We introduce to you:
Andrew Elrod
As the new academic year finds its stride, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Andrew Elrod, a fellow member of the graduate school and a US expat who came to the Netherlands for my PhD project at VU Amsterdam. Since then, VU Amsterdam and the Netherlands have been very good to me: I've become a teacher-researcher at the HZ University of Applied Sciences, was recently awarded the 5-year NWO Doctoral Grant for Teachers, and am now entering my second year on the board of Promovendi Netwerk Nederland (PNN). I'm grateful to be a part of our research community and to have the opportunity to give back.
I'd also like to introduce you to the PNN, if you aren't yet familiar with what we do. We’re the national interest group for and by PhD candidates, dedicated to representing your interests and improving working conditions for all PhDs across the country. We actively address critical issues, such as the recent budget cuts and the Balanced Internationalization bill (WIB), and campaign for fair salaries, better contracts, and stronger social security.
If you have questions about your rights as a PhD candidate, current affairs that could impact you, or resources available to support you, I encourage you to visit our website. You can also follow us on Bluesky or LinkedIn to stay informed.
I found the PNN through a communication like this one from our graduate school. We don’t often have representation from VU Amsterdam, and it is even more rare to find representation from our faculty. Currently, we're looking for a new Vice Chair and a Treasurer. If you're interested in gaining board experience, advocating for the rights of your peers, or have a vision for a better research environment, I encourage you to apply and bring our unique, valuable, and rare perspective to the national stage.
I wish you all the best of luck this academic year!
Kees Jan van Linden
My research into translation choices in the Statenbijbel (1637) began in 2015. Thanks to the NWO Doctoral Grant for Teachers, I was exempted from teaching at a secondary school for two days a week and hoped to be able to present the results of my research within six years. By the spring of 2021, I had completed approximately 400 pages of rough text; I assumed I could submit the manuscript in the summer of 2021. Until I was so debilitated by the effects of COVID-19 that I could do little more than sit or lie at home. I needed help with even the most basic daily routines. I borrowed a wheelchair, bought a secondhand walker, and had to be driven by a neighbor for every trip to the physiotherapist or doctor. I couldn't read or write without becoming exhausted. My hope of ever finishing my dissertation had almost vanished. Peaks and valleys alternated daily and weekly. Even a small effort like climbing stairs or reading newspaper headlines sometimes led to a relapse.
Encouraged by the occupational health physician, I tried very slowly to resume my schoolwork in 2022: one lesson a week was more than enough at that point. In the following years, my energy level steadily increased: from three to six, and finally to eight lessons a week. Shortly after I became ill, a fellow student offered to edit the entire text of my dissertation, work that required a lot of concentration and therefore a lot of energy, which I couldn't put into it myself. His help encouraged me to pick up my work again. Yet, despite several attempts, I couldn't manage to do this alongside my work; I tried working on it during the holidays, but that didn't make much progress.
Two years ago, my team leader and I hatched a plan to use my accumulated leave hours and take a few weeks off from schoolwork throughout the year to work on my dissertation. That worked, and the progress in my recovery continued. I worked through my text chapter by chapter and discussed it with my supervisors via Teams. I'm currently finalizing the last chapter. I hope to defend my dissertation sometime in 2026. If that succeeds, an 11-year project will have come to a successful conclusion, thanks to the many who supported, encouraged, and helped me: my family, relatives, neighbors, church volunteers, friends, supervisors, and last but not least, God, who carried me through it all.
Kees Jan van Linden, October 2025