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.
Tuesday 27 August
‘It is the first day of school for the children: the usual rhythm starts again, which means I am back to being breakfast and lunch chief, a role I am happy to take on. The summer has passed quickly. For the most part, I have continued working, enjoying the relative quiet on campus. The real holidays for me are in the winter, high up in the snowy mountains.
I did make another trip to China in August, where I made visits with a delegation from our institutes CML and LACDR to universities and research institutes in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai and Ningbo to discuss existing and new collaborations. An intensive and inspiring trip: scientific developments in China are moving very fast and we can learn a lot from collaborations with partners there. Not only in the field of technology and innovation, but also on topics such as biodiversity and sustainability. In turn, the interest in China to cooperate with Leiden is still high. In this context, we had a fruitful discussion in Beijing with the China Scholarship Council (CSC) about their PhD scholarships and joint PhD programmes. CSC PhD students have been an important source of research talent for our faculty for years, a situation we would like to continue if we can agree on the conditions, including the amount of the scholarship. The meetings make me feel optimistic.
‘The journalists are clearly impressed by the design and look of the building with its wonderful facilities’
Meanwhile, I have been back in the Netherlands for over a week. Last week was still quiet, but this week the building is already filling up nicely. Next week we will open the new Gorlaeus Building and then it will be buzzing! We have been preparing for the opening on Monday 2 September for quite some time now. Constantijn van Oranje will perform the opening act together with our students. I am looking forward to this festive occasion! Today there is a small preview, as we have a reception of interested press in the morning, together with the constructor and architects. In total, we have around 20 people in the audience.
I start with an introductory presentation on the faculty and the new building; I have no trouble being enthusiastic about either. Then we have a comprehensive tour of the building, proudly showing as much as we can and getting short presentations at the FMD, NeCEN, the measurement hall, the Exposome scan and the NMR facility. It is a very successful tour. The visitors are clearly impressed by the design and look of the building, its functionality and its wonderful facilities. I conclude this press moment with two short interviews, one for Sleutelstad and one for the communications department of the constructor Heijmans.
Afterwards, we have the first meeting of the Faculty Board. It is the first meeting after the summer. Berber Verhalle also joins us, she will be the board's new Student Assessor from 1 September. How wonderful that again an energetic and motivated student has been found willing to take on this instructive task for the upcoming year!
I end the afternoon by welcoming NSC member of parliament Rosanne Hertzberger. We also proudly show her around the building and then take our time until well after 6 o'clock to discuss the organisation and position of the natural sciences in the Netherlands and a variety of policy issues, including funding, sector plans, knowledge safety, language policy and internationalisation. Not for the first time, I note that the gap between the academic sector and politics has become very large, which is precisely why it is very important to have these discussions.
I rush home where I can have just a quick bite to eat. The first day of school is discussed, I read some papers for tomorrow and go for a little exercise. The normal rhythm has indeed been resumed and that's absolutely fine by me’.