Academia in Motion: a culture-change revolution kicks off at FSW
Recognition and rewards. Open science. These topics are increasingly in the spotlight: globally, nationally and within our university. Who is working on these themes within the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSW)? Which steps are we already taking and what should we do next? These questions were at the heart of a launch event on 23 April for the new FSW Academia in Motion team.
Academia in Motion is a university-wide programme. It aims to inspire a culture change towards a more open academic community: one where quality beats quantity, where science and society are closely linked and where we recognise and reward everyone’s contribution to our shared goals. Faculty teams are a key part of AiM. Each faculty team can decide which activities are most relevant to their own needs and context.
FSW's approach
Hanneke Hulst is coordinating the FAiM team for FSW. Together with dean Sarah de Rijcke, she explained that the team's first job is to determine priorities. “What do we want to do first and what are the low-hanging fruits,” said Hulst to the 80 FSW researchers and teachers, PhD candidates and support staff present at the kick-off.
De Rijcke added: “There will be challenges. One challenge is to be as inclusive as possible. Another is to have the organization be willing to take time for this, and to accept that change can be a bit slow sometimes. But the leadership in the faculty and institutes all want to go in this direction. Now we need to think about how to do this collectively, using the expertise of our researchers, teachers and professional support staff.”
Priorities and opportunities
After hearing about AiM and current good practices within the faculty — the development of an interdisciplinary bachelor programme, an academic board game and the work of the Open Science Community Leiden — participants split into groups to discuss answers to two questions. What should the FAiM group prioritise in the coming years, and what easy actions can be implemented immediately? Suggestions to change as of tomorrow are (amongst others):
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Prioritise Open Access: As an individual academic, you can choose to review and publish only in diamond (fully open access) and green open access journals. This increases the accessibility and impact of your research.
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Move beyond listing achievements: We can foster a culture of open dialogue by asking colleagues "what are you proud of?". This shift adds depth and celebrates the true value of all contributions to our work, from all team members.
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Share good practices. Let's share our faculty's good practices so that we can all learn from one another!
Next steps
The next step for the FAiM is to take all the feedback shared during the launch event – the opportunities and challenges – and to make a plan for working on these within FSW.
You can still add your ideas! Email h.e.hulst@fsw.leidenuniv.nl with any suggestions for improvement or collaboration. We're always open to your feedback and look forward to working together to take Recognition & Rewards and Open Science within FSW to the next level!
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Register for the AiM newsletter!What insights did participants take away from the launch event?
Lotte van Dillen, associate professor
'I thought it was important to be here because I like to help give direction to this movement. It's interesting to think about other quality indicators for research, in addition to the classic metrics, and how we can better secure leadership in our institute – so that people get time and development opportunities for that.
Today I enjoyed hearing about how an interdisciplinary bachelor's degree came about: how much time it took, and especially how important it is that this extra work is seen. It's okay if everything doesn't work out perfectly on the first try. You are also allowed to make mistakes. That is a very important message in this movement, trial and error with a positive outlook. I also spoke to colleagues about how we can create broader career paths. I'm a big believer in job crafting and don't feel so attached to traditional job classifications. We can think out-of-the-box more often.’
Nina Krupljanin, PhD candidate
‘Culture change is a very important topic. At the same time, I don’t know much about Academia in Motion, so I really wanted to come see what it’s all about, and which way we’re going to move as a university. Especially for early-career researchers, I think it’s important to shape academia.
At the event, I learned that Academia in Motion is about the university changing to be more fair and to give more opportunity to everyone, to change in a way that’s better for employees and society. It was impressive to see how many people were present and care about this topic. The fact that there were so many people at the kick-off is, I think, indicative of the spirit at the university.’
Steven van Wijk, Cultuurmakelaar
‘Within my new position as Culture Broker for the FSW, I will be working on a number of different themes such as leadership, social safety, wellbeing, recognizing and valuing and interdisciplinarity. One of my first steps is to take stock of how the faculty Academia in Motion team and a culture program can work together on the same core values, and what further projects we can set up based on what our community needs.
I loved hearing during the FAiM session what people from different corners within the faculty care about and learning more about good practices already existing within our community. My wish is that everyone, academic and non-academic staff, feels invited to attend these kinds of activities. It is a great way to make your voice heard and set the direction on what steps the faculty should take to contribute to the aforementioned themes.’