American gov’t survey sent to Dutch researchers is disconcerting, says Education Min.
It is disconcerting that the United States government is surveying Dutch universities about whether their research has to do with climate change, gender studies, or has ties with communist parties. Minister Eppo Bruins of Education said this in a letter to parliament before the PVV pulled out of the coalition and left the state of the Dutch government uncertain, De Telegraaf reports.
Since taking office, American president Donald Trump has cut the funding of universities and research institutions and published a list of research topics that will not be funded, including studies into things like climate change and transgender health. His policy has had many international consequences and also affects Dutch scientists, who lost funding, suddenly couldn’t collaborate with American colleagues anymore, or lost access to data stored in the United States.
Researchers at Wageningen University who collaborated with the American Geological Survey, which uses satellites to monitor the condition of forests, received a survey with 36 questions on it, including: “Does your organization work with groups affiliated with communist, socialist, or totalitarian parties? Can you confirm that this is not a climate or environmental law project? Does this research project take appropriate measures to protect and defend women against gender ideology?”
Bruins confirmed that several Dutch universities and universities in other countries received the survey from the American government. The Dutch universities advised employees not to answer the question.
According to Bruins, the survey was sent to projects that are partly funded by the United States. Research funders are allowed to check the “legality, efficiency, and effectiveness” of the money, he said. “I do not know whether and, if so, to what extent the answers to the questions will lead to changes in the conditions of funding,” he wrote. If the survey turns out to restrict academic freedom or violate scientific integrity, the government will intervene, he said.
He said he would monitor the situation along with the umbrella organization Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). If it turns out that America is pressuring academic freedom in the Netherlands, Bruins will enter into discussions with American representatives, he said.
Bruins’ letter to parliament was sent before the PVV withdrew from the Schoof I Cabinet and left the state of the government uncertain. If the Cabinet resigns and continues in a caretaker capacity until the next one takes office, Bruins may not be able to act against American interference in higher education. It is up to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, to decide which issues are urgent enough to demand immediate attention and what should be left to the next government.
