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Eppo Bruins

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Eppo Bruins
Bruins in 2018
Minister of Education, Culture and Science
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 July 2024
Prime MinisterDick Schoof
Preceded byRobbert Dijkgraaf
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
2 December 2015 – 31 March 2021
Personal details
Born (1969-09-19) 19 September 1969 (age 55)
Apeldoorn, Netherlands
Political partyNSC (2024–present)
Other political
affiliations		CDA (until 2011)
CU (2011–2024)
Children2
Alma materUtrecht University (MSc, PhD)

Eppo Egbert Willem Bruins (born 19 September 1969) is a Dutch politician and physicist. He has been serving as Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Schoof cabinet since July 2024 on behalf of New Social Contract (NSC). He was a member of the House of Representatives for the Christian Union (CU) from 2015 to 2021.

Prior to his service in Parliament, Bruins was director of the Technologiestichting STW [nl] from 2007 until 2015. Since 2022, he has chaired the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation [nl] (AWTI).

Early life and career

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Bruins was born on 19 September 1969 in Apeldoorn, Gelderland.[1] He attended high school at the preparatory scientific education level at the Myrtus College in his hometown between 1982 and 1987. Bruins subsequently went to Utrecht University, where he graduated with a Master of Science (MSc) degree in physics in 1991. He played the piano at a conservatoire, but he never earned a diploma.[2]

Afterwards, he became a doctoral researcher at Utrecht University funded by Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie [nl] (Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter, FOM) for four years. In 1995, he obtained his PhD degree in mathematics and physics from Utrecht University with a thesis entitled The magnetic form factor of the neutron.[1]

Bruins later lived in the United States, where he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1995 to 1997. He then returned to the Netherlands, where he was a project coordinator at his former employer FOM between 1997 and 2004, as well as subsequently director of the Leiden Institute of Physics of the Leiden University from 2004 to 2007, before his time as director of the FOM between 2007 and 2015.[1][3]

Politics

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Bruins was a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). He switched to the more socially conservative Christian Union in 2011, because he felt that the latter party put more emphasis on Christianity.[4][5] Bruins served as editor-in-chief of the magazine of Christian Union's scientific institute.[4]

In the parliamentary election of 2012, Bruins was placed as number six on the Christian Union list but was not elected.[4] On 2 December 2015, he became member of the House of Representatives, when he replaced former party leader Arie Slob who had resigned as a parliamentarian.[6] He was his party's spokesperson for matters including education, media, and aviation.[2] Bruins opposed the opening of an expanded Lelystad Airport, and he advocated for the reintroduction of a basic grant for students.[7] He was a strong defender of the Constitution's freedom of education.[5] In the parliamentary election of 2021, he was placed seventh on the party list, failing to win re-election.

He became chairperson of the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (AWTI) in 2022.[2][7] In 2023, following the resignation of then party leader Gert-Jan Segers as a parliamentarian, a seat in Parliament was proposed to Bruins, who declined to return. The seat went to Nico Drost instead. He was about to become a professor by special appointment at Leiden University, when he joined the Schoof cabinet.[7]

Minister of Education, Culture and Science

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After the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB formed the Schoof cabinet, Bruins was sworn in as Minister of Education, Culture and Science on 2 July 2024, succeeding Robbert Dijkgraaf.[2][8] Bruins serves on behalf of NSC, and he canceled his membership of the Christian Union. Party leader Mirjam Bikker (CU) disapproved of Bruins's nomination.[2][9] The Schoof cabinet's governing agreement prioritized reading, writing, and arithmetic abilities, as well as addressing the teacher shortage.[10]

The cabinet proposed to cut the yearly education budget by €2 billion. Half of that amount was for higher education, and it would be achieved through lowering the amount of international students, increasing tuition for students exceeding the standard duration, and decreasing funding for research. The coalition agreement included a plan to terminate 1,200 recently created academic positions, but this measure was replaced in the budget proposal by the elimination of research grants.[11] During debates on the 2025 budget, the cuts were criticized by opposition parties, whose support was required to approve the budget in the Senate. Bruins responded that he would not reverse any cuts, and he called them necessary in light of the cabinet's financial priorities. Without his involvement, the four coalition parties negotiated with several centrist and conservative opposition parties, calling themselves the "unholy alliance". In December 2024, an agreement was struck to reduce the €2 billion cut by €750 million.[12][13][14]

Bruins continued a bill by Dijkgraaf aimed at reducing the number of international students. The bill would limit the proportion of English-taught content to one third within each bachelor's degree program, with the remainder to be taught in Dutch. Exceptions would be made for regional circumstances, labor market needs, international uniqueness, and international positioning. Bruins intended to define the latter two grounds more narrowly than his predecessor.[15][16]

Personal life

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He has a wife and two children, and he lived in Ermelo as of 2024.[7]

