Erasmus Alumni Magazine

October 2012

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The University and the city Like father like sons RSM and future energy

erasmus alumni magazine

Historian on the radio

A day in the life of alumnus Paul van Gessel

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On the way to 2013

The bastion of the white coats Text Cora Boele

Construction was rapid. Once work began – after much water had passed under the Maas’s bridges and the bureaucratic hurdles in The Hague had been overcome – the seventh medical faculty in the Netherlands shot up in record time. On 13 October 1966, eight months after the foundation stone had been laid, the highest point was reached. Crowds watched open-mouthed: a building that soared no fewer than 104 metres into the sky. This was unparalleled, higher even than the Euromast.

Impact The decision made in 1965 by Minister I.A. Diepenhorst – not to be confused with his brother A.I. Diepenhorst, Professor of Business Administration at the NEH – to set up a degree programme in Medicine in Rotterdam had a huge impact. There were many reasons for this, the most important being that Rotterdam and the region have consequently had a large teaching hospital for a number of decades, and we owe the existence of Erasmus University to this decision. The creation of the Rotterdam Medical Faculty led to the merger with the Netherlands School of Economics (NEH) to form the University of Rotterdam, better known as Erasmus University Rotterdam.

The photo was found in the photo archive of the Quod Novum University newspaper, the predecessor of the Erasmus Magazine. The photographer is unknown.

EUR 100 years IMPACT

Author Cora Boele

It’s not long until Erasmus University celebrates its centenary in 2013. All existing academic events will be

graduated from the EUR

given an extra festive note in academic year 2013-2014. There will also be many extra activities. This is all

in 1988 with a degree in

under the motto ‘EUR 100 years IMPACT’. www.eur.nl/100

Social History.

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Foreword October 2012

Dear Alumnus,

Pauline van der Meer Mohr, Chairman of the Executive Board of Erasmus University Rotterdam

In times of scarcity it is important to choose. Erasmus University Rotterdam has chosen to be a leading, internationally-oriented city university. There’s a lot in that one sentence. Of course we want our university to be one of the top universities in the world in terms of research and teaching – and this is what it should be. However, we do this without wanting the world. We focus on what we are good at and where we, as a market-oriented university, can have the most impact. This may seem logical, but I can assure you we think long and hard about these choices.

At the same time Erasmus University Rotterdam serves and will continue to serve the direct environment. In recent years we have consciously chosen to strengthen the University’s links with the city and region. Erasmus University Rotterdam is the preferred supplier to the Municipality of Rotterdam of knowledge and skills in a number of areas. You can read more about this in this edition of Erasmus Alumni Magazine. Researchers from Erasmus University Rotterdam, community partners and companies are getting together more often to find solutions to problems and encourage new developments relating to health care, social issues and issues concerning the Port of Rotterdam. Being a leader is not a solo activity; you become a leader precisely because you join forces. Consequently, the impact of Erasmus University Rotterdam is and will remain as we intend: as great as possible. Renovation work continues on the Woudestein Campus.

The C-Hall was finished in September and here too we are making an impact on our environment, because the building has become much more energy-efficient.

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It is therefore not without reason that impact is the key word of the centenary celebrations in academic year 2013–2014. Impact: this is what Erasmus University Rotterdam has chosen. You will hear a lot about this during, but also after, our centenary celebrations.

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Pauline van der Meer Mohr blog.eur.nl/voorzittercvb

Colofon The Erasmus Alumni Magazine/ EA is published by the Marketing & Communication department of Erasmus University Rotterdam. EA is sent free of charge to alumni of the EUR who are registered in the Erasmus Alumni Database.

Register via alumni@smc.eur. nl. If you have moved house, let the alumni office know alumni@ smc.eur.nl.

The circulation of EA is 33,000.

Dutch and English versions can be found on www.eur.nl/alumni.

alumni@smc.eur.nl www.eur.nl/english/alumni

Edition Volume 3, EA 5 October 2012

Managing Editor Carien van der Wal, Alumni & Corporate Relations Officer

The next edition of EA will be published in May 2013 Editorial Address EUR, SM&C dept PO Box 1738 3000 DR Rotterdam

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Editors Wieneke Gunneweg, Editor-in-Chief Mieke Fiers, Desk Editor Contributors Lobke van Aar, Cora Boele,

Marcella Breedeveld, Dominique Campman, Ronald van den Heerik, Eveline van de Lagemaat, René van Leeuwen, José Luijpen, Geert Maarse, Pauline van der Meer Mohr, Sanne van der Most, Hans van den Tillaart, Carien van der Wal, Ed Weenk, Sjoerd Wielenga, Levien Willemse, EUR faculties, including Erasmus MC, IHS and ISS Advertisements Carien van der Wal, Jonel Timbergen

Printing Van Deventer, ‘s-Gravenzande

Cover Ronald van den Heerik

Design Unit 20: Yoe San Liem and Maud van Velthoven

© Erasmus University Rotterdam No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publishers.

Colophon

Editorial Advisory Board (RAC) The RAC is made up of representatives of the EUR’s faculties and alumni associations, and has an advisory role with regard to the production of EA.

Contents 06 Back to college 08 Erasmus news 11 From Rotterdam to Barcelona 12 A day in the life of Paul van Gessel 18 Alumni & the EUR 19 Column: Marcella Breedeveld 20 Focus on research 22 Science news 24 In the news in 1982–1983 26 The University and the city 31 Why Rotterdam?

32 Alumni affairs 37 Column: Dominique Campman

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39 Family portrait

31

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Back to college

Gerard van Welzenis: ‘Compared with forty years ago today’s students have to race through their degrees at breakneck speed.’

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‘It keeps you busy, that’s the main thing’ Gerard van Welzenis (65) graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam forty years ago. He has returned since he retired. ‘It’s out of pure interest.’

text René van Leeuwen photo Levien Willemse

How did you end up back at the University? ‘On the advice of friends I’ve been attending lectures and courses organized by the HOVO, the university of the third age, since last year.’

Why are you attending their courses? ‘Once you retire, you look for new challenges. I may have stopped working, but then again not completely. Let’s say ninety percent. You don’t want to sit around on your behind, as there are plenty of things to do. I’ve also started doing voluntary work and have become chair of the owners’ association of a large bungalow park. It keeps you busy, that’s the main thing.’

‘In the small HOVO groups you go into considerable depth’ Is the HOVO comparable with ‘real’ studying? ‘You do have to get your nose into the books every now and then for HOVO courses and lectures, but it can’t be compared with the hard study of forty years ago, even if it is only because there are no exams. Now it’s out of pure interest.’

Fancy studying again?

Different EUR faculties and institutes offer postgraduate teaching. See, for example: www.erasmusmc.nl/onderwijs.

