Features

You’ll be rejected anyway, but it matters how
LONGREAD - Anonymous reviewers can sometimes be really brutal when assessing an article. When that happens, pettiness and academic rivalry seem to be more important than the quality of thought. It’s time for another system says the philosopher; time for a better process says the lawyer.
read more
‘Build your own mail server, it’s really not rocket science’
Honorary doctor Marleen Stikker thinks we are putting our fates too easily into the hands of parties which don’t necessarily have our best interests in mind. ‘AI should not be developed with the purpose of contributing to The Netherlands Inc.’
read more
New rector Jeroen Geurts: ‘I hope to be an example’
LONGREAD - Neuroscientist Jeroen Geurts will take up the position in January as successor to Vinod Subramaniam. ‘It’s a job that lets me do everything I want to do.’
read more
Students can share their worries at Wellbeing Point & Panel
LONGREAD - It’s been a long time coming, but today VU Amsterdam is launching its Student Wellbeing Point & Panel, or rather a pilot phase for it. The twin initiatives are intended to increase the accessibility of help and information for students.
read more
Homelessness throws students’ lives into disarray
LONGREAD - As the housing crisis in Amsterdam continues to unfold, the academic lives of potentially hundreds of students are in jeopardy as they spend their days worrying about where they will sleep. At least one international student has already quit and went back home because he couldn’t find a room.
read more
Quarantine at Uilenstede: ‘It felt like each day would never end’
LONGREAD - Studying abroad can be an isolating experience, especially when you’re literally isolated to comply with the quarantine rules of the Netherlands. Three VU students share their quarantine struggles.
read more
‘Frankly, we did not foresee such a setback’
LONGREAD - VU Amsterdam finds itself in deep water after a failed effort to replace several IT systems. An outright drama, some staff are calling it. But not Marcel Nollen. The Executive Board member is confident things will work out.
read more
‘I always become a little bit Chinese when someone attacks China’
LONGREAD - The West suffers from Chinaphobia and VU Amsterdam lecturer Peter Peverelli believes that is unwarranted. He is co-author of a book intended to counterbalance all this negative publicity.
read more
‘I sat on the floor and cried’
LONGREAD - The work of PhD student Rosanne Anholt consisted of a patchwork of projects. She barely had time for her own research. Eventually the pressure took its toll.
read more
What they don’t tell you about the Netherlands
So you came to the Netherlands, but life here is a little different from what you’ve seen in the ad campaigns and movies.
read more