Flemish universities must get the necessary means to remain appealing Interview with Dr. Koen VERLAECKT, Secretary General of the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR)
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hat are the missions of the VLIR? The Vlaamse Interuniversitaire Raad (“VLIR”) is the National Rectors’ Conference of the five Dutch-speaking universities in Flanders: KU Leuven, Ghent University, University of Antwerp, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Hasselt University. As such, it is an excellent platform to foster decision-making on common policies. The latter regard varied issues such as quality assurance in higher education, diversity, internationalization, European R&D, science communication, doctoral schools or tech transfer. At the same time the VLIR actively promotes and defends the interests of its members as a privileged partner of the public authorities.
What were the highlights of the VLIR in 2020? The COVID-19 crisis turned the academic year 2019-2020 into a very challenging one, forcing our universities to change their modus operandi almost overnight. Universities have been leading the way, openly pleading with the government to take drastic measures, constantly contributing expert advice and supporting the first national scientific conference on COVID-19. VLIR elaborated a human rights assessment tool, which will be implemented by its members. It serves as a self-guiding toolbox to evaluate existing and future academic partnerships. VLIR also launched a dedicated website to support researchers in dealing with the complex legal requirements of the Nagoya Protocol.
What are the main facts and figures of Flemish universities ? The academic year 2019-2020 witnessed a total of 125 188 students enrolling in our five universities, a 3.65% increase compared to 2018-2019. The continuous growth of the number of students puts tremendous pressure on teaching and research infrastructure, whereas the basic funding erodes due to the government’s continuing austerity policy.
A permanent VLIR working group on academic heritage has been established to realize the eligibility of universities for funding from cultural heritage sources. Notwithstanding the budget cuts announced by the new government in late 2019, preparations were made to launch the first ever interuniversity call for basic research projects (iBOF). VLIR also contributed very actively to the lobbying campaign for a more substantial share for Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ in the MFF negotiations. The negative fall-out of Brexit on academic partnerships was another point of concern.
In 2019 our universities together employed 26 647 FTE staff and they generated a total income of € 2.5 billion. €170 million comes from internationally competitive funding sources, whereas €255 million was generated by contract research.
How do you assess the interactions between the VLIR and the Flemish government in matters concerning higher education policy? The new government has set ambitious targets for higher education, focusing on reducing the number of study programmes and increasing study efficiency. VLIR and the government are working together in a spirit of co-creation. At the same time however, universities are very concerned about the ongoing erosion of their basic funding. Which policy proposals do you put forward as regards higher education and research policy? As for research policy we welcome the government’s plans to invest more in R&D and in research infrastructure, keeping a healthy balance between universities and other actors, but also between basic and applied research.
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In our policy report “Kompas 2024” we formulated recommendations for an integrated internationalization strategy for research, development and higher education. Mainstreaming knowledge incentives across all government departments is key for the future of an internationally oriented region like Flanders.
From left to right: Luc De Schepper (Rector UHasselt), Rik Van de Walle (Rector UGent), Caroline Pauwels (Rector VUB), Luc Sels (Rector KU Leuven), Herman Van Goethem (Rector UAntwerpen) and Koen Verlaeckt (Secretary General VLIR)
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We also focus on reducing all red tape for knowledge workers from third countries. The introduction of the single permit procedure has created a lot of legal and administrative hiccups at all levels of government in our country. International brain circulation should never be hindered.
