At Erasmus University Rotterdam, several people are working on the success of the new Recognition & Rewards system. Meet our driving forces here!
Christien Bakker
Christien Bakker joined the EUR in January 2016, the first three years as HR Business Partner for various organisational units (services and faculty) and since March 2019 as Senior Policy Advisor HR. She has a background in business administration and HR. From her current role she has been involved since the start of the Recognition and Rewards project.
"From my role within the project I am, together with the other members of the core team, responsible for the further elaboration and implementation of the various aspects of Recognition and Rewards within the EUR as described in the position paper 'Room for everyone's talent'. In my previous position as HR Business Partner of a faculty, I regularly met with academics who were struggling with the current system of recognition and rewards. This often led to high work pressure.
There was a great need for differentiation in career paths, for example for scientists who were talented in the area of education. The purpose / mission of Recognition and Rewards therefore appealed to me. Based on my experience as an HR Business Partner and my background in HR, I can now use the Recognition and Rewards project to help scientists who are stuck in their ways. Within this culture change it is important to talk to each other about the possibilities and the steps to take."
Victor Bekkers
Victor Bekkers has been dean of the Erasmus School of Social and Behavorial Sciences (ESSB) since 2018 He is also chair, or academic lead, of the EUR wide committee 'Recognition & Rewards' and by virtue of this also participates in the national committee Recognize and Appreciate. In daily life he is professor of Public Administration at Erasmus University.
''In 2018, I set up a series of roundtable discussions with the staff of ESSB in order to develop new strategic directions for the faculty. From those conversations, it became emphatically clear that the existing model of the ideal scientist who, as a sheep with five legs, was in danger of collapsing under the weight of its own ambitions, and those of the university. There was a greater need for differentiation in profiles (teaching, research, impact and management) and related career paths.
In our own strategic HR policy, we took up that challenge and made it concrete. We were also given pilot status within the EUR at the time. In 2019 we started the implementation, but we got a boost from the position paper 'Room for every one's talent' which kicked off the national discussion on acknowledgement and appreciation. From that moment on, I try to make the knowledge and experience gained within ESSB available to others....but also to learn from others. ''
Maarten Boksem
Maarten Boksem joined Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2010 and is associate professor in Marketing Management at RSM. He is also project leader at the Erasmus Centre for Neuroeconomics. He has clear perspectives on recognition and rewards:
“Academia needs reforms in how academics are recognised and rewarded for their work. Many talented colleagues have left the university, for example due to an excessive focus on publishing and winning grants. Other talents such as excellence in teaching, leadership and collaboration are insufficiently valued. As vice-chair of the EUR Recognition & Rewards Committee, I want to strive for a better balance in appreciation of various qualities to contribute to an improvement of the working climate of academics and better, more sustainable science in general.”
Daphne van de Bongardt
Daphne van de Bongardt joined Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2016 and is associate professor in the Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies Pedagogische Wetenschappen (DPECS) of ESSB. She is a member of Young Erasmus Academy since 2019 and the founder and project leader of the Erasmus Love Lab. She’s passionate about the importance of recognition and rewards and her role on the team:
“I see the international Recognition & Rewards movement as one of the most important current themes within the academic research community. For today's complex scientific and societal issues, we need diverse perspectives and talents in science. As vice-chair of the ‘Recognition & Rewards’ strategic project within the EUR, I want to contribute at the macro and micro levels. At the macro level, I will further raise awareness of the importance of R&R, both for individual researchers and for EUR as an organisation. At the micro level, I will follow the concrete elaborations of R&R that are currently emerging within the various faculties and departments within the EUR, as well as nationally and internationally.”
Eveline Braber
Eveline Braber started on 1 November 2022 as a Recognition & Rewards project officer. She works with the EUR faculties to help them implement projects and initiatives regarding the recognition and reward of academic staff. She is also involved in the communication strategy for Recognition & Rewards. Previously, she worked at EUR’s Rotterdam School of Management for five years as a digital projects consultant. She recently obtained an MSc degree in Management and Human Resources and studied academic career advancement in her dissertation.
Bálint Hardy
Bálint Hardy joined the Recognition & Rewards project team on 1 November 2022 as a project officer. In this role, he aids and oversees the implementation of Recognition & Rewards initiatives for the academic staff of several faculties across EUR. Before joining the General Management Directorate, Bálint worked as a research support officer at the Erasmus Research Institute of Management. He worked mainly on research integrity and was in charge of research ethics. He holds an MA from Leiden University and a BA from Maastricht University.
Bianca Langhout
Bianca Langhout is from May 2020 the project manager for the strategic projects 'Recognition & Rewards' and 'Evaluating Societal Impact'. She has a background in science: after completing the research master 'Developmental Psychology' she worked as a PhD candidate within the department of child and adolescent psychiatry (Curium-LUMC) and the department of developmental psychology (Leiden University). After her PhD, Bianca worked for a number of years for a large research project within a gravity consortium in which she conducted research at the intersection of developmental psychology and pedagogy.
"In my role as project manager for ‘Recognition & Rewards’ I participate in the national program group for ‘Recognition & Rewards’. In addition, I am active within the EUR on many fronts to ensure that the goals described in the position paper 'Space for everyone's talent' take shape and are implemented. It is a very fun, challenging role that gives me a lot of energy and in which I have contact with many internal and external stakeholders.
From my background I have experienced how the existing system for recognizing and valuing academic staff works and that not all individual talents are seen and used. I therefore have a strong intrinsic motivation to initiate and make a success of the culture change associated with ‘Recognition & Rewards’, with specific attention to the role of team science, the importance of (social) impact and the need for good leadership skills at all levels! In doing so, I am always open to the good conversation in which also the obstacles and challenges can be discussed. Only by acting together can we move this culture change forward."
Alise Scerbinina
Alise Scerbinina joined the Recognition & Rewards project on 1 November as a junior project officer. She has a background in communications and account management. After obtaining her Master’s degree in Media & Business from the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (ESHCC), she worked at an advertising technology start-up. Together with the team, Alise works with the EUR faculties on communications and implementation to of the Recognition & Rewards project for academic staff.
Bart Wesstein
Bart Wesstein will work as a project officer for the Recognition & Rewards and Evaluating Societal Impact projects throughout the 2022–2023 academic year. His main focus will be on conducting research into ways to recognise and reward the activities with which academic staff make an impact. Before joining EUR, Bart worked at TU Delft on a more inclusive recruitment and selection policy.