Education Research Current About VU Amsterdam NL
Login as
Prospective student Student Employee
Bachelor Master VU for Professionals
Exchange programme VU Amsterdam Summer School Honours programme VU-NT2 Semester in Amsterdam
PhD at VU Amsterdam Research highlights Prizes and distinctions
Research institutes Our scientists Research Impact Support Portal Creating impact
News Events calendar Values of AI and Big Data
Israël and Palestinian regions Women at the top Culture on campus
Practical matters Mission and core values Entrepreneurship on VU Campus
Organisation Partnerships Alumni University Library Working at VU Amsterdam
Sorry! De informatie die je zoekt, is enkel beschikbaar in het Engels.
This programme is saved in My Study Choice.
Something went wrong with processing the request.
Something went wrong with processing the request.

Recognition & Rewards: embracing diverse talent

'The idea that every scholar must excel in all core domains is no longer tenable – or necessary' - Jeroen Geurts, Rector Magnificus VU Amsterdam

A new perspective on academic careers
At VU Amsterdam, diverse talent is valued, with a focus that extends beyond metrics and publications. Academic careers are shaped by individual strengths and contributions to education, research, and societal impact. The Recognition & Rewards programme provides academic staff (from Assistant Professor level onwards) with the flexibility to pursue a career path that aligns with their personal ambitions and expertise, while also supporting the strategic goals of their team and faculty. In this way, individual development contributes to the collective success of teams, departments, and the university as a whole.

Recognition & Rewards: part of a broader movement
VU Amsterdam is part of a nationwide movement in which universities, academic hospitals, and research institutes are working together to modernise academic careers. This effort follows a national roadmap and is further developed in collaboration with European partners. Read more.

Recognition and Rewards at VU Amsterdam

The three profile buttons at the top of this page feature stories tailored to different career focus areas. Discover how colleagues emphasise teaching, research, and societal impact, and how the Recognition & Rewards programme supports them in this process.

Creating space for focus
From 2025, academic staff will have greater opportunities to tailor their career focus. In consultation with their supervisor, they can emphasise areas that best reflect their talents and align with team objectives. This focus may centre on excellent teaching, pioneering research, or translating knowledge into societal impact—without sidelining any of these essential aspects. Teaching and research remain the foundation of every academic career. To support this process, various tools are available, including reflection instruments and career development guidelines. This approach is part of a broader national movement among universities, academic hospitals, and research institutes working together to develop innovative career models.

Achieving more together
At VU Amsterdam, we believe in the power of teams and collaboration. That is why we value not only individual achievements but also the way people contribute to their team and to the university as a whole. Moving away from individual performance metrics, we focus on the strength of the collective. This approach allows individuals to develop their expertise while strengthening their team.

We do this by:

  • Equally recognising contributions to teaching, research, valorisation, and patient care
  • Promoting open science and teamwork
  • Developing leadership and leadership skills

Recognition & Rewards in 2025

Assistant professors, associate professors, and full professors will, from 2025 onwards, set agreements in their annual review about focusing on one of the three core domains. But what does this mean in practice? How do academics and leaders experience this approach? In this video, VU colleagues share their insights and experiences, showing how a focused approach contributes to their professional growth and strengthens diverse teams.

This is how we are already implementing Recognition and Rewards

  • Career paths at VU Amsterdam

    At VU Amsterdam, scientists from Assistant Professor level onwards make career agreements on a focus on one of the core domains.

    View the general framework academic career paths: finalised career paths (pdf)

    See the Academic Career Paths webpage for information and tools on how to conduct the interviews.

    We have started with designing a career path for lecturers as well. Information will follow in January 2025

  • Open science

    At VU Amsterdam we expect our employees to work according to the principles of open science, by making their scientific outputs (e.g., publications, data, software, educational materials) and the processes that led to them findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR), and fostering collaborations within academia as well as with societal partners. There is more attention for involving societal stakeholders in the research process (citizen science, transdisciplinary research, public-private partnerships) and for engaging in a dialogue with society via science communication. We move away from focusing solely on the quantity of research outputs, and give more emphasis to the quality of the scientific and social contribution of our work.

  • Art of Engagement

    VU Amsterdam implements the priority area of Leadership in Recognition and Rewards through The Art of Engagement: how can you integrate personal leadership in your work as part of the organisation as a whole? We make the organisation a better and more focused place if we all contribute actively – through commitment to the greater whole – to the way we interact with one another. The place where cooperation matters most is the team. We are all members of a team, even though it might seem we are not. By applying the principles of The Art of Engagement more actively in teams and by improving the collective teamwork, we make the organisational culture better and we value each other’s contribution more explicitly.

  • Incubator for junior lecturers

    In the incubator for junior lecturers junior lecturers and D4 exchange experiences, get inspiration and develop as teaching experts. Come along on a Thursday or to one of the many events organised by the Incubator. You can find the Incubator in the NU building, in 6A69. 

  • Active in national programme and European coalition

    Recognition and Rewards is high on the agenda not only at VU Amsterdam, but also at all the Dutch knowledge institutions and research funding agencies. Read the national e-magazine (nov 2023) with best practices, interviews and blogs in which academics from inside and outside VU give their personal views on this topic. 

    You can read more about recognition and rewards in the Position Paper ‘Room for everyone’s talent’, the website of Universities of the Netherlands and the web page of the National programme Recognition and Reward.

    At a European level VU Amsterdam is affiliated with the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment, which examines subjects related to Recognition and Rewards.

  • How VU Amsterdam academics apply Recognition and Rewards

    Recognition and Rewards is already in the DNA of many VU Amsterdam academics. For instance, Yvette Taminiau won the Van der Duijn Schouten Teaching Award for the way in which her teaching focuses on exchanges with external partners and alumni networks. And there’s Jelle Tichelaar, who set up a programme oriented to leadership and team building in an educational environment. And Joris Amin, who as a PhD candidate researched the integration of refugees and how their job prospects can be improved. 

VU academics on recognition and rewards

Maybe you were looking for this as well?

Do you have any questions, ideas or comments?

Quick links

Homepage Culture on campus VU Sports Centre Dashboard

Study

Academic calendar Study guide Timetable Canvas

Featured

VUfonds VU Magazine Ad Valvas Digital accessibility

About VU

Contact us Working at VU Amsterdam Faculties Divisions
Privacy Disclaimer Veiligheid Webcolofon Cookies Webarchief

Copyright © 2025 - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam