‘Tjongejonge’ is a Dutch exclamation to express astonishment, either in a positive or in a negative way. It’s something academics could say to each other about their fascinating accomplishments, but also about practical barriers they face in doing their daily work at their departments. And even though their discipline and departments may differ, some problems that researchers face show striking similarities at different universities. It sometimes feels like these problems will never get fixed. Here and there, we hear about good examples that work well. Being idealists, as most academics are, we can easily spot the weaknesses and criticize the managerial approach. But there are also inspiring solutions in some institutions that we can learn from.

Four episodes

In the podcast SjongeJonge, Marie-José van Tol and Sanli Faez, members of The Young Academy discuss some outstanding solutions for common issues experienced at Dutch universities with various guests. In these interviews faculty members from four universities present how a serious and common problem has been solved in their department or institute in a creative way.

The podcasts are in English.

Produced by Jelle Posthumus, Pilatus Pas Producties

Episode 1: Marian Joëls on Impact Profiles

The University Medical Centre Groningen has four academic career tracks, or ‘impact profiles’, in academic leadership: the ‘classic’ research profile, a special track for clinicians, one for society and valorization and the fourth one is for education. This system was pushed by Marian Joëls and provides new ways for diversifying academic career tracks.

‘Careers can be diverse and the optimal result is when you really make use of people’s talents.’

Marian Joëls is Professor Neurobiology of Environmental Factors at the University Medical Centre Groningen. Until recently, she was Dean of Medical Sciences at the University of Groningen and member of the Board of Management of the UMCG.

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Guests of the podcast

• Episode 1: Marian Joëls, Professor Neurobiology of Environmental Factors, University Medical Centre Groningen
• Episode 2: Hilde Verbeek, Professor of Long-Term Care Environments, Maastricht University
• Episode 3: Carolien van Ham, Professor of Empirical Political Science, Radboud University Nijmegen
• Episode 4: Saskia Bonjour, associate professor in political science, University of Amsterdam