More on the HOVO at: www.eur.nl/hovo_rotterdam

The University must have been very different then. ‘It was the heyday of hippies and flower power. It was not done to work for a company after you had graduated. It was all a lot rougher around the edges on campus and even aspiring economists proved to be confirmed idealists out to change the world. It wasn’t possible to complete your degree in four years, even though we did study hard. Compared with forty years ago, today’s students have to race through their degrees at breakneck speed.’

speakers such as Professor Dick Swaab, famous for his popular book We Are Our Brains.’

Are all the courses you’d like to follow possible? ‘The HOVO organizes lots of courses, but they are mainly in the arts. I do find that a bit of a shame. I’d like to attend more lectures on, for example, the history of the natural sciences or economics, my own profession. Look at current affairs: the papers are full of articles on the financial crisis, the economy, cuts and so on. It should be possible to develop an interesting lecture series on this.’

Why don’t you try yourself? ‘Ha ha. Yes, I have discussed this in the past with the HOVO coordinator. I could probably even do it, although for specific topics I would have to invite experts. When I asked the coordinator why there were so few courses in the natural sciences, the answer was simple: there isn’t enough demand.’

But, apart from that, is there enough choice? ‘Yes. This doesn’t detract from the pleasure that the other courses give me. A few years ago I followed a course on polyphonic Flemish music. Music from the Renaissance; its leading lights are composers such as Guillaume Dufay and Johannes Ockeghem. I used to play the violin, but by far the majority of the participants on this course were real musicians. The course was often fairly technical, so I regularly found myself heading to the library in order to keep up. That is what makes it such fun; in the small HOVO groups you can go into considerable depth. And we certainly shouldn’t forget the social side of things. The HOVO provides good quality higher education that is fun to follow and in the company of people who want to learn.’

Author René van Leeuwen studied Sociology at the EUR. He

What do you have planned for the coming year? ‘I’ve already registered for the courses and lectures I am going to follow in the coming semesters. These include the lecture series “The highlights of psychology”, with speakers such as Professor Marise Born, and “How free is free will?”, with

graduated this year.

Photographer Levien Willemse studied Social History at the EUR between 1981 and 1989.

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Erasmus news

The student days of... Fatima Moreira de Melo

‘She would make a good lawyer’ They are now in the spotlight, but what were they like in the lecture theatre? EA takes a look at the student days of famous EUR alumni.

Her law degree was second choice – she failed three times to gain a place via the ballot to study medicine. She played hockey at the highest level and she also presented TV programmes on the Talpa channel.

But Fatima Moreira de Melo still gave 100 percent to her studies. ‘A very active and interested student. Very spontaneous and not at all arrogant,’ is how lecturer Jolande uit Beijerse describes her. ‘Her schedule as a top athlete meant she couldn’t attend all

‘Fatima is very focused. You never heard her say that she didn’t feel like training or that she wanted to go out,’ says Noot.

Moreira de Melo lived in a student house with seven other students. But she didn’t go out drinking because of her sport. In her dissertation she studied the right to sport in juvenile detention centres. The legally-allotted time for sport was already very limited in such centres, but Moreira de Melo’s research showed that, in practice,

‘Four hundred pages after hockey training...she was good at pulling it out of the bag.’ Friend Esther Noot about Fatima Moreira de Melo. the lectures, but when she was there, she asked a lot of questions and entered into the discussion.’

Esther Noot was a fellow student and is still a friend. She remembers that Moreira de Melo worked out exactly how much time she needed to study. ‘Four hundred pages after hockey training...she was good at pulling it out of the bag.’ A question of self-knowledge, says Moreira de Melo.

She calculated ten pages an hour plus some extra time. ‘That pressure at the last minute, a target like that, works best for me.’

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adolescents did even less sport. It was a good dissertation on a subject on which there was much discussion later. ‘I have regularly used it as an example,’ says dissertation supervisor Uit Beijerse.

‘Since she graduated, Fatima hasn’t done much with her degree. It’s a shame, but maybe she will in the future,’ says Uit Beijerse. ‘She has good communication skills, knows what she wants and is creative too. She would make a good lawyer.’

Moreira de Melo, who now travels the world as a poker player, has the following to say, ‘Not now, but never say never.’

International cookbook The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) is sixty years old and is celebrating this anniversary by publishing its third cookery book. The cookbook contains a collection of recipes from all over the world contributed by students, staff and alumni. The first cookbook was published ten years ago.

Anniversary of medal collection In 2013 it will have been half a century since alumnus Dr W.L. Groeneveld Meijer placed the NEPK – a foundation for economy-related medals in the Netherlands – under the wing of what was then the Netherlands School of Economics. The collection of some 250 medals has since grown to include more than 1800 medals.

To celebrate the anniversary, the Erasmus Gallery is putting on an interactive exhibition with all the highlights from the collection.

Erasmus news

EA calls...

Henk van der Molen On 26 September the second-year students of the Faculty of Social Sciences received their certificates for passing their first year. Everyone was pleased with the success of the ‘Nominaal = Normaal’ (Official = Normal) programme, which was introduced this year across the whole university (with the exception of the Faculties of Medicine and Philosophy). EU phones Henk van der Molen, Dean of the Faculty.

What is Nominaal = Normaal?

‘Nominaal = Normaal involves two measures. First-year students must earn all sixty ECTS credit points in one year.

They must have an average of six, but are allowed to use marks from other course units to compensate for a fail. In addition, the number of resits is limited.’

Did it make the students study faster?

‘Beyond expectations. Prior to this, students had to earn sixty ECTS in two years. We would have been pleased if the same percentage of students now earned these ECTS in one year. But on average it is eight percent more.’

Is that the reason for the celebratory mood?

‘When I discussed the introduction with the Rector Magnificus, he referred to the cohort system, where you stay in the same cohort throughout your studies.

On Wednesday it was clear that this group as a whole is progressing to the next year. We will hopefully see the whole group at the Bachelor’s degree ceremony in two years’ time.’

Rotterdam Philosophers’ Bench Rotterdam has a Philosophers’ Bench, designed by artist Saskia Wigbold. The bench is in the Scheepmakershaven, on the spot where great thinkers such as John Locke, Pierre Bayle and Bernard Mandeville met in the seventeenth century.

HITTING THE SPOT - Cystic Fibrosis patient Frank Roodenrijs knows what fighting is. He has a serious form of the disorder and has been waiting for a lung transplant for three years. As a physical and mental boost, he was given a boxing lesson at the end of August in a training room at the Erasmus MC-Sophia Hospital by former world champion Don Diego Poeder. ‘It was really cool to be taught by Don Diego,’ Roodenrijs said after the lesson. ‘The training was hard, but it is important. I must make sure I stay in good condition for if I’m offered a lung transplant.’ (photo: Erasmus MC)

EUR wants greater financial independence Erasmus University Rotterdam is looking for alternative sources of income in order to reduce its dependence on state funding. This is what Chair of the Executive Board Pauline van der Meer Mohr said at the opening of the academic year at the start of September. In her speech she referred to the capricious nature of higher-education policy. She also sees a tendency on the part of the government to want to exert more control on academic output. Van der Meer Mohr believes that the crux of the matter is to ensure that political measures have less influence on the financial state of the University. The University is therefore aiming for more European research funding and more international students. Van der Meer Mohr also sees possibilities in the form of funding by external parties as well as the better marketing of knowledge.

