'How do we use our joint scientific leadership to make the Netherlands stronger?' That question was central to the board meeting of Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities on 17 March, led by Annelien Bredenoord, chair of the board.
The three Executive Boards met in a largely new composition, after the recent board changes. Afterwards, the presidents of Leiden University, TU Delft and Erasmus University Rotterdam signed the renewed Joint Regulations of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities alliance.
The signing is an intensification of the collaboration between Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities and builds on a solid foundation, according to Wim van den Doel, Dean of Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities.
A history of university collaboration
The foundation was laid on 1 March 1966 when the Committee of Consultation for Regional Cooperation met for the first time in Leiden, on the initiative of the Leiden president-curator Engbert Reerink. This committee had set itself the task of 'investigating whether cooperation is possible between the institutions, which admittedly have a different character'.
The collaboration in the 1960s led to the development of the joint Delft-Rotterdam Business Administration programme, which would form the basis of today's Rotterdam School of Management.
Coop
eration in the field of medical technology also got off the ground with the appointment of Gert van den Brink as professor of biological and medical physics in Rotterdam and at the same time biological physics in Delft.
This was a double appointment with the aim of 'bringing the possibilities of technology closer to the doctors', as it was then called. 'His figure is as necessary as it is unique in the Dutch academic world', the newspaper read. The concept of double appointments also exists in the current LDE context.
Later, the regional collaboration resulted in Delft Leiden, which under the leadership of Leiden biochemist Rob Schilperoort would play a decisive role in the development of the Leiden Bio Science Park. Today, with almost 20,000 employees on one square kilometre, this is one of the largest bioscience clusters in Europe.
The shared will to continue building this powerful alliance together gives confidence and energy',
With 435 ERC Grants and 813 Horizon Europe projects, the three universities are collectively in the lead compared to other university clusters in Europe (e.g. Copenhagen, Milan and Munich). 'The shared will to continue building this powerful alliance together gives confidence and energy,' says the President of Leiden University, Luc Sels.
The strength of the alliance is also reflected in joint education. Making education accessible to each other's students is an important principle of Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities. This has an impact because approximately 4800 students were taught in joint bachelor's and master's programmes, joint minors, thesis labs and honours programmes.
The challenges are great, but so is our joint ambition'.
The signing of the new Joint Regulations marks more than an administrative formality. It builds on a long tradition of cooperation between universities in South Holland for the benefit of science and society. 'The challenges are great, but so is our joint ambition,' says Bredenoord. 'This is the only way we can build an innovative, resilient society.'
