Eliana Piemonte
The number of foreign aios at the University of Twente has been growing rapidly. Only two years ago, the Dutch formed 73% of all aios while nowadays only 57% comes from the Netherlands. The rest are foreigners, mostly from India (6,25%), Italy (3,91%), Rumania (3,65%), Yugoslavia (3,13%), China (2,86%) and Russia (2,86%), but 28 other nationalities are also present.
The number of foreign aios at this moment is 164 and there are 220 Dutch aios (while in 1998 there were 75 foreigners and 200 Dutch among the aios). And this is a trend that is expected to continue changing the face of the university.
The Chemical Technology faculty (CT) is a case in point because the number of foreign aios there is on the rise. At the moment, they have 72 foreign aios and 70 Dutch ones.
Professor Reinhoudt (Supramolecular Chemistry and Technology, CT) explains the reasons for the process as follows: 'Ten years ago there were only Dutch aios in my department, I hired my first
foreign aio 5 years ago, and now the ratio is 50/50. There are less students starting technical studies in the Netherlands and therefore less Dutch going on into research. But aios are necessary to universities, they do research and 80% of the output of universities comes from research. So we are certainly not doing a favour to the foreign aios by allowing them to come here. They are doing the favour to us. We need them. They are co-responsible for the research reputation of the University. Besides, a sufficient amount of aios (Dutch or foreign) is vital to society on a macro-economic level, as they provide the brains to both academia and business.'
For foreign aios the reasons to come to the Netherlands are diverse. For instance, Marta Reinoso Garcia, a Spaniard who is doing a PhD at Supramolecular Chemistry and Technology, said: 'I chose the Netherlands because I think the group in which I'm working is a very good one. Apart from that, in other countries my status as a PhD student would have been as a recipient of a grant whereas here I'm an employee of the university and that is better for my curriculum.'
Another student, Pratip Sengupta, an Indian doing a PhD in the Rubber Technology group, emphasised the importance of the group and the comfort of being able to speak English everywhere: 'I
chose the Netherlands because I liked the project offered to me byProfessor Noordermeer. Besides, I knew that English is widely spoken in the Netherlands and the working atmosphere is also very good.'
Having foreign students might mean extra work because of the language barrier, and this is certainly the case for support staff like P&O. But it does not seem a problem for research groups, as English is spoken everywhere, not only at work but also at meetings or parties, and everyone gets used to it.
Foreign aios are encouraged to learn Dutch, for example by paying for courses, as it is thought to be important for their private lives but professionally they do not need it.
That is maybe the reason why foreigners usually do not get to
speak Dutch fluently; another reason could be that they see their experiences in the Netherlands as an intermediate step that prepares them for a better job in science or industry abroad or back home.
Most of them will not stay at the UT after finishing their PhDs but this is not seen as a 'brain-drain' for the university or the Netherlands. Again, professor Reinhoudt explains what happens: 'When aios finish their PhDs they might go on to other universities in the world, as post-docs, but they also get jobs in business, large corporations, or start up their own companies. This is not a problem for the university, they have done their jobs and, anyway we do not have enough follow-on positions to keep them all here'.
In answer to the question whether training foreign PhDs is in a way Dutch aid to developing countries, professor Reinhoudt answers resolutely: 'It is more the other way around: foreign aid to the Netherlands.'
With contributions from Dineke van Aalst
