Annual Report 2013 | University of Amsterdam 1
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annual report 2013 | university of amsterdam 1 Annual Report 2013 Annual Report 20 13 www.uva.nl/weareu 2 annual report 2013 | university of amsterdam annual report 2013 | university of amsterdam 1 Annual Report 2013 University of Amsterdam 2 annual report 2013 | university of amsterdam The diversity of the UvA derives from its 5,000 staff members and Credits 30,000 students. We’ve captured more than 100 of them on camera, some of whom you will see in this Annual Report. For more photos Published by and the names of those photographed, see www.uva.nl/weareu. University of Amsterdam June 2014 Front cover: Design (from left to right) Soroosh Nassiri Nezhad (student of Law and member of April Design Central Student Council), Stefan Titus (Executive Secretary, Communication Science), Henk van Os (University Professor of Art and Society), Joyeeta Gupta Photography (professor of Environment and Development in the Global South), Barbara Alek | Bob Bronshoff | Liesbeth Dingemans Baarsma (professor by special appointment of Market Forces and Comption Ton Dujardin | Dirk Gillissen | Ronald Knapp Issues), Marco Loos (professor of Private Law), Marysé Jansen (student of Monique Kooijmans | Eduard Lampe | Arnaud Mooij Cultural Anthropology). Hotze Mulder | Jeroen Oerlemans | Ivar Pel Mats van Solingen Back cover: (from left to right) Fadie Hanna (lecturer, Academic PABO Amsterdam), Tom Information Peters (student of Biological Sciences), Luca Prins (student of Future Planet University of Amsterdam Studies), Judy Shamoun-Baranes (assistant professor at Institute for Biodiversity Communications Office and Ecosystem Dynamics and winner of Academic Year Prize 2013), Jan van PO Box 19268 Maarseveen (lecturer in Synthetic Organic Chemistry and UvA Lecturer of the Tel: +31 (0)20 525 2929 Year 2012), Tiffany Ebrahim (student of Sociology), Ruud Sips (director, www.uva.nl/en Organisation and Care Logistics EBK, and oral implantologist at ACTA). No rights can be derived from the content of this Annual Report. © University of Amsterdam Disclaimer: This translation is provided for information purposes only. In the event of a difference of interpretation, the original Dutch version of this document is binding. annual report 2013 | university of amsterdam 3 Contents 5 Foreword by the President 7 Key data 9 Message from the Supervisory Board 13 Members of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board 18 Faculty deans and directors of the organisational units 19 Details of the legal entity 21 1. Teaching and research 21 1.1 Strategic framework 31 1.2 Research 37 1.3 Teaching 51 1.4 Corporate social responsibility and innovation 57 2. Organisation and operational management 57 2.1 Quality of staff 65 2.2 Ties with staff, students and alumni 71 2.3 Reliable and sustainable services 73 2.4 Targeted campus infrastructure 77 2.5 Sustainability 83 2.6 Finances 87 3. Administration 87 3.1 Administrative structure 92 3.2 Remuneration data 97 4. Social report by the Executive Board 97 4.1 The UvA as a public research university 98 4.2 Business model of the UvA 101 4.3 Social aims 107 5. Financial report by the Executive Board 107 5.1 Report for 2013 115 5.2 Treasury 119 5.3 Continuity 127 Appendix 1. Degree programmes on offer 130 Appendix 2. Overview of NVAO degree programme accreditation assessments in 2013 131 Appendix 3. Research assessments in 2013 132 Appendix 4. Profile and performance agreements with the Minister of Education, Culture and Science 141 Appendix 5. Facts and figures 150 Appendix 6. Statement pursuant to the Dutch Top Incomes (Standardisation) Act executive board (from left to right) Prof. Hans Amman (Vice-President), Dr Louise Gunning-Schepers (President), Prof. Dymph van den Boom (Rector Magnificus, UvA), Prof. Huib de Jong (Rector, AUAS/HvA) annual report 2013 | university of amsterdam 5 Foreword by the President One of the themes of the opening of the 2013-2014 academic year of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) was the growing presence of China on the world stage. The UvA has hundreds of alumni in China, including both Dutch nationals living and working in China and Chinese nationals who studied at the UvA, some of whom I had the pleasure of meeting at the official launching ceremony of our Beijing alumni chapter on 25 September. In a presentation, one of them related her initial difficulty in getting to grips with ‘those group discus- sions’ at the UvA. A culture in which people openly contradict each other and even see the advantages of doing so took some getting used to. But now, she said, it served her well in her job at a major multi- national. All the other alumni nodded in recognition. At the same time, as preparations