Dossiers
Over the past decade, academic freedom has declined in many countries. This includes the Netherlands, where perceived safety on campuses is a particularly prominent issue.
The Delft Young Academy (DYA) says that assistant professors in the Academic Career Track (ACT) can get caught in the crossfire due to shifting power dynamics. The DYA has identified sixteen cases in which disagreements between ACTs and their PhD candidates or students escalated into social safety complaints. In these instances, procedures were unclear and managers took abrupt action. The DYA is calling for more transparent reporting and investigation processes.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved the education budget, including the last government’s cuts for 2026. A notable change: animal testing on monkeys is suddenly permitted again.
In addition to all the developments in Delft, work on Campus Rotterdam is continuing at full speed. The Executive Board has hired an external consultancy firm and the programme team will move into the Groot Handelsgebouw (literally the big trade building) in Rotterdam.
For Delft students, the room shortage is an important issue in the upcoming municipal elections, according to a Delta Instagram poll. All Delft political parties address student housing in their election plans, though this does not always lead to innovative ideas.
In his first column for Delta, Sander Otte sees a similarity between the unclaimed stench action and the presence of fossil fuel companies at the Delft Career Days: both are ill-considered and indefensible.
The National Contact Point for Knowledge Security currently warns people not to report suspicious individuals by name, to protect their privacy. A new bill aims to remove this obstacle.
Prospective buyers need to be quick to get hold of a secondhand jewel at OWee’s first secondhand market. But it may not work for everyone: “I see a lot of good things! But I don’t have a room so I can’t buy anything yet.”
