In an opinion piece in Trouw, the rectors speak out against “political interference” in scientific debate and education. According to them, “there is a growing political tendency” to “actively guide” the content of science.

A few weeks ago, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) also published a report, in which they criticised the cutbacks and legislative proposals that they think put scientists’ autonomy at risk.

Campus protests

But the rectors are also deeply concerned about threats within universities, posed by the hardening of campus protests and occupations in particular. “Discussions are polarising. Topics are avoided because people perceive them as too sensitive. The freedom to think and speak is under threat, from outside and from within.”

The rectors insist that a university should be a safe place to explore and discuss anything. There should be room “for difference and disagreement”. They therefore invite everyone, from students to researchers and politicians, to participate in a broad dialogue in the year ahead. “Not necessarily to agree with each other, but to be able to disagree without ending the discussion.”

Parliamentary debate

The letter was originally meant to inform a debate on academic freedom in the House of Representatives that was supposed to take place on Tuesday evening, but was rescheduled due to the fall of the government.

In the run-up to that same debate, newly outgoing Minister of Education Eppo Bruins let the House of Representatives know last Friday that he’s considering enshrining academic freedom more strongly in law.