Columnist Ali Vahidi is concerned about screening based on nationality at Dutch universities. He knows many colleagues who fear the impact of this policy on their research, while rectors and academic institutions do not seem to question this injustice.
Columnist Jan van Neerven believes that more attention should be paid to the link between social safety and gender diversity in leadership positions. With dismay, he observes that the Delft Technology Fellowship programme has been discontinued due to budget cuts. “At a time when vision and decisiveness are needed, the Executive Board is turning back the clock.”
Columnist Alex Nedelcu is not against being sceptical – scepticism is the foundation of good science, and it is healthy when faced with so many conflicting narratives. But you can’t only be sceptical towards those you don’t like.
There are lots of jokes about clay sculpting at IDE, but columnist Mirte Brouwer explains why the assignment, perhaps surprisingly, can be very useful.
Dap Hartmann watched four hardly seen videos about TU Delft’s strategy on YouTube. He noticed that they are full of empty statements and meaningless phrases, and wonders who on earth wrote them.
This is Bob van Vliet’s last column. After trying to make the same point for years, he has little faith that it’s making a difference. There is another reason that he is stopping too.
The culture in parts of TU Delft can vary greatly, Ali Vahidi observes. This can lead to feelings of insecurity among people on temporary contracts as they don’t know the desired norms and often don’t have the time to adapt. He believes there is room for improvement.
Columnist Jan van Neerven believes that replacing the entire Executive Board offers opportunities. It worries him that the current Supervisory Board will appoint a new Board. It is time to start with a clean slate.
It is in human nature to ignore long-term risks, writes Alex Nedelcu. But should we just accept that?
