Interview with the Executive Board: ‘Our strength lies in academic depth and societal engagement’
Since mid-January, Leiden University has had a new Executive Board. What are their impressions and their plans? An introduction in two parts.
They are new, but not entirely. President of the Executive Board Luc Sels, formerly Rector of KU Leuven, and a Belgian national, is a newcomer both in Leiden and in the Netherlands. Rector Sarah de Rijcke knows the university well, but from different roles: she has worked in Leiden for over fifteen years, as a researcher, Scientific Director of the CWTS and Dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. Timo Kos was a board member of Saxion Hogeschool and director of Education and Student Affairs at TU Delft, and for the past year has been Vice-President of the Executive Board in Leiden. This three-person team has now worked together for almost five months as our new Executive Board.
Luc, Sarah and Timo have met many members of staff, students and parts of the university over the past few months. They believe it is important to be visible and accessible, and to engage in discussion with the university community.
This is the first interview in a two-part introduction to the Executive Board. In the second part (to be published on 30 June), the Executive Board discusses what it aims to achieve over the next four years.
What has struck you in your first months, and what can you now see more clearly than before?
Luc: ‘What struck me is that people are not always aware of the strengths and the enormous potential of our university and of the ecosystem that it is part of. I sometimes feel that I rate that more highly as a newcomer than many colleagues who have been giving their all here for a long time. I have huge admiration for the quality of the research and education carried out here, and the impact that they have, but we are too modest about that. As an example: how aware are people in the outside world of the success of our rapidly expanding presence in The Hague? And that while we are now very visible there with very relevant societal programmes and research that mesh seamlessly with the global image of The Hague as the city of peace, justice and security.’
Sarah: ‘What stands out for me is the enormous societal breadth and depth of our education and research, and our scientists’ natural tendency to engage openly with society. Take, for example, pathologists who talk with young people at secondary schools about vaping, colleagues in The Hague who share their expertise about femicide or safety, astronomers who work on detection methods for space debris. This combination of scientific depth and social orientation is a great strength, and something that we can be enormously proud of.’
Timo: ‘I am impressed with the enormous passion that I find everywhere: among historians and philosophers, in the labs of social and behavioural scientists and also among all the colleagues in the different departments, whether that’s in Leiden or The Hague. But we really should do a much better job of promoting all the wonderful things we do for society. Think, for example, of the fundamental and technical research at the Faculty of Science. Many people outside the academic world have no idea that Leiden University is the national leader with this faculty in the fields of biotech, space, quantum and AI.’
Universities operate in a rapidly changing societal and political context. What developments do you see as the major opportunities in the coming time?
Luc: ‘We often look at the risks, but I see mainly the new opportunities. There is the new European Research Area about which negotiations have been going on for some time. This isn’t only about the European research programmes and funding, but the aim is to make Europe into a single shared knowledge space for universities - with more collaboration, more mobility and more impact. Given the international orientation of our university, we want to have a real say in that debate. The next Horizon Europe framework programme for research and innovation will undoubtedly bring new opportunities and projects for our university. That will work out fine, I’m sure. I sense in our organisation a high degree of voluntarism: the determination to go for it. The “Let’s get to work” slogan of the new government really appeals to me and it applies absolutely to many parts of our university. That gives us a head start in capitalising on opportunities.’
Sarah sees major opportunities in the urgency of major societal issues: climate, health differences, polarisation, security, and digital transformation. ‘Our university is strong in fundamental research and has the breadth and depth of knowledge required to make meaningful contributions to those major issues. That is a promising basis for positioning ourself to the outside world. I also see opportunities in our integration in Europe. Via the LERU – a network of leading research universities in Europe – we influence the European agenda, and via Una Europa our staff and students have access to joint programmes in education, shared PhD programmes, seed funding, and networks that you could never build up on your own.’
Timo anticipates chances and challenges in strengthening our digital autonomy. ‘If we want to safeguard our academic freedom in times of de-globalisation, big tech and AI, we have to commit fully to regaining control over our research and education data and our digital infrastructure. That includes high-performance computing, and data storage, but also cybersecurity and privacy. Since the turnaround in the US under the Trump governments, wars in Europe and the Middle East and the growing influencing of our elections through disinformation, what has for a long time been regarded by IT professionals as a hobby of unworldly academics is now high on our agenda. In the Netherlands and Europe we have to prioritise our public values above convenience and efficiency.’
