The presence of three major universities, Leiden University, TU Delft and Erasmus University Rotterdam, in the province, make South Holland one of the most dynamic and knowledge-intensive regions in Europe. Together with companies, governments and knowledge institutions, the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities form a strong knowledge ecosystem that contributes to the economic and social development of the region and the world.

With the many technology sectors present in the region, the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities form innovation clusters, such as the Leiden Bio Science Park, Biotech Campus Delft, Cleantech Delta, The Hague Security Delta and NL Space Campus.

Our campuses in Leiden, The Hague, Delft and Rotterdam are an attractive location for companies and knowledge institutions: due to the presence of large-scale research infrastructure, but also due to the presence of science parks that include highly successful incubators.

The universities participate in InnovationQuarter and are represented in the Economic Board Zuid-Holland (EBZ). The universities also contribute to the goals of the Metropolitan Region Rotterdam The Hague, for example in the campaign for the national growth fund.

The South Holland universities are also collaborating in Medical Delta, a transdisciplinary partnership of more than 1,000 participants from Erasmus University, Erasmus MC, TU Delft, LUMC, Leiden University and four South Holland universities of applied sciences (De Haagse Hogeschool, Hogeschool Rotterdam, Hogeschool Leiden and Hogeschool Inholland). Together with companies, healthcare institutions and governments, they work on innovative solutions for sustainable healthcare. Medical Delta does this with transdisciplinary research programmes and practice-oriented living labs, among other things. This makes Medical Delta the hub of the healthcare & innovation ecosystem in South-Holland and beyond. 

In addition, TU Delft, Erasmus MC and Erasmus University Rotterdam work together in the convergence programme. This is based on the principle of looking beyond the boundaries of institutions and disciplines and coming up with new perspectives and solutions. The convergence programme consists of the pillars Health and Technology, Pandemic Preparedness, Healthy Start, AI, Data and Digitalisation and Resilient Delta.