Balancing between ambition and modesty

26 June 2022

Interview with Guus Schreiber (VU, chairman steering committee VU-UT) and Joost Kok (UT, dean faculty EEMCS, member steering committee VU-UT) on Talent For Societies: lasting connections, substitute pride and the Netherlands BV.

'VU-UT invests in talent development for students and employees, the exchange of staff members, the development of new programmes, tracks and courses at Bachelor's, Master's and PhD level, and a joint offer in the field of lifelong learning. All in all, this is quite a substantial package. All components are of vital importance, with educational development being by far the biggest issue. 

Valuable and lasting connections

This does not mean, however, that the rest is second best. We also want to take major steps in the areas of talent development, exchange and lifelong learning. The exchange, for example, is a good way to learn from each other so that we can complement and strengthen each other even more. This applies to both scientific and support staff. In lifelong learning, we want to create valuable and lasting connections between our external relations and our own university community. This goes far beyond just developing courses for professionals. We want to bring the knowledge and experience of our external relations more inward. For example, as participants in research projects or as guest lecturers in education.    

A moment to celebrate

When it comes to educational development, it all started in 2019. That's when our first joint bachelor's program in Mechanical Engineering started at the VU, and in 2022 the first batch of students completed this program. That was truly a moment to pause and celebrate, with a festive Closing Ceremony. With 100 students (2023/2024) Mechanical Engineering is a success and is also well appreciated by those students. We are currently working hard to further develop the program and make it even better known to students and teachers in secondary education.

New courses

Mechanical Engineering was just the beginning as far as education is concerned. Meanwhile, the bachelor's program Creative Technology (CreaTe) also started at VU in 2023, with 45 students. And there are plenty of ideas about next joint courses. This technical study program has been very successful for years in Enschede and is accessible with all VWO profiles.

Students have more to choose from 

The success of Mechanical Engineering and the expected success of Creative Technology show that there is a great need for broad technically oriented programmes in the Amsterdam region. And that also creates more opportunities for Twente when some of these students will choose a master in Enschede. In our joint educational development, we are not looking for more students but want our students to have more to choose from. We can do this because together we are a complete university with a fantastic range of study programmes in the areas of alpha, beta, gamma, life sciences & health and technology.

Work for ’the Netherlands Ltd’ 

We are certainly not doing this just for our own people and regions, but also for the rest of the country. We are really working for ‘The Netherlands Ltd’, as it were. This is sorely needed, because society as a whole has an enormous need for highly educated technical talent with a broad and social orientation. They are the ones who will soon take our society ever further. 

A lot of time, work and energy

We are very proud of what is happening in the field of education. But it is substitute pride, because we only do a small part of the work. Our praise therefore goes to all those people who are willing to focus for a year and a half on getting a new course off the ground. To an outsider it sometimes seems easy, but we know that it takes a lot of time, work and energy before a course can start.

Pragmatic and positively enthusiastic

That is why it is so fantastic when it works out for the best. Besides pride, it also generates a lot of positive energy. In our opinion, the success factors are mainly determined by a good balance between ambition and modesty and between pragmatism and positive enthusiasm. You also have to be honest and always check whether everything you have thought up is possible. And you have to make sure there is sufficient support. So far, the education colleagues are doing very well in all these areas. That’s really promising for the future.’