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Erasmus news

‘It’s not just what you do that’s important, but also what you say, feel and think. It all comes back to you sooner or later.’

Johan Witteveen, alumnus and former Rector Magnificus of Erasmus University, former finance minister, deputy prime minister and IMF chair, attaches great importance to harmony.

The presentation of his autobiography took place at the EUR on 4 September 2012.

Brief news

Digital textbooks Eight hundred first-year law students at Erasmus University have been able to use digital versions of their textbooks this year. Kluwer Publishers has made all the reading material available in digital format. The books can be downloaded via the learning environment for use on a PC, laptop or tablet. This includes all of the reading material for the degree programmes in General Law, Criminology and Fiscal Law.

Take part in the marathon

Students unveil the 60-metre-long glass sculpture by the artist GÉÈF ® during the official opening of the restored C-Building (photo: Ronald van den Heerik)

C-Building: better and sustainable The restored C-Building on Woudestein Campus was officially opened on 19 September.

The building is now much more sustainable and better equipped for students.

Dating from 1968, the C-Building is one of the oldest buildings at Erasmus University.

It has been restored from head to toe. The large, characteristic hall, the lecture halls and the workspaces have all undergone an extensive makeover. The 23 lecture halls, with a total of more than 2300 seats, have been fitted with the latest technology. The energy performance of the building has been dramatically improved thanks to the renovations – from an F to a B label. The

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technical equipment has been replaced with energy-efficient versions, CO2-controlled ventilation has been installed and the insulation of the building improved. Heatrecovery units have been placed on the northern roof. The rest of the roof will be green thanks to sedum mats and there are solar panels that provide enough energy to light all the lecture halls. www.eur.nl/campusinontwikkeling

Students, staff and alumni of the ESE are invited to run 10 kilometres during the Rotterdam Marathon on 14 April 2013. Sponsorship money will be raised via the Erasmus Education Fund for ‘Playing for Success’, a project in which underperforming schoolchildren gain positive learning experiences in football stadiums. Interested in running or sponsoring? Register at the Centennial Office: marathon@ese.eur.nl

Female academics catching up Female academics are catching up with their male colleagues. In the established generation, male academics publish on average more than their female colleagues do and are cited more often. This is no longer the case with the younger group of academics. These are the findings of research by the Rathenau Institute, the VU University Amsterdam and the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS).

From Rotterdam to Barcelona

Courses in planning for the Spanish Ed Weenk (Business Administration alumnus) came to Barcelona ten years ago. A week in the life of Weenk, whose work includes teaching at the EADA Business School.

Monday It’s boiling hot outside and the air conditioning is roaring everywhere. Despite the crisis, no cuts seem to have been made here: it has to be 21 degrees inside. It won’t be long before the biannual cold announces itself. It’ll be an exciting week. It’s the first time I’ll be teaching the optional course unit in Project Management simulation at the EADA for Spanishspeaking MBAs in a single week. It hasn’t been offered in this form before. How will the Spanish and South Americans react to concepts that you wouldn’t normally associate with them, such as planning, thinking ahead and risk analysis?

Wednesday In the Netherlands it is the final today of an important supply chain simulation game. At the last minute we were able to arrange with Kluwer Management Publishers that the five best teams will be presented with a copy of my book De Perfecte Pass during the official prize-giving ceremony. The theme of the book follows on nicely from the simulation: big picture, coherence, alignment. Shame I can’t attend the prizegiving ceremony myself. Sometimes Spain is just too far away.

Thursday Worked on a project that recently started: an American multinational has given its European Board, which is based near Barcelona, the assignment to centralize its national logistical operations in Europe. For tax/financial/legal reasons this has to be in the Netherlands. The client is a real Spaniard: slightly impatient, doesn’t have time or want to plan and wants a new deliverable each week. He mainly wants to do and, if possible, preferably without having to think for too long. How different from my own (Northern European) method of working. This clash is still frustrating sometimes, but I now have a lot of experience of it.

cooled down a bit. It’ll be a lovely, sultry evening. If we’re lucky, it’s like this from April/May to sometime in November.

Saturday My wife Marieke (Art and Cultural Studies, 1990) has an intensive sailing course this weekend, so that she can gain her sailing permit. She’s really good at sailing, but her years of experience don’t count when it comes to getting the compulsory permit in Spain. While Marieke is away, I go out for the day with our sons Pau (6) and Marc (4). First to the Foster radio tower. It’s a clear day, so we have a beautiful panoramic view of Barcelona and its surroundings. The dots on the sea, which could be Mum’s boat, make the biggest impression. And of course the view of the Camp Nou football stadium, where Pau and Marc, as Barça-socios, are regular visitors to the ‘museum experience’.

Tuesday As I looked at the hard-working students in the lesson this morning, I suddenly thought of the phenomenon of ‘victimismo’. This is a certain type of victimhood to which they are unfortunately very prone in Spain. With any random setback they are quick to identify who is at fault: the boss, the neighbour, politicians, the referee… usually everyone except the ‘complainant’ himself. This is not a problem in itself (the Dutch always know precisely who is at fault too, don’t they?) if it were not for the fact that it often seems to paralyse the Spanish and prevent them seeking a solution. The students on my course are not troubled by this. They take the initiative.

Particularly in these times of crisis, I find it very inspiring to see people who want to get ahead in life and consequently enrol at a Business School. It’s a privilege to be able to help here.

My throat’s starting to feel a bit sore. Darned air conditioning.

Friday End of the optional course unit in Project Management. The first feedback is very positive. Lots of participants seem to think this should be a compulsory course unit on the MBA. Good news. We’ll drink to that later in the garden, when it’s

Ed Weenk (Business Administration, 1995) is an independent consultant (www.QuSL.nl) and a lecturer at EADA Business School. His management book De Perfecte Pass was recently published by Kluwer.

