Institution Profile: Leiden University

• In the Netherlands, various debates, agendas and campaigns around responsible research assessment culminated in the multi-stakeholder Recognition and Rewards Programme and its position paper ‘Room for Everyone’s Talent’ being published in 2019.
• Leiden University established a steering group in 2020 to address core concerns articulated in the position paper, including achieving a more responsible assessment system and a more sustainable career system.
• Based on internal consultations with staff, the working group published an action plan – Academia in Motion.
• Academia in Motion spelled out a number of goals to work towards, including diversification of assessment systems to better acknowledge contributions to teaching, team research, societal relevance, and academic leadership.
• Consistent with the Leiden Manifesto, a core principle addressed in Leiden University’s efforts are that “greater emphasis must be placed on the quality of the work (content, academic integrity, creativity and contribution to scholarship and society) and less on quantitative results and metrics.”
• Running for 18 months from April 2020, the steering board aimed to pursue these ambitions through formulating a vision on Recognition and Rewards for Leiden University; translate this vision into concrete and practicable goals with a clearly delineated plan; to engage the faculties and obtain the University Executive Board’s consent; then finally implementing the plan.