The Northern Netherlands is only receiving 7 percent of the 450 million euros the government made available to train students for the chip sector. How did this happen? Five questions for UG dean Joost Frenken, who coordinated the plans for the University of the North.
With the ‘Beethoven’ millions, tens of thousands of students are supposed to be trained in the coming years. The government hopes to retain companies like ASML in the Netherlands. Four regions – Eindhoven, Delft, Enschede, and Groningen – were asked to submit plans with the encouragement to ‘think big’.
The UG, as part of the University of the North, submitted plans for no less than 265 million euros, but expected to receive at least a quarter of that money. Ultimately, they will only receive 29 million, as was revealed before the summer. The big winner: Brainport Eindhoven, which is receiving 63 percent of the funds.
How is it that only 7 percent of the funds are available for the North?
Joost Frenken, dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering: ‘Of course, we knew that 265 million euros was too much. But we were simply told, ‘don’t hold back.’ So, the plans from the four regions ended up costing four times as much as the available funds.
‘It also has to do with the rules set by Economic Affairs. The cabinet wanted to support the semiconductor industry and is primarily focused on serving its own region. We have relatively few companies in our area—plenty of high-tech, but not specifically geared towards semiconductors.
Another aspect is training students for other regions. The people we train in our region don’t all have a strong tendency to move to other regions. The companies around Eindhoven or in Twente also primarily attract people from their own area. That’s the rationale behind the allocation of funds.’
Didn’t the government provide any clarity about this in advance?
‘No! I’m very dissatisfied with how the government has organised this. They could have managed it better, for example, by agreeing with the parties on what share they thought they could handle.
This was also insisted upon by various parties, including myself. But then we were told: no, we’re not going to do that. Now we’ve invested time and effort and asked the same of all the parties we’re working with. And, of course, money. Expectations were raised, not just with us, but also with various vocational training institutions (MBO) and universities of applied sciences (HBO), as well as the business community.’
And you also disagree with the rationale behind the allocation…
‘My main criticism is of the part about providing talent to another region. What they’re essentially saying is: because ASML has historically hired relatively few people who were educated in the North, we assume that this will continue in the future. But we say: you could also see this as an opportunity. It means there’s a huge potential supply if you tap into it the right way. That’s also something we want to demonstrate in the coming years.’
But is that even possible? You mentioned earlier that with the 29 million euros, you could only fund a handful of people.
‘Yes, a student costs money, and you have to realise that this funding is up until 2030 and for the entire region. And besides the UG, several MBO and HBO institutions are also involved. But what no one is considering is the students we’re already training. Many of them currently don’t have much awareness of what ASML is and what you could do there. But I think we can easily change that.
Moreover, it’s uncertain whether Brainport Eindhoven, which receives 63 percent of the funds and has to train 26,000 students, will manage to meet the challenge. Especially when you consider how large—or how small—TU Eindhoven is. It’s not just about setting up the education; you also have to consider things like housing. So, it could very well turn out that they can’t attract, house, and train that many students.
In two years, there will be an evaluation, and I expect that by then we will see the outlines of how the current programme is playing out in practice and how the contribution from other regions is shaping up. And if we in Groningen stand out, we’ll certainly position ourselves for an adjustment in the allocation.’
What does the future look like?
‘Look, there’s no point in getting bogged down in resentment or dissatisfaction. In the short term, our task is to quickly flesh out the plans for Beethoven. So, we’re going to make something optimal with the money we receive.
But our ambition for this region is much greater. We have a broader agenda for high-tech systems and materials for the North, which is also a top sector in Hague’s policy. And we want to work with the same combination of university, HBO and MBO institutions, and the business community. So, all the effort we’ve put into this won’t be wasted.
Finally, we’re in an advanced stage of a framework agreement between the UG and ASML, which will allow for collaboration in multiple ways. This could involve collaborations where we apply for subsidies together, or joint research fully funded by ASML. I hope this brings us closer together.
Already, ASML staff play a guest role in some parts of our education, but we could enhance this significantly with guest lectures or internship opportunities for our students in Veldhoven or with their suppliers. You shouldn’t base your education on it, of course, but if you can add these little extra touches, it can only be a positive.’