29 US-affiliated researchers awarded first Tulp Fonds grants to relocate to Netherlands

The Tulp Fonds, capitalized at 50 million euros after NWO matched the Ministry of OCW allocation, received its first cohort of 34 researchers in July 2026. Nominations originated from Dutch universities, UMCs and applied sciences institutions. Twenty-nine awardees were based outside the EU at the time of application, with the majority holding positions in the United States. Research areas include AI, quantum technologies, vaccine development and nuclear energy systems.

US researcher outflows to Europe have accelerated since 2023. NSF Survey of Doctorate Recipients data show a 14 percent rise in permanent departures among early-career AI and computing PhDs between 2022 and 2025. Similar patterns appear in ERC Starting Grant mobility statistics and in Nature’s annual global survey of scientist relocation intentions. The Tulp cohort supplies direct evidence that policy instruments targeting academic climate and funding certainty can capture measurable fractions of this flow.

Operational impact centers on immediate integration into Dutch AI and quantum programs. Each award provides multi-year salary and project autonomy, allowing rapid team formation at host institutions. Dutch planning documents already list AI talent shortages as a binding constraint on national compute utilization targets through 2030. Inflow at this scale reduces dependence on US-dominated model training pipelines and shortens time-to-deployment for domain-specific systems in health and energy.

Next reporting cycle for the fund is scheduled for Q2 2027. Comparable instruments in Germany and France have published preliminary intake numbers; aggregate EU data will permit cross-country comparison of retention rates within 18 months.