New Director for the Institute of Biology Leiden
Dennis Claessen has been appointed Scientific Director of the Leiden Institute of Biology (IBL) with effect from 1 September. He succeeds Hubertus Irth, who has held the position since September 2024. The appointment is for a four year term.
The new Scientific Director is no stranger to the Institute of Biology. Dennis Claessen was already a member of the institute’s board. Since the introduction of the collegial institute boards, he has served as Director of Education for the IBL. Prior to that, he was Programme Director of the Biology master’s programme for several years.
The right person for the role
Dean Jasper Knoester welcomes the appointment. ‘Dennis brings extensive management experience and has made a significant contribution to embedding the collegial governance model within the Faculty in general, and within the IBL in particular. As a broadly oriented biologist with a strong commitment to both research and education, he is the right person for this role.’
How the Faculty of Science organises its governance model
Since 1 July 2024, the Faculty has been working with collegial institute boards, introducing a new, modern and contemporary approach to governance. An institute board consists of three directors who are jointly responsible for the institute. Each director has their own portfolio: a Scientific Director, a Director of Education and an Director of Operations. Together, they take responsibility for the institute as a whole.
Read more about why the Leiden Science management model has been structured this way.