Universities in Flanders, led by the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL), receive 15.3% of their research funding from private business, compared to less than 10% in Wallonia, 6.8% in the Netherlands and only 2.9% in Japan. Only Germany comes close, with 14%. In the US, the figure is less than 5%, but US universities are more likely than European universities to receive donations from private individuals and foundations. They also receive huge amounts of funding from the Defense Department, whose budget is larger than those of many European countries.

The revelation has raised concerns about the danger of dependence on private funds to the scientific independence of the universities. Companies could, for example, impede on the publication of negative research results or sway the direction of research away from the public interest to the interests of their shareholders. An example is “orphan illnesses” – rare but severe conditions with too few sufferers to make the search for a remedy profitable.

In fact, the Industrial Research Fund this year paid out €16.7 million to encourage universities to tailor their research to industrial requirements.

According to André Oosterlinck, rector emeritus of KUL, the concerns are not new. “Since the 1970s, when I was a young professor, the Flemish universities have chosen to work together with business. We were even encouraged to do so by the Flemish government. The university is a business, and our mission includes seeking out contacts with industry. The Flemish parliament and the government require us to look for added value. What’s more, if we don’t do it well enough, we get even less subsidy.”

He also pointed out that all outside partners have to go through the university rather than strike deals with individual professors and that safety mechanisms exist to prevent interference in the universities’ research task. “The companies may partly determine the focus of our research,” he said, “but in no way do they have an influence on the independent scientific mission of the universities.”