Organising STEM effectively, both within and beyond the faculty
Tuesday 27 January - A crisp winter morning and a busy Tuesday. Board matters, research safety, leadership and faculty profiling alternate throughout the day, with a focus on collaboration both inside and outside the faculty. A full day that ends with a game of darts.
Jasper Knoester is the Dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do, and what does a day in his life look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.
‘It’s a chilly winter morning, and it’s lovely to get to the office by train and two short bike rides. I have a varied day ahead. It’s Tuesday, so we start with the board meeting. On the agenda are several appointments for approval and seven research safety cases.
At the moment, we receive a high number of Knowledge Security requests each week. Combined with the fact that the dashboard for processing them isn’t fully ready yet, this means things are moving slower than our target. In a month, a new team member will start, and the dashboard will be fully functional. Hopefully, we’ll then meet our expected turnaround times. Of the seven cases on today’s agenda, six will get board approval, and one will be postponed for more information.
Progress on career policy for academic staff
We also discuss the further development of the Leadership, Recognition and Rewards programme. We made big strides last year, and there’s now a proposal to take the next steps across the board. This includes implementing the new career policy for academic staff, which requires effort both at the institutes and within the administrative office. We know workloads are high everywhere and that this isn’t the only major programme we’re working on. But our staff are waiting for implementation, and we can’t make them wait more.
With the upcoming coalition agreement, I expect opportunities for education and research, especially in our field, and we need to be ready to take advantage.
Strengthening the STEM domain in the Netherlands
After the meeting, I go through some emails and then prepare, together with José Kiss, for the upcoming Science Council (the regular meeting with scientific directors, ed.) and the national meeting of STEM deans later this week. We are close to hiring a Coordinator for Public Affairs and Strategy with the STEM deans, someone who will help strengthen the STEM domain across the country. The timing is good. With the upcoming coalition agreement, I expect opportunities for education and research, especially in our field, and we need to be ready to take advantage.
Next, I have a first meeting with the leaders of the faculty’s profiling themes (Biodiversity, Complex Networks, Sustainability, Artificial Intelligence, Drug Discovery and Development, Quantum and Space, ed.). The themes have two main goals: to strengthen collaboration across institutes and to raise the faculty’s profile externally, creating new opportunities for collaboration and funding. It’s a productive meeting; the theme leaders are enthusiastic and keen to learn from each other. It makes me happy to see so many opportunities for collaboration across themes. We are looking forward to a working session in early March, where we will create yearly and communication plans together with colleagues from Academic Affairs and Communications & Marketing. Other team members around the theme leaders will also join in.
Strengthen ties with regional ecosystem
In the second half of the afternoon, we welcome HiDelta, the network organisation for the technological manufacturing industry in South Holland. We offered our building for their New Year reception. This is a great opportunity to show that the fantastic research and teaching in our faculty can also be very valuable for this industry. It aligns perfectly with our strategic plan to strengthen ties with the regional ecosystem. It will be a lively event, with opening remarks from André Boer (HiDelta’s director) and myself, followed by tours of the LION Meethal, the Fine Mechanical and Electronics Department (FMD and EMD), the LIACS Physical Twin lab, and a presentation by Victor van der Horst on our participation in the national Beethoven programme.
Ending with a game of darts
We finish the day with a drink. I chat with a few guests before heading home to cook with Kamiel. Xuefei is travelling this week, and Jasmijn is still teaching skiing in Austria, so it’s just the two of us. During dinner, we watch the final part of the film we started yesterday. After the washing up, I go for a workout, and then we settle down together to work at the dining table, both at our own level. We end the evening with a game of darts. Unfortunately for me, the rule still applies – we play both at our own level.’