The Dutch science owes its top position to international collaboration.
In terms of scientific impact, the Netherlands, along with Switzerland, is at the forefront of the world, according to publisher Elsevier. This is mainly due to the many publications in collaboration with foreign researchers.
Some publications quickly fade into obscurity while others have an impact: they are widely read and cited. According to Elsevier, the Netherlands exceeds the world average by 72 percent in terms of scientific citations. The number of publications is also relatively high.
Absolute top
Especially publications in which researchers collaborate internationally have a significant impact, and our country excels in this regard. Publications involving only Dutch researchers score ‘only’ 20 percent above the world average.
According to Elsevier, Dutch universities collaborate with the absolute academic elite from Europe and North America, such as Oxford and Harvard. Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of all Dutch publications are the result of international collaboration. This is above the world average (20 percent) or the EU average (43 percent).
According to Elsevier, Erasmus University Rotterdam and the University of Amsterdam have the most impact. However, there are also rankings where other universities are at the top.
‘Nurture internationalization’
According to Jouke de Vries, interim chairman of the university association UNL, the Elsevier research makes it clear that radically limiting the influx of international students and making science less international will have significant negative consequences. ‘Then Dutch universities will no longer play in the Premier League of the world.’