In addition to facts, figures, and of course the financial statement (only available in Dutch), the 2021 Annual Report provides room for the personal impressions and stories of students and employees.
Annual report 2021: resilience in the second year of the covid-19 pandemic
The recently published 2021 Annual Report of Radboud University devotes a lot of attention to personal stories and newsworthy developments. Below is a selection from the report with achievements from the past year.
For example, the report gives the word to René Hagels, who has been at the heart of the University’s ‘restart team’ since the pandemic first broke out. This team coordinated the implementation of the COVID-19 guidelines on campus, and was responsible for informing students and employees. The team’s approach was to allow as much room as possible for activities on campus, within the guidelines.
“We made it clear that we believe personal contact is extremely important. For many students, especially the more vulnerable ones, being on campus is a vital necessity,” says Hagels. Despite the team’s efforts, the campus was a lot more deserted than you would normally like to see in 2021. “It took a lot of effort to achieve the little things, but they were all the more important.”
- Read the story of René Hagels
- Other people who are put in the spotlight in the 2021 Annual report include
- Annejet Plaisier and Rosan Stoekenbroek, OnePlanet OpenEducation
- Hans de Kroon, Living Lab Opijpolder
- Teun Fransen, Jasper Pesch, and Roel Smeets, Student Think Tank for the Digital Code of Conduct
- Myrthe van der Burgt, graduate in Business Administration
- Security Operations Centre (SOC) team
- Merel van Vroonhoven, Marijke Pe, Agnes Muskens, and Valérie Frissen: Four women at the highest governance level
Attention for reducing performance pressure among researchers
The Annual Report devoted a lot of attention to the work pressure experienced by researchers. A 2021 report on Recognition and Rewards made some recommendations for reducing this pressure. As a result of this report, a number of round table discussions were organised on campus throughout the year, to record experiences and suggestions for improvement.
“The proposed reduction of tasks cannot be achieved by ticking off an action list; it requires a change of culture”, as Rector Magnificus Han van Krieken is quoted saying in the Annual Report. “We must move towards the realisation that good is good enough, with an emphasis on the first ‘good’. In the past, we focused too much on the peaks in the landscape, whereas now we are paying more attention to the plateaus.”
- Read more about work pressure and well-being in the chapter ‘Focus on students and staff’
Student well-being
The hot topic throughout the covid-19 pandemic was the decreased student well-being as a result of lack of contact on and off campus with supervisors and fellow students. A number of studies reported worrisome figures, which led to the University taking action. These actions included Wellbeing Week, Radboud Walks, and the online Lockdown Liftup campaign. There was also ‘hackathon’ to bring new plans to the table, with funding from the Radboud Student Fund for the best idea. The winner was the Dare to Fail initiative which, with the magazine Prutswerk, advocates the acceptance of failure.
The University also hired a student well-being coordinator: Hannah Markusse. One of the first things Markusse did was commission a direction indicator for help desks that students could contact if they experienced any problems. “We are mapping out the entire process better,” Markusse explains in the Annual Report. “Although all kinds of initiatives were being developed, they remained fragmented. This new position was created to provide more coherence.”
- Read more about student well-being in the chapter ‘Focus on students and staff’
Astronomy as development cooperation
The Annual Report also devotes attention to the social impact of teaching and research, for example in the remarkable link between the research of our astrophysicists and development opportunities in Namibia.
As part of their research, Radboud astronomers are very busy with the Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT) coming to Namibia. In late 2021, it became clear that this would in fact happen, thanks in part to a guarantee from Radboud University.
Responsibility for managing the AMT lies with the University of Namibia. To prepare the next generation of Namibians to work with the AMT, the project has, among other things, its own education programme, which will be supported by the Radboud Radio Lab.
Marc Klein Wolt, director of the Radboud Radio Lab, speaks of a presentation of a mobile planetarium at a primary school. “It was great. A bunch of kids came up to me and asked: “Are you the astronomer? We want to be astronomers too!” That enthusiasm is exactly what we’re aiming for, and it must be possible to educate children in that direction. This is something we want to contribute to.”
- Read more about our impact in 2021 in the chapter ‘Our impact: Honoured on Radboud Impact Day'