Rathenau: “TiU is a teaching university”
Tilburg University is primarily a teaching university and not a social one. It is the conclusion of the Rathenau Institute’s report the Dutch Universities: Facts and Figures 2012.
Universities attract funding from various sources or flows. The first funding comes from government and consists of a grant for all universities. The second source of funding comes from the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW) and is intended for carrying out researches. The last source comes from third parties, both public and private, and can be used for research and education.
Figures show that the University of Tilburg is mainly funded by the government. In comparison with other Dutch universities, the university draws a lot less from the second and third sources. This makes it, according to the Rathenau Institute, primarily a teaching university. The University of Amsterdam, for example, focuses much more on second source of funding, and therefore can be characterized as a scientific university. Wageningen is focused on the external funding and is therefore a social university. Universities that score above average both in scientific and social aspects can be characterized as entrepreneurial universities.
One way to enhance the scientific impact of a university can be measured by looking at the citations. How many publications are cited by others? The TiU is, according to the Rathenau Institute, quoted ten percent above the world average. Not bad, but it is still the lowest score of all Dutch universities. Second from the bottom is the Technical University of Delft, with a citation of 27 percent above the world average. At the top of the ranking there is Utrecht University, with a score of 57 percent above the world average.
Between 2006 and 2010 the number of scientific publications of the universities increased from 21,500 to 27,000. Tilburg University grew the fastest. The number of scientific publications here increased by 78 percent. Eindhoven University of Technology performed the worst with a growth rate of 10 percent.
The Rathenau Institute conducts regular research on the scientific system in the Netherlands. The full report can be read here.
