The Young Academy has fifty members. The members are collectively responsible for what The Young Academy is and aims to be and feel a profound sense of commitment. They share a deeply felt enthusiasm for science and scholarship and the desire to share that enthusiasm with society. Together, they represent a broad spectrum of scientific and scholarly disciplines. Each year, ten members are added and ten depart.
What does membership involve?
Members of The Young Academy are actively committed to achieving its objectives and, consequently, to communicating the value of science and scholarship and to improving the science system.
Members are appointed for a five-year period, with ten members being added and ten departing each year. This ensures a steady stream of new plans and ideas. Knowing that their time is limited also creates an additional incentive for members to be actively engaged during their membership of The Young Academy and to work on bringing about improvements.
All members develop activities related to at least one of the themes. Members can join ongoing projects but also have the opportunity to apply for a project grant every other year if they wish to initiate a new project. They can do this on their own or in partnership with other members.
The full membership of The Young Academy convenes five times a year for a members’ meeting and a themed programme. There is also at least one members’ weekend every year. In addition to the in-person meetings, there are monthly online meetings where members discuss ongoing projects, giving them scope to explore topics in depth or present new ideas.
Alongside The Young Academy's own activities, members are also closely involved in the Royal Academy’s role as a forum and advisory body. For example, they attend symposiums and expert meetings and sit on councils and advisory committees, selection committees, funding assessment committees, and juries for Academy prizes and awards. Young Academy members can also take part in the Royal Academy institutes’ science committees.
Members
Selection
Who qualifies for membership?
To qualify for membership of The Young Academy, young researchers must have already made their mark in science or scholarship. Another essential requirement is that they take a broad interest in science and scholarship, the role that science plays in society, and science policy. Candidates must have received their PhD no more than ten years prior to their appointment to The Young Academy and be employed by a university and/or research institute located in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Finally, they must be keen to play an active role in The Young Academy and have interesting ideas about how they would do so.
Selection Committee
A Selection Committee made up of members of The Young Academy and the Royal Academy selects ten new members every year. Those entitled to nominate The Young Academy candidates are invited to do so around 1 April each year. They are:
- Rectores magnifici of Dutch universities
- Directors of Academy and NWO research institutes
- Chairpersons of the Academy domain boards
- Members of The Young Academy
- Chairperson of the Dutch Network of Women Professors (LNVH)
- Directors of other institutes (with the exception of university medical centres) that fall under the NWO grant rules
Regulations on the selection and appointment of members of The Young Academy