Platform ScienceGuide may stop

The website will go dark on 17 February unless 2500 readers are willing to pay 85 euros annually for a subscription.

The 26-year-old platform for news and opinion on tertiary education and research announces this news on its website. Despite having more readers than ever before, the ‘financial perspective is insufficient’.

Seven universities of applied science – Zuyd, Saxion, Hogeschool Rotterdam, HKU, Fontys, Aeres and the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen – are among the funding ‘partners’ of the platform, which also receives contributions from Regieorgaan SIA, ict foundation SURF and Platform Talent voor Techniek.

Universities

There is just one single university that provides financial contributions: the small Protestant Theological University. Contributing universities that supported the platform in the past, such as Rotterdam, Maastricht, Groningen, Utrecht and the Vrije Universiteit, have withdrawn.

Moreover, Maastricht University recently moved to reclaim a sum of 50 thousand euros it claims were invoiced and paid while the contract had expired two years ago. ScienceGuide called this intimidation and accused the university of silencing the free press. The issue was settled, but the site’s financial situation remains dire.

Paywall

Should subscribers save the site, it will be placed behind a paywall. ‘In this event, the website will become accessible exclusively to partner institutes and subscribers’, the editors write.

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[update] University magazine Delft pressured into taking article on misconduct offline