The reinforcement of coastal research and education capacities is encouraged by the realization of a part-time professorship in Coastal Dynamics at Delft University of Technology and a part-time professorship in Hydrodynamics and Sediment Transport at Utrecht University. Moreover, Rijkswaterstaat RIKZ, WL | Delft Hydraulics and TNO-NITG sponsor (part-time) positions for senior researchers at the universities of Delft, Utrecht and Twente. Lectures in the Physics of Coastal Systems and Sediment Transport are held at Utrecht University, while courses on Tidal Basins and Coastal Inlets are held at Delft University. UNESCO-IHE is organizing a special module Integrated Coastal Zone Management within its course on Coastal Engineering and Port Development. In addition, national and international seminars on Port Development, Dredging and Coastal Morphodynamics are organised.

By initiating, facilitating and coordinating various research activities NCK has created numerous opportunities for graduate students, post-graduates and post-docs for thesis and opther research subjects. The formula of junior researchers cooperating with and being guided by expert senior researchers external to the University (Rijkswaterstaat, WL | Delft Hydraulics and TNO-NITG) has been very successful. More than 25 PhD projects were successfully completed in the period 2001-2004 (see Appendix A). NCK staff and participants were also involved in a much larger number of MSc. theses.

Obviously, a crucial criterion for the success of the NCK approach towards education is a sufficient number of junior researchers. Fortunately, recruitment of junior researchers in recent years remains at a satisfactory level. Several NCK-graduates found employment within Rijkswaterstaat, Deltares and other research and management organizations and firms confirming the result of NCK's educational approach and activities.

NCK web site.