Organisation - January 13, 2011

'More money from contract research'

DLO will have to get 50 million euros extra from the market to compensate for cuts in subsidies.

The DLO institutes' revenue from contract research and the private sector will have to increase from 95 to 145 million euros over the next four years. These amounts do not include the revenue from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation or subsidies where the recipient has to contribute part of the funds itself (the so-called matching funds). This is the message in the strategic plan for 2011-2014.
It has long been clear that DLO would have to become more market-oriented. Last summer, the Executive Board drew up a strategic plan for the period 2011 to 2014. Associated with that plan are Quantifiable Performance Indicators, targets to which the organization can be held to account in four years' time. Incidentally, the employees' council and the responsible minister, Maxime Verhagen, still have to comment on the plans.
The reason for this increase lies in the reduced subsidies from the Ministry. Institutes such as Imares, Rikilt, Alterra and LEI will have to focus more on EU programmes, companies and foreign public sector institutions, as well as selling existing knowledge to emerging markets in the former Eastern European countries and Asia. DLO researchers will also need to carry out more consultancy; at present they deliver a report at the end of a project but in the future they will be helping their clients to implement the new knowledge as well. ® GvC