In Elsevier Leiden tops the university chart. Universities are ranked according to the number of scientific articles in the 10% most cited. 'Not entirely fair. The UT has a much smaller budget compared to Leiden and consequently less articles; 2,528 compared to 10,441. But the percentage of articles from Twente in the top 10% is 14.6% and from Leiden 12.8%. In short: the UT is the best. A matter of reading well.'
Reinhoudt: 'Use of laboratories is expensive. For the reputation of a university a certain scientific standard is important. Research has to take 70% of the funds, education 30%. The UT spends a lot on education, relatively speaking.'
Without money no brilliant scientists in the top ten therefore. What is needed to get on this list? Reinhoudt keeps it simple: 'Do something that people feel is important. I mean by that that colleagues should cite your work in publications. That provides a pure mark of quality. And of course publishing in renowned journals like Science and Nature. That is one of the aims of the research institute MESA+. The selection procedure is tough at Science and Nature, but based on a fair comparison. In addition, science can be compared to top sport. It is hard to stay good at a certain level for a very long time. When striving for quality you need to have endurance. Messy government at the top of a university does not really contribute to that.'
Reinhoudt emphasises that for the UT it is essential that they should not want to excel in every field of research. 'Unfeasible. The UT cannot score in ten fields. Twente has to use its own money to get money in from outside. Delft has recently cut a number of research areas to be able to direct themselves more towards nanotechnology and biotechnology. That yielded 30 million. A very good move.'
