Not a brain drain but a knowledge boost we need in the Netherlands, says new Leiden-Delft-Erasmus president Annelien Bredenoord. She recently took the lead in the South Holland strategic alliance of the three universities focused on social issues and interdisciplinary research and education.
The presidency rotates between the three universities. Bredenoord has held the role since December. At the board meeting on 19 March, the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus chairmanship was symbolically handed over by Annetje Ottow, Leiden University president.
Annelien Bredenoord: ‘I would like to thank Annetje for the past 2.5 years of LDE presidency. We have made great strides in opening up our educational offerings to each other's students even further and have strengthened our research together in, for example, the LDE Centres.'
As president of Erasmus University Rotterdam, Bredenoord has recently been much in the news for keeping scientific research and education high on the political agendas and advocating appreciation of all sciences.This fits perfectly with Leiden-Delft-Erasmus, where interdisciplinary collaboration is the starting point.
The labour market, in the Netherlands and Europe, desperately needs our students and innovation.'
Bredenoord: ‘The ambitions to keep scientific research and education high on the political agendas and to advocate appreciation of all sciences is important now more than ever. No technical innovation can gain a foothold without insights from the social sciences and humanities. The labour market, in The Netherlands and Europe, desperately needs our students and innovation.’
Knowledge boost, not brain drain
The new LDE chair stresses that this diversity of scientific knowledge is a great asset that we should not let slip out of our hands. 'The Netherlands needs a knowledge boost, not a brain drain. All the bright minds in The Netherlands are needed in our country's big tasks such as the housing market, poverty reduction, health, energy transition and climate change.'
With our rich complementary educational offerings, we have everything available for our nearly 100,000 students.'
Alpha, beta, gamma, engineering, medicine, everything is available in South Holland. Students from Leiden, The Hague, Delft and Rotterdam can take advantage of what three universities offer through the alliance. Bredenoord: ‘With our rich complementary educational offering, we have everything available for our nearly 100,000 students. That multiplicity and diversity of insights are badly needed to prepare students for the solutions to the important social issues of today and tomorrow.'
In the LDE context, students learn something extra, namely to work in teams and appreciate other methods and views, through joint minors, honours and thesis labs. Bredenoord: ‘A good example of this is the joint LDE minor African Dynamics, which combines economic knowledge from Rotterdam with civil engineering from Delft and cultural anthropology from Leiden. A very valuable mix of subjects to learn to understand this fast-growing continent.'
The rotating presidency provides managerial commitment and a strong foundation for the alliance.'
Wim van den Doel, Dean of Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities, expressed his thanks on behalf of the LDE team to Annetje Ottow for her ambassadorship for the alliance and presence at many LDE activities in recent years, and warmly welcomed Annelien Bredenoord in her new role as chair. Van den Doel: ‘The rotating chairmanship means that Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities is carried equally by all three partners, and that has been a great administrative commitment and a strong foundation for the alliance for years.’
