Aging supercomputers and limited resources threaten Dutch science, experts warn

Dutch scientists are having to look beyond the country’s borders more often to carry out their research, a trend driven by underinvestment in the Netherlands’ digital infrastructure. The finding comes from a research report released Wednesday by SURF, the ICT consortium for educational and research institutions, and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

Scientists rely more and more on digital infrastructure such as supercomputers, research networks, and data storage facilities. According to NWO and SURF, much of this infrastructure is aging and, in the near future, will be insufficient to meet the needs of all researchers.

“While the Netherlands once ranked among the world’s leaders, that is no longer the case,” NWO and SURF state. They caution that valuable data sets, and ultimately expertise and knowledge, are gradually leaving the country.

The Netherlands holds the 20th spot among European countries with the most powerful supercomputers, while Switzerland, Finland, and Denmark lead the ranking. According to NWO and SURF, this limits Dutch scientists’ ability to contribute to essential infrastructure in international collaborations, diminishing their influence.

NWO and SURF are calling on the Dutch government to commit an extra 165 million euros annually to digital research infrastructure. “If not, the Netherlands risks losing its position in the scientific world.”

NWO’s 2024 Annual Report highlights that, in collaboration with SURF and the Netherlands eScience Center (NLeSC), it is facilitating computing power, data storage, and support for software and data management. In 2024, SURF received 32 million euros for these efforts, and NLeSC received 5.8 million euros.

Even with upgrade efforts, computing capacity is still limited relative to surging demand. In 2024, the national supercomputer Snellius was upgraded, boosting its performance from 15 petaflops per second (Pflop/s) to nearly 38 Pflop/s. That year, the Netherlands also joined the LUMI European supercomputer consortium, providing Dutch researchers with access to extra computing resources.