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A day in the life of Paul van Gessel

Alumnus Paul van Gessel

Historian with get-upand-go 12 erasmusalumni. magazine

Does the Managing Editor of BNR Nieuwsradio benefit much from his History degree? EA spent a day with journalist and businessman Paul van Gessel. ‘We focus on the architects of society.’ text Geert Maarse photo Ronald van den Heerik

Paul van Gessel 1965 Born in Amsterdam 1984 Teacher training in Nijmegen 1988 Evening degree

programme in History at

the EUR 1989 Reporter at Omroep

Gelderland broadcasting organization 1993 Master’s degree in History 1995 Move to Veronica Nieuwsradio 1996 Reporter at NOS

broadcasting organization 2004 Deputy Managing

Editor at L1 (Limburg broadcasting organization)

2007 Managing Editor at BNR 2011 Marconi Award for best station

They greet each other like old school friends, Paul van Gessel and Humberto Tan. There is a bit of rough-and-tumble, a feint. The Editor-in-Chief (suited and booted) makes a wisecrack. The presenter (casual jacket, baseball cap) roars with laughter. They are at the desk of the Desk Editor, which overlooks the studio where Tan has just presented his daily morning show. They talk about Robin van Persie, the commuter tax, lying politicians and a plague of spiders in a new housing development. The item with Uri Rosenthal should have been live, they say. The figures of Douwe Egberts were dealt with well. But shouldn’t Tan have kept his opinion about that football transfer to himself?

It is just after half past nine. Van Gessel is clearly in his element. The discussion is sharp, jumps from one topic to the next and is being held in the middle of the newsroom, the beehive where about twenty editors are busy preparing what will be on the station later today. There are never enough hours in the day here, but every day, without fail, they review the morning show, with two-hundred thousand listeners the most important programme on BNR Nieuwsradio. ‘You should always aim for perfection,’ says Paul van Gessel. ‘We don’t provide shoddy goods.’

Not cynical Paul van Gessel also sits behind the microphone.

The BNR offices are a stone’s throw away from Amsterdam Amstel station, next to the Dauphine café and under the Financieele Dagblad (FD), the newspaper that is part of

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A day in the life of Paul van Gessel

the same holding. BNR is thirteen years old and run by a group of some fifty young people, not including the freelancers.

With a market share of 0.8 percent, BNR is a dwarf alongside giants such as Radio 538 (11 percent), Sky Radio (9 percent) and – its most immediate competitor – Radio 1 (7 percent).

But BNR has its own signature. It makes radio programmes for a professional, creative niche: not for Henk and Ingrid (Mr and Mrs Average),

dared to let go of. We prefer to look for new stories. I want to be triggered. The Paralympics?

We didn’t do anything on them. The Eurovision Song Contest? A fun party, but awful music.

Making choices gives you a profile.’

Long term Paul van Gessel was born in Amsterdam. He grew up in Nieuwkuijk, a village near Den Bosch.

His father installed central heating systems (‘a good trade in the 1960s’) and his mother was

‘Journalism is not about constantly emphasizing the awful state of the world’ but for Erik and Daphne, as Van Gessel calls his target customers. Erik and Daphne are ambitious people with good careers (twice the average income), a company car and a cosmopolitan mindset. They are liberal, definitely not cynical and dissatisfied, and they are open to new ideas, regardless of whether these come from wacky artists or the boardroom.

Triggered ‘We focus on the architects of society, the people who believe that something can still be achieved,’ says Van Gessel. ‘Our tone is significantly different from that of Radio 1. They mainly focus on the victims, but I don’t find that interesting.

We want to make progress.’

Take the situation in Syria, for example, he says.

And no, we mustn’t misunderstand him – of course it is really bad – but are we losing sleep about it? ‘One branch of journalism thinks you must spend your time emphasizing how awful the situation is in the world. And it always ends with those familiar words, “and the Netherlands is still not intervening.”

News must surprise, he says. An aeroplane crash, an odd comment by a politician, a figure about the housing market – that’s news. But the never-ending civil war in Congo? The umpteenth suicide attack in Afghanistan? ‘The convention that something that is awful must by definition stay in the news for a long time is something I’ve

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a social worker (‘one of the few in her family allowed to go to school’). Van Gessel began at the MAVO level of secondary education, but he made it to teacher training in Dutch and History in Nijmegen. This was halfway through the 1980s, when it was almost easier to win the lottery than find a job. He wanted to get into journalism, which was a real struggle. When he found work as a freelancer at the Omroep Gelderland broadcasting organization, he seized the opportunity with both hands.

As he still wanted to carry on learning, he enrolled in an evening degree programme in History at Rotterdam. This was really a two-year programme, but it took Van Gessel six years to complete it. ‘I was quite fanatical in the first year and a half. I travelled to and from Nijmegen twice a week, often hitchhiking to save money.

But once I had a permanent job at Omroep Gelderland, I only wanted one thing: work, work, work. I enjoyed it so much. In the end, it took me more than four years to write my dissertation.’

It was the time when Huub Wijfjes, now a professor in Groningen, was still in Rotterdam, the time when Nighttown still existed. Van Gessel was supervised by Dick van Lente in what is now the major in Media & Journalism. It really shaped him, he says now. ‘I was always an arts student, but at Erasmus University I suddenly had to do statistics. Obviously I failed the first exam, but in the end I got eights for it. I still use that little

bit of science. I’m really fast at mental arithmetic and very good at budgets. I’m also good at putting things into perspective, which is the basic approach of a historian: cautious, focusing on the long term. That helps in journalism and also in management. Take radio, for example: it’s been declared dead seven times already with the arrival of each new medium from television to the internet, but it’s flourishing like never before. So when yet another person makes some wild claim about it, I think, “we’ll see”.’

Night work Although he was fascinated by management and organization from an early age, it took a while until Van Gessel could take the helm. He worked briefly for Veronica Nieuwsradio (in 1995), but earned his radio spurs mainly during his years with the NOS broadcasting station.

He flew all over the world, from El Salvador to Indonesia. He reported on the war in former Yugoslavia and also on the attacks on the WTC. In 2004 he made the move to L1, the Limburg radio and television station where he became Deputy Managing Editor. And in 2007 he opted for BNR. He says he works about seventy hours a week. He gets up between six thirty and seven every day, reads the papers, listens to Humberto Tan and arrives at the newsroom at about nine in the morning. The morning evaluation is a permanent feature of his day, but the rest is a sequence of different meetings and one-on-one sessions. He consciously tries to set aside time for walking around, keeping up to date with the news (‘filling her up’) and answering emails (‘pumping away the floodwater’). And he also presents his own programme: ‘Legal Affairs’. ‘Ask him when he actually sleeps,’ says one of the desk editors, who regularly receives emails from him in the middle of the night. Van Gessel tries to leave at about six thirty in the evening, but that does not mean putting his feet up. There are children and football, but also the news, the unremitting stream of emails and his column for the next day. ‘It’s extremely interesting, both the journalism and entrepreneurial sides. If you feel like that, you generate energy.’

erasmusalumni. magazine 15

Als ondernemer werkt u hard aan het opbouwen van uw bedrijf en nog steeds ziet u overal nieuwe mogelijkheden in de markt. Zeker in crisistijd kan het inspelen op zo’n kans een grote voorsprong op uw concurrenten bewerkstelligen. Echter, waar vindt u de tijd om deze aan te pakken? Zou het niet prettig zijn om een ondernemer naast u te hebben zoals uzelf? Maar waar vindt u zo’n iemand?

