Alex Geurds' first months as Dean: ‘It is important to be an organization without pain or scruples’
Since January 2026, Alex Geurds has been the new Dean of the Faculty of Archaeology. His start was calmer than many expected, but behind that calm lies a period of exploration, listening, and strategic forward thinking.
A calm start
Geurds notices that colleagues are sometimes surprised at how quickly he found his footing. ‘In the beginning, things were pretty quiet. That may seem a bit odd, because I hear many people jokingly ask whether everything is still going well.’
That calm was partly due to the Executive Board also welcoming a new President and Rector. ‘The strategic direction took a little while to take shape. That gave me room to focus on what was happening within our building, without immediately having to switch to university-wide priorities.’
He experiences the transition from education portfolio holder to Dean as a shift in content. ‘Education has a lot of tactical and operational aspects. As Dean, you look much more at long-term trends and how to anchor the Faculty’s interests within them. It encourages me to think more strategically.’
Cultural change
An important theme for Geurds is the ongoing cultural change process within the Faculty. ‘Culture is shaped through action. With Breinkorf, we have been working on this for quite some time, and everyone is involved: from support staff to temporary and permanent academic staff.’
He sees that the process demands attention and care. ‘You have to keep bringing people along, otherwise the purpose slips out of sight. And it’s certainly not just an HR file; it’s about listening to one another, about teaching and research plans, about peer-to-peer conversations in the hallways, about realising our internal potential.’
With the guided part of the trajectory ending later this year, he believes a new phase is beginning. ‘We will hopefully have more practical tools to give each other feedback and feedforward without it becoming personal, but we also need structures that create space for that. The reborn Archaeological Forum is a good example. We want to teach students the Socratic dialogue, and that is equally important for staff. So I am thinking about how we can grow into a different kind of community over the coming years—one that also celebrates its successes together.’
A new playing field
Geurds is also finding his position in discussions with other Deans. ‘You really start from zero. You have to understand how others see our Faculty. Are we a trusted partner, or, for some, a bit of a strange entity? You have to learn that.’ So far, it has felt very welcoming. ‘The Executive Board and the seven Deans really want to be a team and are very open with one another; it’s a privilege to be part of that.’
Ambitions
Geurds names two ambitions that form the core of his deanship: on the one hand, a healthy and productive organization; on the other, a Faculty that remains strongly positioned.
‘I find it intrinsically important that we are an organisation in which people experience no pain or scruples. In part, that is already the case, and I am under no illusion that everything can be fixed in every situation. But we really have to do our utmost. Ultimately, it is extraordinary that we get to do this work. It should be a dream job, and it’s a shame if not everyone comes to work floating on a cloud every day.’
Profiling
He also wants to preserve the Faculty’s strategic strength. ‘We need to be sharp in our research profile. What do we do, what do we not do, and where do we want to be in five or ten years? It’s unavoidable that if we want more or want something new, we will also have to let go of certain things. That’s an exciting process, but it also promises real prospects for strategic strength.’
This profiling must also strengthen the connection with Leiden and Europe. ‘Heritage issues, regional partners, changes within the national university landscape in archaeology, and soon also the new EU framework programme: the key concepts in these areas—identity, interregionality, heritage, well-being, migration—are highly relevant to us.’ His ideal image is clear: ‘If in a few years we have a strong, strategic research profile and this has also helped us move our culture forward, then I would consider that quite successful.’