The Advancing Inclusive Academia programme is a network of academics at EUR that work together to foster career progression and collaboration. The programme will create a sense of community and support beyond faculties, and will support (internal or external) career progression and development.
Outcomes of the programme: increased inclusion and well-being, sense of community, multi-faculty network, multidisciplinary network, and career growth.
The programme contributes to the ‘One connected EUR’ goal of EUR 2030 strategy.
From (Beyond) 25/25 to Advancing Inclusive Academia
In the past years, EUR has implemented two programmes that focused on career growth of our academic community: the 25/25 programme (2020-2021) and the Beyond 25/25 programme (2023-2024). These programmes came to life due to barriers in academic promotion, as evidenced in unequal (gender and cultural background) distribution among academics, with greater diversity in lower levels than higher levels. In total, combining both rounds, 166 participants joined the programme. Next to supporting the individuals in getting clarity of where they are in their careers and subsequent career growth, both programmes also offered a space where participants could share their challenges and exchange experiences, learning not only from the workshops, but also from each other. The sense of community was a very valuable by-product of the programme.
Elements
Advancing Inclusive Academia builds on the elements of the (Beyond) 25-25 programmes. Elements of the new programme are:
- Workshops on topics chosen by the participants
- Mentoring (external)
- Co-mentoring (internal); participants mentor each other across faculties
- Portfolio writing
- Participants provide feedback to each other on the portfolio
Target groups
The target groups for this programme are postdocs, lecturers with a PhD, assistant professors and associate professors. The focus of this programme is to help bridge structural divides for colleagues of underrepresented groups in the higher levels of academia. The programme has an intersectional lens, and is designed for women, colleagues with migration/ethnic minority background, colleagues with a functional impairment/disability, LGBTQIA+ colleagues, and first generation academics who feel that they could use some extra support to prepare for a promotion.
Planning/save the dates
- Announce Advancing Inclusive Academia programme - early September
- Q&As about the programme (hybrid and online only) - September 15 at 16.30 (online), September 18 at 10.30 (hybrid: online and in person at Langeveld 2.14), September 30 at 14.00 (online)
- Last day for receiving applications - October 6, 2025
- Meet and greet and conversation about career progression, community and collective growth - October 30, 2025 – 15:30 – 17:30
- Cross-mentoring session - November 20, 2025, 15:00 – 17:30
- Portfolio Writing Session: a “preparation” session for participants to support them in finding a red thread in the portfolio - January 20, 2026, 11:00 – 13:00
- Deadline Portfolio for Peer-Review: every participant who submits a portfolio agrees to review portfolios of two other participants - March 31, 2026
- Portfolio Reviewing Session - April 13, 2026, 15:30
- Portfolio Peer Review Results - May 18, 2026
- Closing Session - June 2026
- 1-1 Conversations with the Team and Support - Along the year
Full professors who would like to be mentors can email us via aia@eur.nl.
Quotes by participants
‘The whole journey, including the reviewers’ comments, has been a healing process for me. It has also been an encouraging and enlightening experience. The reflections the process led us to have, have been extremely valuable.’
‘The programme helped me tremendously: I applied for a position, encouraged by the programme, I took the plunge. And look at that: I got the job. Thanks for helping me grow.’
Registration form and nomination form
You can nominate yourself or someone else for the Advancing Inclusive Academia programme with the forms below. The deadline for submitting the forms is Friday, October 6, 2025.
You can expect a response and/or information about next steps no later than October 15, 2025. For questions about the programme, please contact the project lead Dr. Ana Uribe Sandoval (aia@eur.nl).