WWW.24MONTHS.NL

A day in the life of Paul van Gessel

Three steps ahead

The day is a series of different meetings and oneon-one-sessions.

Colleagues describe him as committed and driven. A very creative mind, says one person. An item is always better if he sticks his nose in, says the other. The image of a fresh, enthusiastic manager who is always informed and thinks along with everyone. ‘You couldn’t be closer to the work floor,’ says presenter Roelof Hemmen. There is also criticism, whether you ask Humberto Tan or a young editor. And they all say the same: that he sometimes goes too fast for the editorial office, that in his enthusiasm he is sometimes three steps ahead of his colleagues. Van Gessel says, ‘I understand that. You need to appreciate that I spend the whole day thinking about strategy and the future of this station. The average editor just wants to make a good programme. So if I suddenly begin about a change of course that I have already discussed multiple times in committees, I can imagine they feel that they are being presented with a fait accompli.

I need to be aware of this. I think that a general must be ahead of his troops, but not too far, because if they are no longer following you, you have a problem.’

That get-up-and-go is typical of him and the organization where he works. News is old within a few hours and BNR is also a commercial news organization, which, unlike Radio 1, must deliver a 15 percent return to its investor, HAL, the Rotterdam Holland-America Line. There are therefore always new formats, partnerships and sponsorship deals.

‘People sometimes find it relentless,’ says Van Gessel. ‘What you do is never good enough. But the show must go on.

Don’t misunderstand me, it’s a huge achievement every day running a whole station and website with such a small group of people. But the competition isn’t resting on its laurels.’

Credibility The combination of commercialism and journalism sometimes results in criticism, particularly if, like BNR, you work so closely with companies. Take the programme ‘Business with...’ at lunchtime each day, broadcast from a company canteen in the Netherlands and sponsored. Is that acceptable? ‘This means that we visit our target group.

Otherwise, these people would have been guests in the studio. If a company like this wants our appearance as a bit of window dressing, that’s fine by me. If they want their managing director in the programme, tough luck. I don’t budge an inch on that and we still manage to get a lot of money from the market. We can never risk our credibility.

Never. The sales department must also appreciate this.’ It’s hard work maintaining the results. The advertising market is in a miserable state. ‘It puts me on the attack. We have had a hard economic year, but we are developing new activities to ensure that the station is still solid as a rock in 2015.’

It’s six in the evening. The sun is shining into Paul van Gessel’s corner office, on the same floor as the FD, two staircases above the BNR newsroom. The Marconi Award that the station won last year for best station is on his desk.

Against the wall leans a black-and-white poster of Humberto Tan. He’s never actually here, he says. He wants to know what is going on. Below and in the world, it is very likely that another important thing has happened. But he still takes the time for an interview and gives it his full attention. He says, ‘Have you got everything? I always want to know whether people are satisfied with what I provide. It must be a good story.’

Author Geert Maarse studied Business Administration (2006) and General Cultural Sciences (2008), and did a Master’s degree in Media and Journalism (2009) at the EUR. Photographer Ronald van den Heerik studied Philosophy between 1979 and 1983 at the EUR.

erasmusalumni. magazine 17

Alumni & the EUR

Networking and gathering knowledge text Eveline van de Lagemaat illustration Hans van de Tillaart

Skills, inspiration and knowledge In the afternoon session of Zorg voor Kennis II the focus will be on skills: writing policy documents, time management and ‘blue leadership’. At one of the workshops Professor Jan Moen, one of the founders of the iBMG, will teach the effective development of leadership behaviour. He will use some concepts from his book Kleur bekennen, kleedkamergesprekken over leiderschap (Show your Colour: LockerRoom Discussions on Leadership).

The evening programme will begin with a plenary session, in which three remarkable alumni present themselves in a TEDx-like setting. This will be followed by knowledge seminars on cuts in health care, innovation in health care, competition and collaboration in health care and performance-related pay.

Zorg voor Kennis II, Thursday 22 November 2012, De Doelen Rotterdam. www.bmg.eur.nl/ zorgvoorkennis.zorgvoorkennis

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How should health care be organized and improved? This question is the permanent focus of the Institute of Health Policy and Management (iBMG), and also of the Zorg voor Kennis (Care for Knowledge) alumni event.

The organization of health care is a hot topic.

The newspapers are full of articles on more – or less – competition, on collaboration and on cuts in health care. These are the topics that iBMG alumni are faced with in their work, topics such as effective leadership, time management and care innovations such as e-health. At the Zorg voor Kennis II event, on Thursday 22 November

in De Doelen, iBMG alumni will be able to share their knowledge with each other and garner new knowledge.

Contact Ernst Bakker, alumni officer at iBMG says, ‘We consider it very important to stay in touch with our alumni, because they are our calling cards in the field. We want to know whether they find good jobs, whether they end up in jobs where they can make improvements to health care and which issues they encounter. At the same time we want to offer our alumni extra training and information. Many alumni enjoy continuing their involvement with iBMG through interesting events. At Zorg voor Kennis this all comes together.’

The event took place for the first time two years ago. This first edition consisted of an evening with 185 participants, 130 of whom were iBMG

Column Perception

alumni. The feedback was very positive, which is why Zorg voor Kennis II has been organized and extended to include afternoon and evening programmes.

Useful One of the participants in the first edition was Sanne van Rumpt (25). She works as a policy officer at SHO Centra voor Medische Diagnostiek, an organization in Velp that conducts diagnostic research. She completed her Master’s degree in Health Care Management at the iBMG in 2009. ‘Before that I studied Health Sciences for three years in Enschede. I wanted to do my Master’s elsewhere and chose Rotterdam because they focus more on policy and management here.

It was the right decision. I am still in touch with fellow students from both faculties, but the iBMG does a lot more for its alumni,’ says Van Rumpt.

‘Alumni are our calling cards in the field’ ‘I found the Zorg voor Kennis seminar evening extremely useful. Among other things, we discussed the Client Care Act and risk spreading.’ Risk spreading is the equal distribution of financial risk across all health insurers. The duty to accept people means there is the likelihood that some insurers have to insure an unequal proportion of the elderly or high-risk patients. By spreading the risk, these differences in risk are ironed out as much as possible. Van Rumpt is definitely planning to go to Zorg voor Kennis II. ‘And I am definitely going to arrange to meet my former study mates.’

Proud Since its establishment in 1982 the iBMG has grown into a leading institute in the field of health-care policy and management. Whereas in the beginning the emphasis was mainly on teaching, iBMG is now also a big name in the global field of research. The institute is also actively involved in important social themes, such as the changes to the health-care system in the Netherlands in 2006. Alumni officer Bakker says, ‘Many of our alumni now have an important job in the health-care branch. We are proud of this of course.’

The crisis has dominated the Netherlands for the last five years.

