Herman Paul new Scientific Director of the Institute of History: ‘A good working atmosphere is important’
Professor Herman Paul has been appointed Scientific Director of the Institute of History from 1 February. ‘Especially in these times, transparency is essential.’
Paul's career at Leiden University is long: he has been with the Institute of History for 17.5 years. ‘All this time I have been able to concentrate on my teaching and research,’ he says. ‘Now that my Vici project is coming to an end, I felt it was time to take responsibility and give something back to the institute.’
Moving forward together
His primary focus will be on the financial situation. ‘As in the rest of the university, our finances are under pressure,’ he says. 'The management team, under my predecessor Jeroen Duindam, conducted very prudent financial management, which meant that the deficits were not as high as they could have been. Nevertheless, we too are still in the red.'
That means Paul will not escape cuts. 'The situation invites us to look closely at the economics of the workfloor and talk about the hard numbers: how many FTEs do we have, how many courses can we offer in the programmes we are associated with as an institute? We will do that, but I think it is at least as important to look at how we are going to get through this difficult phase together. The Institute of History has a friendly and pleasant working atmosphere, and I would like to help maintain that, especially in these times.'
Sharing pain
Values such as fairness, transparency and solidarity are paramount for Paul. 'Even in difficult situations, I want to involve colleagues in the process as much as possible. Together, we will hopefully arrive at solutions that will allow us to carry out our research and teaching with as little disruption as possible. In our institute, we have a long tradition of research-driven teaching, which makes our programmes attractive to both students and teachers. Wherever possible, we need to maintain that.'
To that end, Paul's door is literally open to anyone with a plan or suggestion. 'I will be in the faculty at least four days a week, so I hope people will knock on the door with questions big or small. In addition, we will share developments and organise meetings even more than before to involve people in our processes as much as possible.'