Following damaging cuts in public spending last year, a new research policy in the Netherlands promises more freedom to researchers to set priorities. But national interests should not be forgotten. By comparison with his predecessor, the Dutch science minister Loek Hermans is an unassuming character. He doesn't want his ministry to tell universities what research to pursue. In marked contrast, the previous science minister, Jo Ritzen, wanted to prescribe a university's number of PhD students. Although Hermans' job is to take responsibility for the state of research in the Netherlands, he is happy to let researchers have much more say in setting priorities. Ritzen, on the other hand, wanted to do the prioritizing.
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