Are we in a period that will later be known as the Second Depression? Or were the last years the overture to a new period of economic growth? These are questions that I, in my current job as a member of the editorial board of the NRC Handelsblad newspaper, discuss almost daily with the editors. These are extraordinarily tense times for everyone in our country.

They are also times when I regularly think of my Economics degree at the EUR. I started in September 1983, initially taking the train from my parents’ house in Voorburg to Rotterdam.

The trains usually ran, but the remaining public transport often didn’t. The tram, bus and metro drivers were always on strike – in protest against huge government cuts. To get to the university I would walk through Rotterdam, past high piles of household rubbish – a consequence of a long strike by the city cleaning services, a grim time when government, employers and employees were pitted against each other. What is remarkable is that in the collective memory this period tends to look very different. After all, it was the year after the now-famous Wassenaar Agreement, which was signed on 24 November 1982. In this agreement employers, employee organizations and the government reached an agreement on collective wage restraint. It is generally seen as the foundation of the ‘polder model’: working together to achieve economic growth by a system of consultation. In reality, it was many years after this agreement before the collective mood was actually tangible.

For me as a journalist and economist, this collision between perception and reality has always been very chastening. Do I actually see what I think I can see? Do a tight employment market and high house prices indicate a healthy tension between supply and demand, or is the message filtering through that society is bursting at the seams? Is a social network company that does not earn anything but raises tens of millions from investors the precursor of a new economy or an expression of collective selfdeception?

Almost thirty years after I first began my degree, I still benefit every day from what I learnt then. I am very grateful to both the university and the mountains of bin bags along the roadside for this.

Marcella Breedeveld (1965) is a member of the editorial board of NRC Handelsblad and Editor-in-Chief of NRC Next. She studied Economics

Author Eveline van de Lagemaat studied Social History at the EUR, specializing in communication and education.

from 1983 to 1990 at the EUR and is a member of the Alumni Advisory Board.

erasmusalumni. magazine 19

Research in focus Energy 1.0 ‘We are in the middle of a transition. We do not know what the future will look like. What we do know is that the end of Energy 1.0 is approaching,’ says Wolfgang Ketter, head of the Future Energy Business research group of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. Ketter believes that ‘old’ energy, such as coal and oil but also nuclear power, has had its day.

The future is renewable energy, which has far-reaching consequences for the whole energy market.

Energy 2.0 In the new energy market people are both users and producers, says Wolfgang Ketter. He points to Germany, where a large part of the electricity now already comes from solar panels on houses. The transition is comparable with the development of the internet. ‘First, people only read it.

They consumed. Now lots of people have their own blogs or sites.’

Clever dishwashers It is not only people that need to change their behaviour – machines must also become more intelligent. ‘I want my dishwasher to be ready before breakfast the next day,’ says Wolfgang Ketter. ‘But I don’t care whether this happens straight after dinner or sometime in the middle of the night.

The dishwasher should start running in the period when there is a lot of energy. That requires intelligent software.’

20 erasmusalumni. magazine

Electric cars Part of the change in the energy world is the large-scale use of electric cars. Konstantina Valogianni is conducting PhD research on this. How can you use them effectively? When and where do they need to be charged and what are the users’ preferences?

Balance Balance is the challenge for the energy of the future. Supply and demand must match at all times. Whereas ‘old’ energy is controlled and constant, ‘new’ energy is irregular and cannot really be stored. People therefore need to learn to use the energy when it is available. For example, to do the washing when it is windy outside and there is a lot of wind energy available. Ori Marom and Wolfgang Ketter are researching how to encourage consumers to do this, with lower prices for example.

Power TAC In order to find out how a new energy market could work, what the problems are and – more importantly – what the possible solutions are, Ketter and his team have come up with a game: Power TAC. Software agents, sort of avatars that are built by research groups from all over the world, take part in the simulation. The agents deal in energy. The constant challenge is to find the right balance between supply and demand.

Text Mieke Fiers Photo Levien Willemse The photo was taken in the Drijvend Paviljoen, the expertise centre for the innovative and inspirational approach to climate, energy and water in the Rotterdam Rijnhaven. www.drijvendpaviljoen.nl

erasmusalumni. magazine 21

Science news

Ig Nobel Prize for Eiffel Tower research If you lean to the left, the Eiffel Tower seems smaller. For their research on this phenomenon, EUR scientists Anita Eerland, Tulio Guadalupe and Rolf Zwaan were awarded an Ig Nobel Prize on 20 September.

This prize is for research that first makes you laugh and then makes you think. maakt en dan aan het denken zet.

The etherlands is a closed society Knowledge migrants often find it difficult to adapt to their new home. These are the findings of research by Marianne van Bochove. Expats experience the Netherlands as a fairly closed society, as do the ‘classic’ migrant groups from Suriname, Turkey and Morocco. They find it difficult to really feel at home here.

DNA-test For the first time there is a DNA test that can predict hair and eye colour at the same time. It has been developed by scientists from the Erasmus MC, together with Polish and Greek colleagues. The test system is very sensitive, so it may provide new clues in old cases or in the identification of missing people.

Lab research goes digital The Erasmus MC is the first hospital in the Netherlands to digitize its experimental laboratory analysis of cell and tissue samples.

Sending and recording microscope slides of tissue samples still takes a lot of time. If the tissue slide is scanned, the images can easily be shared. Image analysis can quickly identify cancer cells in tissue, for example.

22 erasmusalumni. magazine

Veni, Vidi, Research!

Eight young EUR researchers were awarded a Veni grant by the NWO research organization at the end of June. Four more experienced, talented researchers received a Vidi grant. Half of these personal grants went to researchers from the Erasmus MC. The research themes are very different. Vidi winner Andrea Woltman, for example, is focusing on the Hepatitis B virus that hides in the liver. Public Administration specialist Steven Van de Walle (also a Vidi winner) is researching the trust public servants have in the public.

Smarter Pregnancy Slimmer Zwanger (Smarter Pregnancy), the pregnancy coaching programme launched by the Erasmus MC Hospital in January 2012, was positively assessed by the participants. Slimmer Zwanger provides personal advice via a website, an email or a text message on nutrition and lifestyle during pregnancy. The advice is based on scientific research. From now on the Achmea insurance company will reimburse the cost of the programme for all participants, including people who are not insured with them. www. slimmerzwanger.nl

Measures against academic fraud

Sport after work makes you happy Playing sport in the evenings contributes to your general wellbeing. People who carry on working until late in the evening actually feel less happy and energetic. These are the findings of research by the EUR in collaboration with health insurer Coรถperatie VGZ. Eighty-five participants kept a happiness diary for ten days. The effects were particularly significant in people with a strong internal urge to work. They would really be better off playing sport in the evening. www.gelukswijzer.nl

Rector Magnificus Henk Schmidt hopes that a course on integrity and ethics for researchers, and the central storage of academic data will help prevent academic fraud in the future.