progressed for an autumn visit to China by a joint delegation of the City of Amsterdam and the UvA, it became clear just how much Dutch scientists have benefited from collaboration with Chinese colleagues, whether through exchanges, jobs or otherwise. If we have learned one thing, it is that individual and institutional ties often have an even greater pay-off than was initially expected, fostering mutual inspiration, new ideas and a widening of horizons. Internationalisation is clearly about much more than joint research projects and student exchanges. This idea is closely linked to one of the University’s prime objectives: to prepare students for an ever-changing world and a global labour market. A broad perspective is crucial, as is a flexible view of society and an interdisciplinary and international environment. These are already key features of the UvA, but additional efforts over the past year have further strengthened them. Visits to China and Brazil, a better organisation for our numerous summer schools and hosting the large Universitas 21 Undergraduate Research Conference for students are but a few examples. After several changes in its membership during the past year, the joint Executive Board of the UvA and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS/HvA) is once again at full strength. Huib de Jong joined the Board in March, while Paul Doop stepped down at the end of the year after more than seven years as vice-president. Hans Amman has now taken over his considerable remit. In many respects, 2013 was a growth year for the UvA: the number of students rallied back to above the 30,000 mark, the number of PhD conferrals grew by 15 per cent to over 500, and personal grants and revenues from indirect government funding and contract research also increased. Five UvA researchers were awarded Advanced Grants by the European Research Council, 33 received a Veni, Vidi or Vici grant from the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), and Michel Mandjes, professor of Applied Probability and Queueing Theory, received €22.7 million from the NWO’s Gravitation programme to lead a study on large-scale networks. These are, unquestionably, figures to be proud of, but non-quantifiable results can be equally if not more important. Obviously, first among these is the outcome of the Institutional Quality Assurance Audit, in which we attained the highest scores granted by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). This represents a huge compliment to everyone who worked so hard to achieve this under Rector Magnificus Dymph van den Boom’s able leadership. A second achievement concerned institutional policy efforts for the prevention of unscrupulous research practices and violations of academic integrity. The new policy will be laid down in a UvA Research Code that will complement the existing academic integrity code, which is similar to the academic integrity code of the UvA’s Academic Medical Center (AMC-UvA). 6 annual report 2013 | university of amsterdam Lastly, there were the extra ‘open days’ allowing for student orientation, the additional options for ‘taster days’ and the launch of the UvA-wide Matching programme, which requires secondary school pupils who have chosen their degree programme to concretely test their choice prior to enrolment. Each of these initiatives is helping to ensure that prospective students make an informed and therefore suitable choice. The Joint Meeting of the Central Works Council and the Central Student Council held in late December to discuss the integration of the science faculties of the UvA and VU University Amsterdam was a memorable gathering. It was wonderful to see our students and staff so passionate and engaged, and understandable that they had questions about aspects such as the financing, scale and accommodation of such an integrated faculty. It goes without saying that I was disappointed with the final outcome, in which the representative advisory bodies withheld approval for the proposed new faculty. I believe in collaboration and, in this case, believe it would strengthen the Amsterdam science disciplines and ultimately generate more opportunities for researchers and students. I suspect that even the most fervent opponents would not disagree with me on this point. And so I feel it is important to give the science faculties the opportunity to pursue their plans, albeit at a different pace and in a different form – and, in time, to make concrete plans for long-term collaboration in higher education in Amsterdam. I believe in a shared community of higher education and science and scholarship in Amsterdam, a community in which students and researchers can learn and work freely, unimpeded by logistical processes, preconditions or rules and regulations. This – and not erecting walls or