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Watch the video on the original website orHow can we maintain the strong position of Leiden University and strengthen it even further? What do you believe are the distinctive qualities on which we have to continue to build?
Luc: ‘Leiden has an undeniably strong reputation. And at the same time there are also many other good universities in the Netherlands. Within UNL, we consult with one another on what we could do better together. The discussions are at times heated, but there is the collective desire to create value together. I do think that we as Leiden University have to think carefully about what we are all about, and how we can convey that in a contemporary way. That is also an important question for our future strategy: what is our identity and positioning in society? We are actually quite unique. I know few other universities that have what we in Leiden refer to as the ‘unica’: small-scale programmes and specialisms that you can’t find anywhere else, such as the non-European language and regional studies. Our strong presence in The Hague is also unique, and that applies as well to how different research groups are embedded in the Leiden Bio Science Park. We don’t give enough thought to the impact this can have; we could do better in this respect.’
Sarah has her sights firmly set on collaborating and connecting. ‘For me, the question is: what makes us one university, and what do our core values mean beside freedom? That aspect – freedom – has been thoroughly assimilated. But what is it that connects us? Our broad basis is one of our strengths, but we can make better use of that by fostering greater interconnection. We shouldn’t shut ourselves off within faculty or institute walls, but rather work together. And we, as the Board, can facilitate that by removing barriers for lecturers and researchers. A programme such as Academia in Motion helps with that. Because education, collaboration and having social impact are an integral part of how we think about quality.
That permeates through into appointments, career paths, assessment systems and ultimately into what students experience on a daily basis in their programmes. A university that is able to establish a firm bond with its best people because they feel valued, is then better able to attract the next generation of researchers and students.’
Timo endorses that: ‘I think it is important to work together even better and above all more effectively. And what I mean by that is also providing good support for education, research and impact across the boundaries of our programmes, institutes, teams and departments. In the area of digital autonomy, AI and other challenges, it is crucial that we work together effectively. As a university you can’t keep pace with these challenges alone; it calls for collaboration with other universities, Surf and European partners to enforce better conditions or to develop high-quality and affordable alternatives for Big Tech.’
In spite of the discussions about cutbacks, the financial and political environment remain uncertain. In such a context how can you safeguard space for ambition and innovation? And where are we now?
Luc believes that problems of the scarcity of resources are specific to universities. ‘The funding allocated to a university is always used up immediately as a result of its intrinsic ambition. We want to do so much for students, for science and for society that we immediately invest that money in research and education. It was the same in Leuven and I see it here in Leiden: we work without a real margin and in a way that’s fine. But it can get difficult if a government cuts back on funding. The new government has promised improvements, but so far we don’t know anything for certain. We are still in the negotiating phase and with a minority government we have to remain cautious.
In the future we also have to take into account a decline in the number of 18-year-olds and consequently the lower influx of students. Given our financing model, that will certainly have an impact. There’s no need for panic, but we do have to stay vigilant and alert. We can’t simply reverse our previous decisions on cutbacks as long as we are uncertain whether additional funding will be made available. We and other universities are in discussion with the government and the ministries on these issues.’
Different way of working
Sarah also sees opportunities: ‘My experience is that in times of financial uncertainty you have the space and energy to set priorities. You create room for ambition by making choices, and being explicit about what you are not going to do. The fifteen interfaculty themes offer room for innovation: for investments, external partnerships and new innovations in education. It is important to engage everyone. Let people put forward their own ideas, and make sure the participation bodies are closely involved. A widely supported set of priorities generates a great deal of energy and a sense of ownership.
It calls for a different way of working. If you want to bring about change, that also involves cross-faculty and interdisciplinary collaboration, and as administrators we need to remove many of the barriers to this because people can’t just do that on their own, and it puts extra pressure on them. How can you make sure that people are given the freedom to seek out colleagues in other faculties and that they are recognised and valued for doing that?’
Timo, responsible for the university’s finances, seconds that: ‘Shrinking financial resources sometimes force you to make difficult choices that you have previously ignored, but that you know are ultimately necessary to make progress. In the new budget, in spite of declining revenue for education, we are allocating more resources to faculties. We are creating space for ambition and innovation. We are also aiming to build some flexibility for improving and renewal in such areas as our university-wide services. That will benefit everyone in the long term, although in the short term it requires extra effort and at times also some adjustments.’