New interdisciplinary network for assistant professors at Leiden University
Leiden researchers are launching an interdisciplinary network for assistant professors at Leiden University with the help of a Kiem grant. APNet Leiden is holding a launch meeting on Thursday February 19th. .
Researchers Lisa Koorneef, Stephan Hacker, Linda Aulin and Sara Petrollino have taken up the initiative to form the new APNet Leiden. The network takes its inspiration from the National Assistant Professor Network (APNet), which was founded in 2022, says Stephan Hacker (assistant professor at the Faculty of Science). ‘I'm also president on the APNet board. APNet represents the interests of assistant professors on the national level and is a place, where people at this career stage can meet their peers from different universities and disciplines to share ideas, develop collaborations, and discuss common challenges.’ Hacker, Koorneef (assistant professor at Leiden University Medical Center), Aulin (assistant professor at the Faculty of Science) and Petrollino (assistant professor at the Faculty of Humanities) see the Leiden network as a local chapter of APNet.
Kick around ideas
‘Connections and exchanges across faculties or disciplines are very important’, says Hacker, ‘because disciplines can have their own way of doing things. Their approaches to research or career challenges may differ. And a network offers possibilities for joint research, exchange of best practices and establishment of innovative projects.’
Co-organiser Lisa Koorneef adds, ‘Sometimes I miss having someone to kick ideas around with – about career goals, for instance. And although there are many interdisciplinary research initiatives at Leiden and I often feel like my ideas and projects would be a perfect fit for an interdisciplinary project, I just don't know the right people.’ Bringing Leiden researchers together from different faculties would be a great way to come up with novel ideas and to build new collaborations.
Guidelines and grants
As the network currently consists of four people, the first goal is to grow. ‘We’d like to bring people from different faculties together to find out what they’re up to and how they view certain challenges, and ideally also to actively work together e.g. on writing interdisciplinary grant proposals’, says Hacker. ‘And another direction we’d like to take relates to the policies that affect assistant professors daily, such as PhD guidelines or the right to supervise and promote PhD students.’
With the help of the Kiem grant, the network has support by management assistant Pauline Hoftijzer to take care of membership lists, mine people’s contacts and help with admin. It also means the network is able to invite speakers, produce advertising materials and support activities that are priorities of the members.
Sign up for the launch meeting!
The network is planning to hold a launch meeting on February 19th at 6 p.m. in the HePatho Bar of LUMC, to discuss, how this network can be most useful to all assistant professors in Leiden and to focus on interdisciplinary connections. If you are a Leiden assistant professor and are interested in joining, please sign up for the event and/or the mailing list here please sign up for the event and/or the mailing list here. If you want to know more or get actively involved, reach out by e-mail at AP-Network@leidenuniv.nl .
What is Kiem?
Through Kiem, Leiden University is providing 25 annual seed grants between 2024 and 2026 to develop new interdisciplinary (interfaculty) teaching/research collaborations and encounters. Kiem applications (€10,000 per project) should involve staff from at least two faculties at Leiden University.