Atlas report
AI researchers in Netherlands
Delft University of Technology is the largest, with 1 110 indexed researchers, 1.6 times Eindhoven University of Technology behind it. One institution sets the tone for the country.
The short answer
The Netherlands is the 15th country by indexed AI researchers, 7 903 of them.
Per million inhabitants, the Netherlands has 442 AI researchers in the index against 89 worldwide, 5 times the world figure.
Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge is where the Netherlands stands apart. 146 researchers, 1.0% of the country's total, against a world share of 0.3%.
What stands out
The Netherlands holds 1.1% of the researchers with a known country and 0.2% of the world's population, 5 times its demographic weight.
Network Security and Intrusion Detection is the subject newcomers in the Netherlands pick up fastest: 36 started on it between 2023 and 2025, and its share of new entrants is 1.9 times its share in the previous window.
Industry employs 6.0% of the Netherlands's indexed AI researchers; worldwide the share is 8.9%, so the country runs at 68% of the average.
Subjects
The single most common subject is Topic Modeling, on which 6.3% of the Netherlands's subject assignments fall.
Subject reports: Natural Language Processing Techniques, Multimodal Machine Learning Applications, Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI), Reinforcement Learning in Robotics.
| Subject | Researchers | Share here | Share worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topic Modeling | 913 | 6.3% | 7.9% |
| Natural Language Processing Techniques | 561 | 3.9% | 4.3% |
| Advanced Neural Network Applications | 416 | 2.9% | 4.4% |
| Multimodal Machine Learning Applications | 328 | 2.3% | 3.9% |
| Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) | 319 | 2.2% | 1.5% |
| Reinforcement Learning in Robotics | 298 | 2.1% | 1.9% |
| Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge | 146 | 1.0% | 0.3% |
| Network Security and Intrusion Detection | 121 | 0.8% | 1.0% |
Newcomers by year
The Netherlands gained 1 222 new researchers between 2023 and 2025, 1.1 times the 1 112 of the three years before; the world ratio is 1.1.
In 2025, the last full year, the Netherlands gained 0.8 times as many new researchers as in an average year of the three before; the world figure is 0.8.
| First publication | New in Netherlands | Share of the world's newcomers |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 281 | 1.4% |
| 2020 | 307 | 1.5% |
| 2021 | 358 | 1.4% |
| 2022 | 447 | 1.3% |
| 2023 | 416 | 1.4% |
| 2024 | 453 | 1.5% |
| 2025 | 353 | 1.4% |
Institutions
30% of the country's researchers sit in three institutions, led by Delft University of Technology.
Delft University of Technology is the largest, with 1 110 indexed researchers, 1.6 times Eindhoven University of Technology behind it. One institution sets the tone for the country.
| Institution | Researchers | Share of the country |
|---|---|---|
| Delft University of Technology | 1 110 | 14% |
| Eindhoven University of Technology | 679 | 8.6% |
| Radboud University Nijmegen | 611 | 7.7% |
Compared with its peers
The two countries closest in size are Singapore and Switzerland. Same order of magnitude, different profile. The gap that stands out is the researchers per million inhabitants: 442 here, below the 1122 of those two. Reports: AI researchers in Switzerland.
| Netherlands | Singapore | Switzerland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Researchers | 7 903 | 7 580 | 8 541 |
| Per million inhabitants | 442 | 1285 | 960 |
| In a company | 6.0% | 1.0% | 13% |
| Early career | 51% | 58% | 55% |
| Newcomers, recent against previous window | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.0 |
Common questions
- How many AI researchers are there in Netherlands?
- 7 903 researchers in the Founding Hires index have an institution in Netherlands, 1.1% of all profiles with a known country, as of October 2026.
- Where do you find AI researchers in Netherlands?
- Delft University of Technology, 1 110, Eindhoven University of Technology, 679, Radboud University Nijmegen, 611. Together they hold 30% of the country's indexed researchers.
- What is Netherlands strongest in?
- Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge, at 3.3 times the world share.
- Is the pool of AI researchers in Netherlands growing?
- Yes, at the world's pace. Between 2023 and 2025, 1 222 people in Netherlands published for the first time, against 1 112 over the three years before, a ratio of 1.1 where the world sits at 1.1.
The names behind the numbers
Every count on this page is a list in the index.
Search it by subject and country, and get an alert before they come free.