Institution Profile: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Updated: March 2026

• 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.
• In a vision statement in response to the Dutch national Programme, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam committed to encouraging diverse career paths, in which education, research, valorization, open science and leadership are equally valued.
• Assessment procedures are also expected to move towards a more qualitative emphasis, with quantitative performance indicators only used as an input rather than replacement for qualitative decision making.
• As part of this, candidates for tenure-track positions are asked to submit “annotated list of ‘top X’ achievements in a particular area (e.g. publications, media appearances, patents, educational innovation, leadership roles) and the team contexts (e.g. consortium, programme, management team) in which these were realized.” (VU Vision Statement, Page 4).
• Elsewhere, a new Teaching Performance Framework at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam aims to make teaching performance measurable and to reward achievements in teaching.
• Professor Jos Akkermans states: “Some faculties have already integrated this framework into their careers policy, making it possible to compensate a range of different elements when considering promotions.”
• “Academics can become associate professors, for example, based on exceptional teaching activities, even if their research activities may not have been of the same standard (and vice versa).” (Amsterdam Young Academy, Page 4).