Uncovering the Human Side of Research

DEI: the little things that spoil the culture, with professors Barbara Müller and Eliana Vassena

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 12:00:00 +0200

What are we actually talking about when trying to make Academia a more inclusive place? What is it like to be part of an academic culture for first generation students, expats or as a woman? Today, you’ll listen in on a conversation I had with professors Eliana Vassena and Barbara Müller from Radboud University about Diversity and Inclusivity in Academia. Barbara and Eliana are both passionate about making people from diverse backgrounds feel at home in academia. You will hear about the many culture change initiatives they have been involved in and listen to their personal experiences of being non-dutch women in academia. We also dive into the challenges of first generation students, cultural differences, micro aggressions and many other topics. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Send us your feedback and thoughts regarding this episode to podcast@downsideup.nl

We would also love to hear from you if you would like to speak on the podcast or if you have suggestions for future topics and guests.

Recognition and Rewards - How the Academic Career Framework will shift the culture

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 11:40:00 +0200

At Wageningen University and Research (WUR), the whole Tenure Track system has been renewed. In today’s episode, we dive into the role of Wageningen's new Academic Career Framework in bringing about long-overdue changes in the academic system. What does the Framework offer, and what does it leave out? Who’s behind its development, and what did the process look like? We’ll also address the common reactions, questions, and hopes surrounding the Framework. I’m joined by associate profs Nora Sutton and Maarten Voors who are part of the ACF committee and passionate about improving the academic culture. Together, we’ll answer questions sent in by Tenure Trackers from Wageningen University.

Note to WUR employees: By now, the training for the committees has been developed. Also, for ACF-related questions, secretaries of each knowledge unit serve as a point of contact .

More info on the ACF here: https://support.wur.nl/esc?id=emp_taxonomy_topic&topic_id=17e6ea5c47bee510d7dd9880236d4339

For further questions, contact the guests here:
maarten.voors@wur.nl and nora.sutton@wur.nl

We are curious if and how this conversation has sparked your interest.

Send us your feedback and thoughts regarding this episode to podcast@downsideup.nl

We would love to hear from you if you would like to speak on the podcast or if you have suggestions for future topics and guests.

If you need help improving the work culture in your team, check out our website for ways we can help. Until next time!

Lecturer Path within the new Academic Career Framework

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 11:25:00 +0100

Is the recognition of lecturers in academia long overdue? In this episode, we discuss the new Academic Framework at Wageningen University and Research as a culture change that values teaching expertise and opens flexible career paths for academics. How much does your career depend on your chairholder—and how much research can you do as a lecturer? We also introduce the Lecturer Development Programme, offering space for lecturers to tackle their challenges and define their added value.

The panel of experts discussing the ACF included:

• Prof. Geert Smant, Chair of the Lecturers Committee, Laboratory of Nematology

• Denise Madegans, Project Leader of WUR Recognition and Rewards

• Dr. Melina Czymoniewicz-Klippel, Lecturer & Education Coordinator, Consumption and Health Lifestyles

• Dr. Tjerk Sminia, Educational Coordinator Chair of Organic Chemistry at WUR

• Jip Lauwers, Speaker, Trainer, Coach, and Psychologist at Downsideup

Find more info about the ACF here.

Send us your feedback and thoughts regarding this episode to podcast@downsideup.nl

If you need help improving the work culture in your team, check out our website for ways we can help. Until next time!

Navigating leadership, BACs and more Tenure Track challenges - With Prof. Rumyana Karlova and Prof. Maria Barbosa

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:00:00 +0200

In this episode, I talked to two professors of Wageningen University, Rumyana Karlova and Maria Barbosa.

Starting out with questions around leadership, we took a deep and broad dive into academic live at Wageningen (and other places in the world), covering diverse questions like: what's the basis of trust, what are important skills for tenure trackers to develop, how to approach your assessment committee, how the system could be improved and many other topics.

Guest Contacts:

rumyana.karlova[at]wur.nl

maria.barbosa[at]wur.nl

Send us your feedback and thoughts regarding this episode to podcast@downsideup.nl

We would also love to hear from you if you would like to speak on the podcast or if you have suggestions for future topics and guests.

