Dutch universities urged to collaborate better with startups

Rathenau Institute calls for more spending on business partnerships to boost tech take-up

Universities in the Netherlands need to “structurally invest” in their own capacity to share knowledge in order to work better with startups and help solve societal challenges, a report has found.

The report was compiled by the Rathenau Institute, which facilitates debate about science policy in the Netherlands. It stated that universities should invest more in their staff, start to recognise alternative career paths to traditional academic routes and set clear preconditions for university-business collaboration—such as rules around intellectual property ownership.