The year 2014 was overshadowed by the tragic shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on 17 July, with four members of the UvA academic community on board.

The number of students, and the number of PhDs conferred, remained roughly the same in 2014, as did revenues from second and third flows of funds. Although no UvA researcher was awarded the Spinoza Prize in 2014, record numbers received a Veni, Vidi or Vici grant. Regarding education, the UvA is well on its way towards meeting the performance agreements made with the Dutch government in 2012.

In 2014, for the first time, prospective Bachelor’s students were able to take part in UvA Matching as part of their programme enrolment. Designed to acquaint students with their chosen degree programme, Matching gives prospective students a chance to ‘test drive’ the curriculum.

Financially, 2014 ended with a non-consolidated result of - €3.6 million, €18 million better than budgeted. The Accommodations Plan was implemented almost as planned in 2014. The financial result for Teaching and Research was €15.6 million above budget. Because this result has repeatedly been millions above budget in recent years, in the run-up to the 2016 budget the UvA will examine how a more realistic and less conservative budget can be drawn up for teaching and research.