Planetary scientist Daphne Stam, former associate professor at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, has been nominated as unconventional thinker of the year 2025. According to the Stichting Dwarsdenkers, she resigned ‘to raise awareness of the structurally unsafe culture for women in the sciences’ and ‘consciously chooses transparency and restoration, even if that comes at a cost’.
Stam resigned two years ago. In an interview with Delta, she cited paternalism and unfair power relations as the reasons for her departure. “These are often things that are not proper, but that do not directly violate the rules,” she said, describing her experiences at the faculty. And: “If everyone remains silent, nothing will ever change.”
Earlier (in 2021), the faculty had commissioned a study into the working culture and set up a ‘faculty culture program’. At the time, Dean of AE Henri Werij did not want to comment specifically on Stam’s departure, but told Delta that a faculty week had been organised afterwards and that this was “the start of a broader programme on how we interact with each other.”
Since 2023, the Dwarsdenkersprijs (Contrarian Thinker Award) has been presented to people “who question dominant structures and open up new perspectives through their thinking and actions.” The award will be presented on November 7 in Rotterdam.
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