Young Academy Leiden
Newsletter - May 2025 |
In these uncertain times, it's more important than ever to reflect, reconnect, and resist the pressure to rush. As spring truly begins, so does the YAL Spring of Slow Science!
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Upcoming events:
19 May 2025, 15 - 17 hrs, FSW, room TBA Book club: The Slow Professor More information below.
27 May 2025, 12 - 14 hrs, Gorleus Building CM3.23 Sustainable Employability More information below.
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May 19th: Book club: The Slow Professor
Feeling rushed at the start of this new semester (as usual)? Do you wish you had more time to think - and sometimes wonder if thinking wasn't the reason you became a scientist?
Join the Young Academy Leiden for a book club on The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy (Berg & Seeber, 2016). This short book explains why academia feels so frantic, and presents ways of alleviating stress while improving teaching, research, and collegiality. A must-read for anyone in academia concerned about the frantic pace of contemporary university life.
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May 27th: Lecture and Dialogue session "Sustainable Employability"
Join Us for an Inspiring Lunch Lecture & Dialogue Session with Prof. Aukje NautaThe Young Academy Leiden invites you to a thought-provoking session with renowned organizational psychologist Prof. Aukje Nauta. In a 30-minute lecture, she will explore sustainable employability—diving into the hidden dynamics of shame, stress, and conflict in the workplace. What truly matters to us at work? How can we thrive, stay engaged, and remain connected in ever-evolving work environments? Following the lecture, enjoy a relaxed lunch and take part in interactive dialogue sessions where we’ll reflect on what drives us, what we value in our roles, and how we can support sustainable careers—starting with ourselves.This event is a unique opportunity to share, connect, and learn from each other in an open, honest space. Come prepared to listen, reflect, and contribute. |
| Things that might interest you: |
New blog post Eiko Fried: Cutting international bachelor programs threatens psychological science 📣
Five Dutch universities announced discontinuing their English-speaking psychology bachelor programs. In his blog, YAL member Eiko explains how this decision came to be, why this is such a serious threat to psychological science in the Netherlands, and what we can do about it.
✊ A petition has started to retract this UNL proposal, stand up for the international orientation of Dutch universities, and defend the right of universities to offer education in English. The petition can be found here.
✊ Not only psychology is affected by these budget cuts. The total size of the Honors Academy and the specific allocation for the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) will be reduced by 50 percent over four years. The specific allocations to the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) will be phased out. A petition calling for Leiden University to reverse the decision about the Arts can be found here.
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📨 Position Paper: YAL recommendations promotion criteria
Through Academia in Motion, Leiden University fosters the cultural and policy changes needed to become an open knowledge community – one that is closely connected to society and recognises and rewards everyone’s contribution toward our shared strategic goals. Strongly linked to this last point, are the criteria we use as the basis for staff promotions. Historically, research was viewed as the most important output, and particularly more senior academic profiles and promotions at the university were focused on research contributions alone, even though senior staff is expected to teach, do service work, and lead students and teams as well – all of which require separate skills. So do outreach, valorisation, and achieving societal impact, aspects of being an academic that are increasingly more important. YAL has written a position paper proposing new promotion criteria that better acknowledge the diverse range of skills required in academia. You can read the paper here. |
🚀 Call for New Board Members – PostdocNL
Are you a postdoc in the Netherlands eager to make a difference? PostdocNL—the national platform representing all postdoctoral researchers — is looking for new board members! We welcome applicants from all disciplines and all stages of the postdoc journey.
This is a volunteer position requiring about 1–2 hours per week, mostly remote and flexible. Occasionally, you may attend events or meetings on behalf of PostdocNL. Why join?
- Be part of a motivated and enthusiastic team
- Gain valuable leadership experience
- Access training and coaching opportunities
- Connect with local postdoc representatives and grow your national network
📩 Interested? Get in touch: info@postdocnl.com
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Jan van Rijn @ Vraag het Leiden
Last week, Jan van Rijn got interviewed for "Vraag het  Leiden",a sciencecommunication initiative from various knowledge institutes in Leiden. His video on whether we still need human experts in the day and age of LLMs can be found here. In case you also want to participate, you can register on their website. |
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