We’re seeing reorganisations and compulsory redundancies being announced at other universities. What about the UvA?

'Our starting position is a bit better, which is why those options aren’t on the table at the moment. Still, we’re facing contraction as well as rising costs due to inflation, and the cuts will be hitting us hard. Ending starter and incentive grants from 1 January 2025 and from 2026 will cost us around €36 million.

In addition, there’s uncertainty about the impact of the Balanced Internationalisation Act. The consequences are potentially very large, especially for faculties with many English-language Bachelor’s programmes. At the same time, we have some time to prepare for the cuts.

If we make the right choices now, we can hopefully avoid drastic measures like compulsory redundancies and reorganisations. That’s the task we’re faced with. We must intervene now to prevent worse later. The choices we have to make vary by faculty and service unit.'

How is the UvA preparing for this?

'We’ve adopted a two-prong strategy: we’ll continue actively to oppose these cuts, including through lobbying in The Hague and by facilitating actions by WOinactie and others. At the same time, we’re preparing internally for a reality in which we have fewer resources and are trying to take joint measures to save costs.'

What kind of measures would these be?

'We want to save €20 million on the service units over time, a 5% drop by 2027 – that’s not nothing, but that in itself won’t be enough. We’re also looking at how to adapt support and management services if the UvA were to become significantly smaller, and we’re looking at the accommodations plan: reducing our footprint, cutting investments and maybe even divesting properties. Another example, slightly smaller but palpable: we can save on hiring external staff and on ICT. More standardisation, fewer exceptions. Moreover, it may be possible to close some buildings in summer. The AUAS has looked into this and is saving tons of money. We can do that, too.'

At the University of Twente, compulsory redundancies are taking place. Why is this not an issue at the UvA?

'I understand people’s concerns, but we have a good starting position. The basics are in place. Despite the government’s cuts, we managed almost to balance the 2025 budget. Furthermore, faculties are now preparing multi-year plans precisely to cope with long-term cuts and cost increases. If we do eventually need to reduce our headcount, we hope to do so through natural attrition or internal mobility. However, that requires us to take the right steps now.'

What impact will this have on teaching and research?

'The cuts are obviously bad news for the quality of teaching and research. That much is obvious. I also worry about the workload for employees. That’s why we’ve released funds for workload relief and talent policy.'

UvA budget definitively adopted

In the final budgetExternal link, you can read about how the UvA will cope with the cuts in 2025.

Would you like to know more about the cuts?

• Read the answers to frequently asked questionsExternal link 
• If you have a question that we can answer in a podcast about the cuts, email it to internecommunicatie@uva.nlExternal link.
• Would you like to join the protest on 17 March? Read more on the student website
• You can also contact your supervisor or the director of operational management of your faculty/service unit with questions.