Vrije Universiteit

Health insurer Menzis will now pay for depression treatments based on result, instead of on the number of treatments. The insurer signed a contract on this new approach with 18 mental health institutions. This involves treatments that last for less than a year, for patients who do not have chronic depression, NOS reports.

The Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam decided to close squatter hall De Verrekijker on its campus after the student club in charge of the hall arranged a gathering with controversial Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh there on Tuesday without informing the university about it, NOS reports.

Seven universities in the Netherlands made it into the top 100 of the Best Global Universities ranking. The University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University are the two best in the Netherlands, according to the ranking. They're respectively ranked 13th and 14th best in Europe and 55th and 57th in the world.

A Dutch person with a criminal record has a better chance of finding a job in the Netherlands than someone with a non-Western background and no criminal record, according to a study done by researchers from a number of Dutch universities. Their conclusion is that when looking for work in the Netherlands, ethnicity is more important that criminal records, NOS reports.

The Amsterdam police is considering allowing Muslim officers to wear a headscarf, of hijab, in an attempt to recruit more minorities, Amsterdam police chief Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said to newspaper AD.

In 2011 the police's national code of conduct was adjusted to state that symbols of belief - such as a crucifix, headscarf or yarmulke - can not be worn with the police uniform. Visible tattoos and piercings are also banned. "But I see that this is shifting", Aalbersberg said to the newspaper. "We now allow tattoos on the arms, a few years ago that was still unthinkable." 

Rubber granules used in artificial turf may have detrimental health effects after all, according to a study by the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam which will be presented on Zembla on Wednesday. National health institute RIVM stresses that it is too early to draw conclusions from the study, ANP reports.

A group of medical professionals from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam is researching "faith healing". They are collecting and considering tales of people whose health improved after, for example, someone laid their hands on them in prayer or anointed them, to see if there is scientific explanations for the improvement, Trouw reports.

The glass ceiling for women in Dutch universities remains firmly in place, with the percentage of female professors hardly increasing, according to the national network of female professors LNVH in their annual monitor. There is also still a significant wage gap between female professors and their male colleagues, Het Parool reports.

The quality of theses written in the Humanities Department of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam is declining at a rapid rate, according to a study by the university newspaper Advalvas

Former economics professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Peter Nijkamp and his team did not commit plagiarism and did not tamper with research results, the Academic Integrity Committee of VU Amsterdam and the VU Medical Center concluded in their investigation into the matter

Damages caused by flooding at VU hospital following a water main break two weeks ago are estimated at some 50 million euros, medical center chairman Wouter Bos told reporters at the hospital's re-opening on Wednesday morning. Technical installations that were in the basement were badly damaged, some irreparably.