YERUN General Assembly took place in Maastricht on 29-30 November

Last week, on the 29 and 30 November, the YERUN General Assembly took place in Maastricht, hosted by Maastricht University.

Before the official start of the General Assembly, on the 28 of December, the YERUN Coordinators and the Brussels Office had a first meeting, which was an opportunity to update each other on each institutions’ priorities and wishes for collaboration. This is particularly important for YERUN, given that four new members joined the network this year.

On 29 November, the main topic on the YERUN leaders’ agenda was related to the ongoing discussions and initiatives to reform research assessment in Europe: at national levels, the Dutch Initiative Room for Everyone’s Talent and the Norwegian NOR-CAM, and at European level, the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment, CoARA. The exchange was enriched by the presence of Anna Panagopoulou, Director of ERA & Innovation, DG Research & Innovation (European Commission), who presented the initiative on Research Assessment and of Dr. Karen Stroobants who moderated the discussion. During the meeting, YERUN members agreed on some key recommendations for the ongoing initiatives to take forward. The statement was approved and published on 30 November and it can be found here.

The last day was dedicated to internal strategic discussion among the YERUN leaders and official representatives and the Brussels Office. Among others, participants discussed the advancement of the YERUN strategy, YERUN memberships, and Board elections. We are extremely happy to welcome two new members in the YERUN Executive Board: Prof. João Amaro de Matos, Vice-Rector of NOVA University Lisbon, and Prof. Neville Wylie, Deputy Principal for Internationalisation at the University of Stirling. As for the other two Board positions, Prof. Hildegard Schneider (Maastricht University) and Prof. Florian Schweigert (University of Potsdam) were reappointed. Prof. Snježana Prijić-Samaržija, Rector of the University of Rijeka, will continue her mandate as President for another year.

The YERUN Brussels Office would like to thank Maastricht University and, in particular, Prof. Rianne Letschert, President of Maastricht University, and Jan Hupkens, Senior Policy Advisor for Internationalisation and YERUN Coordinator at Maastricht University, for hosting us and for organising an amazing General Assembly. We look forward to seeing colleagues again in March, for the next General Assembly that will be hosted by the University of Limerick.