Bruins had an irreligious upbringing. He played piano in the backup band of a Christian choir, and he has told that he converted to Christianity at the age of 18 after he was asked to sing "And in That Day" by Adrian Snell. Bruins initially was a member of the Reformed Association in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands before becoming a Baptist.[1][4][7] Bruins became the second Baptist member of the House of Representatives after Janmarc Lenards [nl].[6] An evangelist, he is involved in the Christian Hadderech movement, which focuses on missionary work among Jews.[17] Bruins regularly visited the House of Representatives after his departure as an informal religious counselor along with a member of Justice House of Prayer, praying for members of parliament, and he blessed the temporary house of parliament, when the Binnenhof was closed due to a renovation.[7]

Electoral history

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Electoral history of Eppo Bruins
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2024 European Parliament Christian Union 15[a] 1,075 0 Lost [18]

Notes

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  1. ^ Bruins participated as a lijstduwer.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Dr. E.E.W. (Eppo) Bruins" (in Dutch). Parlement.com. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Oud-Kamerlid CU voor NSC op Onderwijs, deze namen weten we nu" [Former CU MP for education on behalf of NSC, these are the names known]. NOS (in Dutch). 12 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  3. ^ "STW-directeur Eppo Bruins verder als Kamerlid" (in Dutch). STW. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d Gerard Beverdam (10 November 2015). "Eppo Bruins verruilt wetenschap voor politiek" (in Dutch). Nederlands Dagblad. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b Van Eijsden, Auke (27 November 2024). "De roeping van onderwijsminister Eppo Bruins: kiezen tussen pijn en veel pijn" [The calling of education minister Eppo Bruins: Choosing between pain and more pain]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Eppo Bruins nieuw Tweede Kamerlid voor de ChristenUnie" (in Dutch). Parlement.com. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Retera, Denise; Kammer, Claudia (29 November 2024). "Onderwijsminister Eppo Bruins (NSC) slalomt om zijn eigen normen en waarden" [Education minister Eppo Bruins (NSC) slaloms around his own norms and values]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  8. ^ "Ministers en staatssecretarissen kabinet-Schoof beëdigd" [Ministers and state secretaries of Schoof cabinet sworn in]. NOS (in Dutch). 2 July 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Eppo Bruins zegt lidmaatschap van ChristenUnie op. 'Partij moet vrijuit oppositie kunnen voeren'". Nederlands Dagblad. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Kabinet ambitieus over asiel en bouwen, maar stuit bij mest op grenzen" [Cabinet ambitious on asylum and construction, but is constrained on manure]. NOS (in Dutch). 13 September 2024. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  11. ^ Kammer, Claudia (23 September 2024). "Het kabinet bezuinigt niet op universitaire banen maar op onderzoeksbeurzen. De schade blijft even groot, zeggen universiteiten" [The cabinet will not cut jobs at universities but will cut funding for research grants. The damage will be as significant, according to universities]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  12. ^ Kammer, Claudia (26 November 2024). "Coalitie is niet bang om met onderwijsbezuinigingen op een muur af te rijden" [Coalition is not afraid to drive into a wall with education cuts]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  13. ^ Meijer, Remco (11 December 2024). "Coalitie en vier oppositiepartijen eens over afgezwakte bezuinigingen op onderwijsbegroting" [Coalition and four opposition parties in agreement on watered-down cuts in education budget]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  14. ^ Kammer, Claudia; De Haan, Marko (12 December 2024). "'Monsterverbond' staat niet te juichen bij eigen akkoord over onderwijsbegroting" ['Unholy alliance' is not cheerful about its own agreement on the educaetion budget]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  15. ^ Retera, Denise (15 October 2024). "Onderwijsminister Bruins strenger op Engels in het hoger onderwijs: 'Nederlands moet weer de norm worden'" [Education minister Bruins stricter towards English in higher education: 'Dutch should be the norm again']. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  16. ^ Timp, Evi (15 October 2024). "Kabinet scherpt regels rond internationalisering hoger onderwijs verder aan" [Cabinet further sharpens rules concerning internationalization of higher education]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  17. ^ Derix, Steven; Van den Dool, Pim; Stokmans, Derk; Vermeer, Oscar; Klumpenaar, Sjoerd; König, Eppo; Pelgrim, Christiaan; Bouwman, Boris (13 June 2024). "Van diplomaat tot Boer zoekt Vrouw-kandidaat: dit zijn de beoogde ministers van het kabinet-Schoof" [From diplomat to Farmer Wants Wife contender: These are the ministers-designate of the Schoof cabinet]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Proces-verbaal centraal stembureau uitslag verkiezing Europees Parlement Model P22-1" [Central electoral council report of the results of the election of the European Parliament Model P22-1] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 19 June 2024. pp. 4, 58–59. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
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Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Education, Culture and Science
2024–present 		Incumbent
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