interests of public scientists after lack of clarity on side jobs

• Siebe Sietsma

  editorial research

• Youri Vugts

  news editor

Part-time jobs for all Dutch teachers should soon be available to everyone. Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf has asked universities to set up a public register for this purpose.

The minister respects the measure research of news time. This shows that professors do not always publish their part-time jobs according to the rules, and that the compulsory registration of universities is chaotic or sometimes even completely absent.

“These are issues where we have clear agreements, but where you have to conclude that the institutions are sloppy. This raises a lot of questions and undermines the public perception of what science stands for,” says Dijkgraaf.

The Minister wants to know from the universities this year when such a central register will be ready. In a letter to university councils, the minister also asks “as a matter of urgency” to check whether they are aware of any additional posts occupied by their own professors. “In your role as an employer, you are responsible for registration and you can impose sanctions.”

The mandatory registration of auxiliary positions by law currently goes too far for the Minister. It therefore remains an urgent call. “I feel like all the noses are in the same direction, only we have to run faster.”

news time I already made one myself inventory based on data from fourteen universities and seven teaching hospitals. We can deduce that there will be approximately 6,800 professors on the register, and possibly more than 20,000 part-time jobs.

The register would put an end to a long discussion. Since 2008, scientific institutions have been promising transparency on side jobs. Now from the search for news time If it turns out that it’s still inadmissible, the minister wants it done quickly. The register should be available by the end of this year.

The Minister also wants an independent committee to verify whether the sponsorship of professors by the business community and governments is well organised. This should also be clear to the outside world. From the search for news time pale however, that Leiden University and a special professor of ssponsorship by the tax administration.

A professor specially appointed by the University of Amsterdam (UvA) turned out to be secretly funded by the real estate lobby. Even when he was a full professor thereafter, the sponsorship continued. He took after asking news time dismissal.

A problematic construct for science, says Dijkgraaf. “People see a scientist say something, then at a certain point they hear: wait a minute, you have another job. You don’t share that job with us. People start to doubt the message.” If it is up to the minister, professors who do not disclose all of their secondary jobs will receive a sanction from their employer.

The Minister also wants a good ratio between professors paid by the university and sponsored professors. For example, the tax law department of the UvA has mainly professors who, in addition to their academic work, are also employed by tax consulting firms.

In addition, the minister asked that the scientific code of conduct be evaluated. An independent committee will have to verify whether the standards of transparency and independence are respected.

The UNL, the umbrella organization for universities, confirms that Minister Dijkgraaf has again submitted the register request to them. Universities promise to get to work.

Journalist Siebe Sietsma, along with colleagues Yoeri Vugts and Lars Boogaard, researched the additional faculty positions.