Report: sharp columns by chairman Levi are hitting research funder NWO

The columns written by chairman Marcel Levi are making it harder for research funder NWO to play a ‘connecting role’ in science, according to an evaluation report.

Marcel Levi writes a weekly column for daily newspaper Het Parool, in which he pulls no punches. He sometimes stirs up controversy, for example when he was dismissive about social safety and when he took aim at historian Nadia Bouras.

He writes these columns in a personal capacity, as stated beneath them, but he is also chairman of the Dutch Research Council (NWO). Not everyone can reconcile the two.

Powerful

NWO is a powerful institution in the world of science. Each year, the government distributes around 1.5 billion euros through this research funder. Many scientists depend on grants they can apply for at NWO.

On behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, NWO is comprehensively evaluated every five years. Minister Rianne Letschert sent the new report to the House of Representatives on Monday.

NWO essentially wants to rise above the various parties and play a connecting role in Dutch science — but how do you do that with a chairman who likes to publicly share his opinions, whether well-founded or not? This subject is cautiously raised in the new evaluation report.

“A number of our respondents expressed great appreciation for the visibility of the chairman and the way in which the importance of science is brought forward”, the report states. But his controversial opinions do sometimes raise eyebrows, both inside and outside NWO.

‘As a person’

According to the evaluation, the ‘general tenor’ is that the chairman profiles himself ‘as a person’ in the media in a way ‘that cannot count on approval everywhere, especially in the academic world’.

Some researchers find him insufficiently aware of his position as NWO chairman. “The fact that the chairman writes these columns ‘in a personal capacity’ is not perceived as intended, and thereby affects NWO,” the evaluation states. This has led ‘to an uproar among a number of scientists’.

Incidentally, Levi did apologise for the column on social safety, from which his own organisation distanced itself. Following his criticism of historian Bouras and all the controversy surrounding it, he sat down with her for a conversation in de Volkskrant.

Reappointed

Levi sometimes shoots from the hip and occasionally says strange things about fields of science he has no expertise in, but he is also enormously passionate. In 2016, Elsevier magazine named him “Dutchman of the Year.” He was described as a all-rounder without enemies. He has recently been reappointed as chairman of NWO.

The evaluation committee therefore limits itself to flagging the issue. The recommendations contain no harsh words about Levi’s public statements, though they do state that NWO should reflect on the way the organisation presents itself ‘administratively’ in the media. NWO is happy to discuss this with the minister, the board writes in its response.

Incidentally, the evaluation, which covers the years 2020–2024, is fairly positive about NWO overall. The organisation operates professionally and has functioned ‘largely effectively and efficiently’.