Jasper's year – with pride, with care and, above all, together
Or: a year of challenges, growth and lots of connection. Jasper Knoester, dean of the Faculty of Science, looks back on 2025.
‘The year 2025 began with family on the top floor of our home, with a good view of the New Year's fireworks exploding above The Hague. A spectacular start to a spectacular year. The year in which my first term as dean ended and I was reappointed for a second term – thanks to the faculty community for their trust! The year in which my daughter Jasmijn, after working extremely hard, obtained her pre-university diploma and decided to take a gap year abroad. And so, I suddenly had to make one less breakfast and lunch every day (with some regret). It was also a year full of developments, highlights and challenges in the faculty. I look back with pride on how we worked together as a community to tackle these challenges.
Just like in 2024, we had to work hard in 2025 to absorb the government's budget cuts. Thanks to excellent cooperation within the faculty, we all succeeded in doing so, without redundancies and without conflict. But it did involve difficult decisions and pain.
The value of our education and research
We all hope that the next government will recognise the value of education and research. In any case, we, as deans of science faculties, have made a significant contribution to this by writing a position paper and bringing it to the attention of politicians.
We have done a lot within the faculty to promote connections. Not only among ourselves, in collaborations and events such as the Tuesday Talks and We Are Science Week, but also with parties outside the faculty. We were proud to welcome the new Mayor of Leiden, Peter Heijkoop, and the new King's Commissioner, Wouter Kolff. Companies such as ASML visited us, and we welcomed delegations from foreign universities and organised missions abroad.
Connecting – it makes us better
The goal of connecting is always to make ourselves and our partners stronger by working together. There are so many opportunities to be gained by connecting with others – within and outside academia, at home and abroad – especially in our disciplines. And we are reaping the benefits. For example, in 2025 we became well connected to the new Key Region Leiden and were able to unlock new scholarship programmes for PhD positions abroad.
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Leiden Science Run 2025 anniversary edition raises record amount for vulnerable children. -
Arrival of the METIS cryostat in Leiden. -
The rooftop garden on the bicycle parking facility is now open. -
The new Science for Sustainable Societies programme has commenced. -
A large grant for the NeCEN cryogenic electron microscopy facility.
Staff policy for academic staff
Connecting is at the heart of our strategic plan. In general, we continued to work on the implementation of that plan in 2025. I would like to highlight two major topics. The first concerns the staff policy for academic staff, which we have brought into line with the national Recognition and Rewards movement. A faculty working group has been working energetically on this, with many consultations in institutes, among staff and in university working groups.
We recently received approval for the new policy from the rector and other deans, as well as from the staff representatives on our faculty council. This is an important milestone! Implementation will begin in the institutes at the start of 2026, for which we will also follow a careful process. At the same time, we will continue to take steps to strengthen our personnel policy for support staff.
Improving the logistics of our education
The second point is that, with the strategic plan in mind, we will be working towards faculty-level management of our educational logistics in the coming years. This is a complex but necessary process. With large numbers of students, limited space and increased regulations, it is important to have clear and standardised processes, responsibilities and management within the faculty. The period of change we are currently experiencing brings uncertainty for our staff. We try to involve people in the changes and greatly appreciate the dedication and commitment of all our colleagues who work in the logistics of our education!
Many highlights!
The year had many highlights, too many to mention them all. We secured numerous grants for research and education projects. A large subsidy was obtained to maintain our national cryogenic electron microscopy facility NeCEN at the highest level. The Lorentz Centre underwent a magnificent renovation. We held the Leiden Science Run on a scorching hot day, raising a record amount for vulnerable children. The CDL and Aesculapius study associations celebrated their fifth anniversary, as did the university itself. The roof garden on the bicycle parking facility, designed and maintained by the Leiden Biologists Club, was opened. Under the leadership of NOVA, assembly has begun on METIS, the first instrument that will soon be installed in the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile. A new programme, Science for Sustainable Societies (from the CML, in collaboration with the FSW and FGGA faculties), has been launched, as has recruitment for the new master's specialisation in High-Tech Innovation. And so on!
I am sure that in a year's time we will once again be able to look back on many wonderful moments and achievements. And also that we will have to work hard on many challenges. I am confident that together we will come through this very well and that we will all be proud. But before we get started, I would first like to wish everyone a happy and relaxing holiday season!