In recent years the Dutch academic world has been shocked by academic misconduct. Cases have also come to light at the Erasmus University. In his speech at the opening of the academic year at the beginning of September, Rector Schmidt presented a plan to prevent it in future. PhD students must follow a course on academic integrity and ethics. The course is also open to other researchers. The raw data from EUR research will be stored in a central database. Should doubts arise in the future, it will be possible to check the data here. There will also be regular random checks of the data storage facility.

Blame for debt crisis lies with China The current financial crisis was caused by the emergence of China. This is what Heleen Mees claims in her PhD research.

Since the start of the crisis and the recession that followed there has been much speculation about the cause. Non-standard mortgage products are often blamed. Mees claims, however, that the blame lies with China. The Chinese obsession with saving money led to plenty of cheap money, the consequence of which was the American housing boom. The end of this trend marked the start of the crisis. www.heleenmees.com

erasmusalumni. magazine 23

In the news in ’82-‘83

Anne-Marie Raat did a medical internship in Kenya (photo:

Michiel Schapers was

private collection)

training for Wimbledon

EA goes back in time and wonders how the students who made the news in academic year 1982–1983 are doing. text and photos from now Sanne van der Most

Anne-Marie Raat

Michiel Schapers

52, Medicine

52, Business Economics

What were you up to in 82-83?

‘I did my “kandidaats” degree in Medicine in Rotterdam. I was really interested in tropical medicine and was an active member of Stichting STOLA, an organization focusing on health care in developing countries. A friend and I did a research internship in West Kenya on the health of small children there. We visited lots of field clinics and were well supervised by the Faculty.’

What were you up to in 82-83?

‘I was always good at tennis, but the spring of 1983 was my real breakthrough. I became Dutch champion after I played a very good match in the ABN-Amro tennis tournament. This meant I could play at Wimbledon for the first time. All in all, a very exciting year with loads of international matches.’

What do you do now?

‘After I graduated, I worked in Ethiopia. After a few clinical years I was a GP for fifteen years and have now worked for five years as a designated doctor at the Youth Care Agency in Utrecht.’

How do you look back at that time?

‘In that time an internship in Africa was very pioneering. It is much more common now. You were away from home for six months and didn’t have internet or a mobile phone, so were very reliant on yourself and those around you. An exciting time during which I learnt a lot.’

24 erasmusalumni. magazine

What do you do now?

‘I’m a coach. I’m self-employed and teach tennis at the Frans Otten Stadium in Amsterdam, mainly to boys.’

What do you remember most?

‘The fact that there was no support or supervision from the University whatsoever for young top athletes. I had to give up my degree in the end because I couldn’t combine the two. It is all very different now and is even encouraged. Then you had to do it alone.’

Marieke van Doorn

Michiel Struijk set up the Lijst

became world champion

Woudestein student party

with her hockey team

Michiel Struijk

Marieke van Doorn

50, Civil and Corporate Law

52, Medicine

What were you up to in 82-83?

‘I and a few others set up the Lijst Woudestein student party. We developed a huge PR machine and were the biggest party within no time. Our main mission was to link teaching to actual practice.’

What were you up to in 82-83?

‘I became world champion with the Dutch women’s hockey team in Malaysia. I combined top-level hockey with my medical degree and my student association, RVSV. You do need to be strict with yourself, but luckily I didn’t find that a problem.’

What do you do now?

‘I have always worked in business, going all over the world.

I started as a company lawyer and am now a member of the Dutch management team at Logica.’

Will you ever enter politics again?

‘Politics still interests me, but it’s not the kind of thing you can do on the side. You have to give it your all. My work and my family are very important to me, so they’re taking precedence at the moment.’

What do you do now?

‘I now work as a GP in a deprived area of Rotterdam. I am also a sports physician at the Reinier de Graaf Gasthuis Hospital in Delft. In my free time I coach hockey at the Victoria club. I now only play hockey for fun with a group of friends.’

Will you ever enter politics again?

‘If you really want to achieve something, you have to give it your all. It is possible to combine a lot, as I did then, as long as you stay focused on your goal. Then it will all turn out well in the end.’

Author Sanne van der Most studied Civil Law at the EUR. She graduated in 1999.

erasmusalumni. magazine 25

Erasmus University and the city

Knowledge for the city It is not for nothing that the name Erasmus University Rotterdam contains ‘Rotterdam’. The University’s researchers have much to offer the city. And vice versa. text Sjoerd Wielenga illustration Lobke van Aar

If the City Council adopts a green policy, will it also generate financial benefits? This is a question that Kees van Paridon was asked by one of the Rotterdam aldermen.

‘People have the impression that sustainability costs money.

We were asked to research whether it also generates money.’ Since July 2011, Van Paridon, a Professor of Economics, has held the position of Chief Science Officer, a part-time job on the City Council. The idea is that the Science Officer has one foot in the daily business of the ‘company’ of Rotterdam and the other in the academic world of the University. Kees van Paridon says, ‘My main concern is if the Council needs knowledge that the University already possesses, how do you ensure that the two are brought together?’

More direct, more intensive, more efficient The city of Rotterdam has a bunch of questions to which Erasmus University may have the answers. How do you prevent too many children leaving school without qualifications? What about the health of the citizens of Rotterdam? How do we involve the inhabitants in their neighbourhoods and vice versa? Academics regularly want to conduct research at the Port or in the city’s neighbourhoods. The City Council and other organizations in Rotterdam can be of great help here. The position of Chief Science Officer was created in 2009 to bring the city and University closer together, and Erasmus University and the Rotterdam City Council concluded a partnership agreement in 2010. They were already in contact and there was already an exchange of knowledge between Council services and knowledge institutes, the business community and social organizations, but, as the agreement states, ‘the contact should more direct, more intensive and more efficient. We want to capitalize on opportunities and efforts, something that is not done enough.’

26 erasmusalumni. magazine

Knowledge centres A number of academic centres have been created to turn these promising words into deeds. These are long-term structural partnerships focusing on a specific theme. The employees of different organizations participate in them.

There are, for example, knowledge centres on the Port, health care and vibrant communities. New centres may follow with themes such as sustainability, the economy and the employment market. As well as taking care of the knowledge centres, the Chief Science Officer is also responsible for other contacts and matters. ‘Student placements at the City Council, for example,’ says Van Paridon, ‘but also training public servants such as Council controllers.’

The Chief Science Officer is also involved in ‘The City of Rotterdam’ City Monitor, an annual publication that describes the city’s performance in fields such as security, public health, education, spatial planning and housing.

Strategic thinking Rotterdam currently only has an agreement with Erasmus University, but, says Van Paridon, the City Council is also in serious talks with the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Inholland University of Applied Sciences and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), which is good, says Van Paridon. ‘TU Delft has a lot of technical knowledge that we don’t have at the EUR. We complement each other well.