If you need help improving the work culture in your team, check out our website for ways we can help. Until next time!

Social Safety in Academia - With Prof. Giovanni Bertotti

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 12:00:00 +0100

Today we talk about psychological safety, diversity, and inclusivitiy with professor Giovanni Bertotti, Professor in Applied Geology at the TU Delft and also Diversity and Inclusion officer of his Faculty.

We hear about his role as Diversity and Inclusion officer in the complex environment that is a University. We talk about the difficulties of addressing micro aggressions, about the challenge to measure progress with regard to building a safer culture, about the resistance that you encounter when you want to put difficult topics on the table and his attempts to improve the culture from the bottom up by opening up conversations about behaviour on all levels.

Enjoy.

Send us your feedback and thoughts regarding this episode to podcast@downsideup.nl

If you need help improving the work culture in your team, check out our website for ways we can help.

https://scholars.downsideup.nl/

If you want to contact Giovanni, he is happy to exchange thoughts with you: G.Bertotti@tudelft.nl

Work satisfaction, Authenticity and Culture Change - With Professor Calvin Rans

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 09:47:00 +0200

In today's episode, Lauren's and I talked to Calvin Rans who describes himself as a teacher, storyteller and engineer being also an associate professor at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at the TU Delft.

We originally approached him with questions around workload, satisfaction and balance. As you will hear, Calvin connects these topics to personal skills, culture, and the academic system as a whole. Working on these three levels with authenticity and creativity, Calvin really is a changemaker. Listen to this episode if you want to know how he turns around the impostor syndrome, how reframing failure is central to his teaching and personal well being, why research funding might be more efficient as a lottery and more. Calvin also talks about an ongoing restructuring in which his department got rid of old hierarchical structures.

Enjoy.

Send us your feedback and thoughts regarding this episode to podcast@downsideup.nl

Find Calvin's website here:

https://www.calvinrans.com/

If you need help improving the work culture in your team, check out our website for ways we can help.

https://scholars.downsideup.nl/

Work Life Balance - With Professor Fulvio Scarano

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 10:32:00 +0200

Laurens and I talked to Fulvio Scarano, professor of aerodynamics, at the TU Delft. We dive into topics like: the influence of fragmentation of one's time and attention on work and health, the balance between choosing your own path and checking the necessary boxes, the role of supervisors in achieving work life balance, what to do when we experience that our work life balance is threatened, and more. Enjoy.

Send us your feedback and thoughts regarding this conversation to podcast@downsideup.nl

https://scholars.downsideup.nl/

If you need help improving the work culture in your team, check out our website for ways we can help. We are here to make sure our researchers can do their work well.

Research Visions - With Professor Johan Karremans

Wed, 14 Dec 2022 16:50:00 +0100

This episode is all about research visions. On Octobre 12th this year, I spoke to social psychology professor Johan Karremans, about his view on research visions. The questions I asked him were inspired by questions we received from Tenure Trackers of Wageningen University and Research. Amongst many other things, we talk about Johan's experiences with not having a vision, how a vision is a work in progress, his very democratic approach to leading and more.

How to become a Leading Scientist - with Wageningen University

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 12:00:00 +0200

This first episode is a live, uncut recording of a conversation that took place at Wageningen University and Research, on april 20th this year. The conversation was the kick off event of our Tenure Track Development Program at Wageningen. A one-year Program that supports assistant and associate professors in their personal development.

The guests you hear are the rector Magnificus prof.dr.ir. Arthur Mol, Chairholder of Biochemistry prof.dr. Dolf Weijers, Associate professors Ilona de Hooge and Sjouke Kingma and assistant professor Wouter Kohlen. The conversation was led by Downsideup director Simon Douw. You will hear the guests talk about their personal experiences when it comes to topics like: Juggling too many balls and how to chose what to spend your time on, what to do when you feel stuck, how the scientific landscape has changed over the last twenty years, and more.

Music by Zen_Man from Pixabay