Jasper's Day
Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.
Thursday 13 June
‘The morning is filled with meetings with office staff, with our rector Hester Bijl, and with fellow chairs of the scientific domains in the country. A lot is going on this week. The main agreement of the coalition forming the new cabinet is causing a lot of concern. Where we experienced a substantial package of much-needed investments in education and research with Minister Dijkgraaf, the new coalition is determined to cut all of that away. In my opinion, this is very unwise and does not align with the coalition’s ambitions to stimulate a knowledge-intensive economy. And, of course, it's a bad outlook for universities.
Particularly incomprehensible is the intention to cut back on the sector plans from 2022/2023. These plans aim to better align faculties across the country and strengthen disciplines in nationally recognised focal areas. They are often proudly presented by the ministry as examples of targeted investments made in collaboration with the field. Therefore, it is very ironic that this instrument is on the list of cutbacks. We are not simply accepting this. Yesterday, as the chair of the National Science domain, together with the chairs of the Technology, Medical, and Social Sciences & Humanities domains, I already had a meeting with officials from the ministry to express our astonishment and resistance. We are preparing a joint letter to emphasise the importance of the sector plans to politicians and other stakeholders.
Another issue demanding a lot of attention at the moment is Beethoven, the government programme to increase the number of graduates for the labour market in the high-tech/chip industry in the country. Although we have not been invited to submit a proposal for this, we are determined to get involved and are in good consultation about this with TU Delft. As the Faculty of Science, we have a lot of expertise in technology focused on instrumentation, and this is the opportunity to highlight and further develop that. Let's cast off modesty!
After a useful informal lunch meeting with the scientific directors in the Hortus, I hurry to the opening of the new research building of Johnson & Johnson. A beautiful building, intended to collaborate openly with the environment. It's great that it’s located no more than 100 meters from the Gorlaeus building! There are interesting speakers, but above all, it is a very useful networking event, where I speak with Minister Adriaansens and Alderman Spijker about the important contributions we can make from Leiden to the Beethoven programme. It’s a small world, as it turns out when, on my way out, I run into an employee of Johnson & Johnson with whom I was a member of the student association Unitas in Utrecht years ago. We agree to reconnect, which is nice and hopefully also useful for the faculty.
After the reception, I quickly go home, where we have dinner with the four of us. Then I leave with Kamiel for De Kuip in Rotterdam, where we will attend the football match between the Netherlands and Canada, a birthday present for him. We have great seats and enjoy an exciting match, where most of the Dutch stars are in action and beautiful goals are scored. Satisfied, we take the train and tram back to arrive home just after midnight. Kamiel is convinced that we are going to become European champions. Wonderful, that natural optimism! I wholeheartedly wish that for all of us in the coming time, not only in football!’