Independent journalism about VU Amsterdam | Since 1953
25 October 2024
Magazine
Nederlands

Key People

Campus & Culture 12 March 2024

‘Even without a brilliant idea, the Demonstrator Lab is a great place to start’ 

Meet Berno Bucker, the brand-new interim director at VU Demonstrator Lab. ‘A good entrepreneur can make a good researcher and vice versa.’ 
Campus & Culture 25 January 2024

Interpreter Elsbeth Dijkhuis: ‘Simultaneous translation is shooting from the hip’

Listening and speaking at the same time – impossible for most. As a Dutch-English (and vice versa) interpreter, Elsbeth Dijkhuis knows how to find the necessary hyperfocus. She interprets, among other things, at VU Amsterdam’s participation council meetings.
Campus & Culture 14 December 2023

Turning double standards into a double-edged sword through decolonization

VU’s priorities of diversity and inclusion have little foundation without decolonization, argues Danny Soekarnsingh. That’s why the former student advocated for his own role as a diversity officer in decolonization three years ago.
Campus & Culture 30 November 2023

This is the man who plays the carillon every Monday morning

Every VU student and staff member recognizes his sound, but his face is known to almost no one. Henk Verhoef plays the carillon on the main building every Monday morning and is also the university’s house organist.
Campus & Culture 13 September 2023

Surpassing small talk to make connections

As a NewConnective programme maker, Selma Boulmalf (25) reaches out to students on the subject of life issues. Being open and authentic are important conditions for having deeper conversations, she found.
Campus & Culture 8 March 2023

‘I am hopeful about the new generation of students’

When she was a student herself, Marleen Blootens (40) was searching for a purpose. As a students’ chaplain she now holds space for students who are seeking answers to the big questions in life.
Campus & Culture 2 February 2023

‘I never thanked my female teachers for their role in my life’

Student Tetyana Pryshchepova condemns the gender-normative stereotypes society has imposed on children. As co-founder of Women in Stem@VU (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math), she hopes to get more women into the exact sciences.
Campus & Culture 10 November 2022

‘My work is a mix of manga and western cartoons’

VU student and visual artist Lesly Badtke is capturing student life at VU Amsterdam in a new and relatable webcomic series.
Campus & Culture 27 October 2022

‘It’s not scary to go to these borrels’

As co-founder and departing chair of FAM Maricristy Foglia wants to offer a community for diverse students.
Campus & Culture 12 September 2022

‘You should tackle the things that you’re dreading most’

From protesting against the student loan system, to translating his activism into constructive discussion. Joep van Dijk is the new chair of the University Student Council.