23 January 2024

Leiden University publishes on the website a list of the work that our professors carry out for third parties. Information on professors and their ancillary activities can now be found in one recognisable place, in addition to on their personal profile pages.

Work for third parties was previously only mentioned on professors’ personal profile pages. A list has now been compiled in which the ancillary work of all professors can be found at once. This list includes details that must be declared on the basis of the Sectoral Scheme Covering Ancillary Activities.

An overview of regular and externally funded endowed chairs (in Dutch) has been online since 2023.

Transparency is important

With this new list, Dutch universities are aiming to improve the disclosure of data on professors' ancillary work and contribute to transparency about these activities. Universities share the opinion of the Minister of Education, Culture and Science that it must be clear who is involved in funding professorial chairs and scientific research, what work for third parties professors carry out and how this relates to their work at the university. This will eliminate any impression of conflicts of interest.

Updating the list

For the time being, the list of professors’ work for third parties will be updated manually on a weekly basis. As a result it may happen that the information on a professor’s personal page is not identical to that in the list. In such a case, the information on the personal page is the most up to date as this data is refreshed on a daily basis as soon as a change in the work for third parties is notified. 

Leiden University is working on a system where all changes are incorporated in the list on a daily basis so that the information in the list matches the information on the personal pages. We expect this system will be active in the spring of 2024.