Latest blog articles

With the appearance of COVID-19, a disease caused by a novel coronavirus, we need to search for magic bullets, because there is currently no known treatment for the cause of the disease and the therapies being used are focused on treating the symptoms.

Last Sunday, when we all got the government alert on our mobile phones to stay at least 1.5 metres away from each other, we were reminded  to ensure ‘social distancing’ as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  We must follow this advice as it is in our common interest. Although, I don’t like...

The coronavirus pandemic is certainly the greatest crisis that most of us here in Europe have been confronted with in our lifetime. It affects the lives of every one of us, our families, loved ones, our colleagues and neighbours. The fact that this is a new virus which leads to a contagious disease...

There seems to be only one topic in the media these days—the new coronavirus and the disease it is causing, COVID-19. In addition to television, the internet and the newspapers, we are being bombarded with opinions and news on social media. Our recommendation is to read those with caution...

Opening speech Opening Academic Year 2019-2020

The purpose of the opening of the academic year is to project optimism and discussing the way ahead. This is more  difficult this year as we have experienced or expecting some dramatic changes to the higher education landscape in the Netherlands. First...

This summer we have witnessed the birth of the “European university”. In June, the European Commission announced the 17 successful bids for this status from consortia of institutions across the continent. Given that UK universities are among the best in the world, you would have expected them to be...

With the painful experiences of new Member States breaching the rule of law and democracy principles inside the EU and no tailor-made remedy to punish and enforce EU values, the Commission suggests in its Western Balkans strategy that future accession treaties could provide for such a mechanism to...

The UK accepted the EU withdrawal negotiating position almost completely - with one exception - the UK does not have to pay for the moving vans of the EU agencies currently hosted in the UK.

According to Martin Paul the Brexit is a step back for Europe, but not the end of the world. The biggest threat is falling back to a form of “European Kleinstaaterei”. It is up to universities to build bridges and keep the European academic space alive.

The Dutch binary system with a distinction between research-oriented education at research universities and professional higher education at universities of applied sciences is a good thing, says Martin Paul.