On 7 July 2015, the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science presented the 2015-2025 Strategic Agenda for Higher Education and Research, ‘The Value of Knowledge’, to both Chambers of the Dutch parliament. In this publication, the Minister put forward a number of proposals to invest the resources that will become available after introduction of the Studievoorschot (student loan system) in the quality of higher education in the Netherlands. The Strategic Agenda sets out ambitions for the development of Dutch higher education. It is a conscious choice not to define precisely in this Strategic Agenda how these ambitions should be achieved, the point of departure being that they can best be achieved by giving the professionals involved the desired scope. According to the Strategic Agenda, the teachers, education leaders and directors that work in Dutch higher education institutions are inspired, successful and have a proven track record. They are crucial in signalling opportunities for innovative education and designing ways to achieve this. The Comenius programme was set up to give these education professionals sufficient scope to implement their vision. Johannes Amos Comenius (1592-1670) was a 17th century pedagogue and education innovator. He is often called the founder of modern education. In search of good education, Comenius combined education research with the development and implementation of innovative teaching methods. The Comenius programme enables education professionals to implement their vision of education in practice, in the spirit of the programme’s eponym. The educational innovation projects funded by the Comenius programme contribute directly to innovation and improvement of higher education in the Netherlands. By valuing excellent and inspired teaching in a visible way, the Comenius programme contributes to making varied career paths possible for teachers and researchers at research universities and universities of applied sciences. The Comenius programme offers grants to Teaching Fellows (€50,000), Senior Fellows (€100,000) and Leadership Fellows (€250,000). The Fellows are distinguished on the basis of experience and the extent of their impact on education. They can use the grant1 to implement educational innovations and improvements in their own educational practice on a scale suited to their position and the duration of the project (for instance within a course, in a degree programme or faculty or in the entire institution).