The Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) are taking measures intended to reduce pressure on the academic community, as well as on the funding agencies. The universities promise not to give as much importance to applying for and securing research funding and that researchers at the start of their careers will be exempt from having to apply for funding. NWO research programs will get a more continuous character, so researchers have more time to write the best proposal possible. On the flip side, applicants who submit proposals of poor quality might temporarily be banned from submitting new ones. Finally, NWO and the universities will look into whether and how a phased introduction of quotas might reduce the pressure associated with applications in combination with pre-selecting proposals at the universities.
