What would you like to tell students and staff about the UvA's course?

‘We are an international university and we are proud of that. Our international students and colleagues are part of who we are. I want to say that explicitly, precisely because I understand that the measures raise questions and concerns. Dutch and international students learn from each other's experiences and perspectives. Our researchers work closely together across borders. This exchange and collaboration contribute to knowledge, creativity, innovation and solutions to societal challenges. We want to preserve that international character.

At the same time, we have to be realistic: the popularity of some programmes has put our university under considerable pressure in recent years. Amsterdam and the UvA evidently have an enormous appeal. The result: overcrowded lecture halls, Dutch school leavers who sometimes could not study their programme of choice, and of course a chronic shortage of suitable housing in the Netherlands that has lasted for a very long time, including for students. So we also want to keep our programmes accessible, high-quality and practicable.’

And does that mean fewer international students?

‘It means that we asked politicians in The Hague for ways to keep the balance between Dutch and international students better in check. By presenting a joint plan alongside the other Dutch universities, we have been allowed to achieve this balance through self-regulation. Together, we want to safeguard accessibility for students who want to study in Dutch. By placing a numerus fixus on a non-Dutch-language track, we can now adjust in a targeted way, without restricting the entire programme.’

And is that already bearing fruit?

‘Despite the measures we have taken, we did not yet fully succeed this academic year in achieving the agreed reduction. We regret that, because we want to meet our joint agreements. We have therefore taken measures immediately for the next academic year, 2027–2028, for several English-language Bachelor's tracks. Political Science will have a numerus fixus for its English-language track for the first time. For Economics and Business Economics and Business Administration, we are tightening the numerus fixus arrangements for the English-language tracks further. For Psychology, the ratio between the capacity of the Dutch-language track and the English-language track is changing.’

Will it stop there, or will there be more far-reaching measures?

‘We cannot say that with certainty right now. If additional steps turn out to be necessary, we will weigh them together with the faculties involved. We look at which measures are necessary and feasible per programme, paying attention to educational quality, accessibility and workload. Following these measures for a few large programmes, we are now opting for a broader approach. We are looking at how we can share the responsibility across the entire UvA and spread the consequences fairly and in solidarity, across faculties and over time. We want to prevent the task from falling too one-sidedly on certain programmes or groups.’

Staff are worried about the future of their programme and their job. What do you say to them?

‘I understand that uncertainty about further measures raises questions about the future of programmes and jobs. This is about people's work and about communities in which they have invested for years. We cannot promise that nothing will change. But we do want to adjust carefully and in phases, and avoid unnecessary shockwaves. We can share this collective responsibility by spreading the task carefully and evenly across all faculties. Calm and stability are important for delivering and following good education. The experiences and knowledge of lecturers, students and professional staff are needed to assess what works in practice. They must be part of the considerations we make together with the faculties.’

The government in The Hague also wants to attract more international talent. How does that relate to limiting inflow, and why is international talent outside science and technology also important?

‘There is tension there. The Netherlands wants to attract and retain international talent for strategic shortage sectors, with a strong emphasis on science and technology. At the same time, universities have to stay within a limited international inflow. More room for one sector can then mean that another sector has to shrink further.

Minister of Education Letschert herself has also highlighted that dilemma. If growth in science and technology means that the humanities and social sciences have to decline further, she warns: “Then we are really going to have a very big problem there”. She also asks: “How do we make sure that bandwidth doesn't hinder us?”, by which she means the lower and upper limits of the number of international students we want to admit. That is an essential question for a broad university like ours and a concern that also occupies our staff.

It is precisely the connection between the fields that matters. That is also where the value of a broad university like the UvA lies. A good mix of Dutch and international perspectives can contribute to creativity, innovation and the development of Dutch students. International graduates who stay here to work also contribute to the Netherlands' earning capacity.

If the Netherlands invests in technological development, it must also invest in the knowledge needed to shape that development responsibly. Technology in context, I call it. Technology only has value if it matches what people need and what they find important, respects their rights, and makes our society better. That requires not only technical knowledge, but also law, ethics, history, and, for example, insight into human behaviour.

Take AI in healthcare. A system can perform well technically, but how do you protect patients' privacy? Who is responsible if it makes a mistake? And does it take sufficient account of the differences between people?

Those questions are not side issues to be solved afterwards. You have to include them from the very start of technological development. That is why you cannot limit the need for international talent to science and technology. A broad university like the UvA brings together precisely the knowledge and perspectives needed for responsible technological development. Dutch and international students and researchers each contribute their experiences and ideas to that.’