark Deuze previously explained in Folia why Communication & Media Studies tops the rankings every year. One reason for this is that Communication & Media Studies at the UvA comprises two unusually large departments that together form a single overarching department and are therefore easy to manage.
In total, six UvA subject areas feature in the top 10 of the rankings. The ACTA Faculty of Dentistry is in third place. (SvdB)
The new build and renovation of the UvA’s (UvA) new University Library has been nominated for the 2026 Amsterdam Architecture Prize. The University Library is one of ten projects nominated for the nineteenth edition of the Amsterdam Architecture Prize (AAP). On 10 June, the AAP Awards will be presented to the architect and client of the most impressive project completed in Amsterdam over the past year. The new University Library was designed by MVSA Architects in collaboration with Buro van Stigt and opened on 30 September. (DW)
The far-right Vrijmoedige Studenten Partij (VSP) will not participate in this year’s student elections at the Vrije Universiteit (VU). The party stated this on their website, claiming that the decision was “imposed by a climate of intimidation, threats, demonization, and organized obstruction that makes participation unsafe and irresponsible for our candidates.”
The VSP has been under scrutiny for some time following media reports on the arrest of Marlon U., founder and chair of the VSP. Last November, U. and a party colleague were arrested on suspicion of assault. At the time, Het Parool reported that U. had struck a fellow student after being confronted about singing the Nazi song “Erika.”
Until January, the VSP was also represented in Faculty Student Councils at the University of Amsterdam. The party’s UvA members have since split off. (DH)
Professor Marcel Levi (61), former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and former Chair of the Executive Board of Amsterdam UMC, has been reappointed as Chair of the Executive Board of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). His second term as Chair of the Executive Board will commence on 1 April 2026. Minister Letschert of Education, Culture and Science has now formally reappointed him. It is no secret that Levi (PvdA) would have liked to become once Minister of Health, but now that the PvdA/GLPvdA has once again been left out of the coalition, he can continue at NWO (and as a columnist for Het Parool). Levi: “In my new term, too, I will devote myself with great enthusiasm to strengthening Dutch science. It is an enormous honour – and a mission – to be able to contribute in this role to stimulating talent, promoting scientific and societal impact, and strengthening the link between fundamental, applied and practice-oriented research.” (DW)
Saar Boerlage, a former politician and research fellow at the UvA, died on 17 March in her home city of Amsterdam. She studied social geography at the UvA and became active in the Antimilitarist Student Working Group during that time. In 1958, she was involved in the founding of the PSP, the pacifist precursor to GroenLinks. In 1972, she graduated as a social geographer and urban planner, after which she began working as an assistant professor at the UvA until her retirement in 1997.
Between 1983 and 1986, she was active in the Comité N’Olympics and the Komitee Olympische Spelen Nee; both groups opposed the Amsterdam City Council’s campaign to bring the Olympic Games of 1992 to Amsterdam. They did not come indeed. She became world-famous at the UvA for her years of resistance to the establishment of the new Faculty of Science (FNWI) at Science Park. She and her supporters managed to delay construction for years, partly by pointing to the presence of the natterjack toad, a protected species of frog. Saar Boerlage was 93 years old. (DW)
Lawyer and UvA Professor of Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law Jonathan Soeharno will receive the 2026 Comenius Prize on Saturday 21 March for his commitment to the rule of law, democratic values and academic integrity.
A jury chaired by Geert ten Dam, former chair of the UvA Executive Board, describes Soeharno as “a tireless advocate of the rule of law, the foundation of democracy”. In his work, Soeharno examines the role of judges, lawyers and academics in the democratic rule of law. He also wrote the book De mooiweerrechtsstaat, in which he warns of the great vulnerability of the judiciary in the Netherlands.
The Comenius Prize is an award for a person, project or organisation that embodies the core values of the Czech philosopher, theologian and educator Jan Amos Comenius (1592–1670). He is known as a great educational reformer and was committed, among other things, to the development of international society. The prize is awarded in Naarden, where Comenius is buried. (SvdB)
On Wednesday, voting will once again take place for the Amsterdam municipal council elections. As is customary, Amsterdam residents can also cast their votes at a number of UvA locations this time. In the city centre, there are five such locations this year: the Bushuis on Kloveniersburgwal, the P.C. Hoofthuis on Spuistraat, CREA on Nieuwe Achtergracht, and – unlike during last year’s parliamentary elections – the new University Library on Vendelstraat. In Amsterdam East, voting can take place at the main building of the Faculty of Science at Science Park and at Amsterdam University College. The polling stations will be open on 18 March from 07:30 to 21:00. (TH)