Together we are stronger.’ But if the collaboration with knowledge institutions is to succeed in the long term, the City Council must focus more on strategic questions, says Van Paridon. ‘Short-term thinking dominates, which is understandable because the necessary cuts mean that many people are being made redundant. But we must also ensure we pay sufficient attention to questions such as the future of the economy of the city and how best to tackle the low level of education of the people of Rotterdam.’

EUR & the Port

‘The Port needs our expertise.’

Professor in Commercial Law Frank Smeele, from the Erasmus School of Law (ESL), is one of five Port professors at Erasmus University.

‘Smartport is a network between Rotterdam’s academic and business communities. Erasmus University, Rotterdam City Council, the Port of Rotterdam and the Deltalinqs Port entrepreneur association work together here. The Port professors also participate. Two of them – Rommert Dekker and Hercules Haralambides – are from the Erasmus School of Economics. René de Koster is Port professor for the Rotterdam School of Management and Harry Geerlings for the Faculty of Social Sciences. It used to be that you weren’t even aware that your colleagues from other faculties were focusing on the Port. Now there is interaction; we can help each other.

‘The Port requires our expertise. We are asked, for example, legal questions about maintaining safety regulations in the Port. For a business these regulations are an expense.

Businesses that apply the rules very strictly can consequently make less profit than those that are more flexible. And what is the role of the watchdog? Sustainability is also an important theme at the Port, if you consider the regulations

preventing oil pollution by ships. We also consciously seek to work with TU Delft’s Port Research Center (PRC), which also has Port professors. This also fits the University’s vision of strategic partnership with the Universities of Leiden and Delft.

‘In September, with the support of Smartport, a new Master’s programme was set up in Maritime & Transport Law. We have twenty students, nine of whom come from the Netherlands. The themes include public maritime law,

‘There is interaction; we can help each other’ transport law, shipping, shipping accidents and maritime insurance. We want to train graduates who can work in the city as lawyers or company lawyers, at the judiciary or as service providers for the Port of Rotterdam, such as banks, expertise agencies, accident-claim processors, insurers and insurance brokers. Guest speakers from the city and Port are involved in the Master’s programme and different workshops are planned at companies in the city, such as the Port of Rotterdam, Dutch P&I and companies at the Port such as the Euromax Terminal and Boskalis.

erasmusalumni. magazine 27

Erasmus University and the city

EUR and vibrant communities

‘It’s a crying shame to live parallel lives’

Herman Jäger is the director of the City Management Service of Rotterdam City Council. He is a member of the Vibrant Communities knowledge centre, in which the Faculties of Social Sciences, Management, Economics, Philosophy and the Department of Criminology are involved, as well as the Drift Research Institute.

‘The public is becoming more inconsiderate, which means the streets have a lot more litter. The cost of street cleaning for the City Council is increasing. At the request of Rotterdam City Council, Erasmus University and the University of Tilburg looked at the most effective way to influence the behaviour of the public. They found that calling on people at home and talking to them about litter on the streets works best. This is a good example of working together, but I think that much more is possible.

‘We have several thousand people – from Roteb (the Council cleaning services) and the City Management Service – who spend the whole day on the street. I hear them talking in the company canteen. They know exactly which neighbourhoods are Turkish, Moroccan, Dutch and Antillean, for example.

They can tell by the kind of rubbish. They have a wealth of information between their ears. This knowledge would be a treasure trove for sociologists, for example.

‘I come from Rotterdam and it has always been a thorn in my side that for donkey’s years the University and the “company” of Rotterdam have been inward-facing bulwarks.

‘City managers have a wealth of information between their ears.’

Now we have a partnership, we bring together academics and practitioners two to five times a year in a conference on vibrant communities. My real agenda is to bring together the University and the city in a structural partnership. It isn’t yet standard practice for us to approach the University on policy issues. The contacts are still very fragile. It could all be over in a flash. And however enthusiastic I am about the partnership, I realize that I too am part of the old culture of living in parallel worlds, which is a real shame. I don’t know what knowledge the University has under its auspices and the University doesn’t know which issues I’m trying to solve.

That’s why it’s so good there’s a Science Officer.’

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EUR & health

‘We provide advice for a healthier city’ Lex Burdorf is Professor of the Determinants of Public Health at the Department of Social Health Care of the Erasmus MC Hospital. Together this department and the GGD Rotterdam Public Health Service form the CEPHIR (Centre for Effective Public Health In the larger Rotterdam area) academic centre.

‘Loneliness among the elderly is linked to a lack of exercise.

Together with the Veldacademie, we are studying how we can get the elderly to exercise more in the city. In the Feijenoord neighbourhood we gave them a GPS system for a week so we could trace their exact movements. This showed, for example, that there are too few places to rest – such as benches – too many steps and too many stepping stones with water between them, which children like, but

‘By changing the infrastructure of a neighbourhood you encourage the elderly to exercise’ the elderly avoid. The neighbourhood must therefore be better designed. This is why we are actively involved in the design of neighbourhoods that have yet to be built. They can then take into consideration the need to encourage the people living there to exercise and walk.

‘The Erasmus MC wants to make an active contribution to Rotterdam. Our academic centre focuses on public health in the city. We ensure that the findings of our academic research are sent to politicians, policymakers and institutions, and we take up the questions the city asks us. For example, I’m researching the integration of the long-term unemployed with health problems. The Rotterdam Public Health Service (GGD) and Social Services have set up a programme to get the unemployed back to work. The alderman and Social Services have asked us to evaluate this.

‘At the request of the City Council we also analyzed the health of the citizens of Rotterdam. We found that they are less healthy than other Dutch citizens. We advise the City Council on how the city’s infrastructure can promote the health of its inhabitants. Rotterdam’s poor health can be explained by the high numbers of unemployed people with a lower level of education. I advised the city to direct its efforts to a combination of economics, education and health.’

Author Sjoerd Wielenga completed his Master’s degree in Media & Journalism at the EUR in 2007.

erasmusalumni. magazine 29

Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam

Relatiegeschenken Op deze pagina vindt u een kleine selectie van een prachtig aanbod aan relatiegeschenken van de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. Op www.eur.nl/faciliteiten/relatiegeschenken/assortiment/ vindt u ons volledige assortiment. Bestellingen kunnen geplaatst worden door een e-mail te sturen naar info@smc.eur.nl.

Zilverkleurige pennenset € 35,-

Bronzen beeld Erasmus Hoogte: 15 cm € 99,65 Verzilverde theelepel € 7,-

Presse papier € 20,-

Dopper € 8,-

Doosje assorti chocolade 15 stuks € 6,50

Fotografie: Michelle Muus

Recht(st)reeks Rotterdam Juridisch PAO Najaar 2012 www.erasmusacademie.nl

www.erasmusacademie.nl/recht In het najaar starten: • Legal Development in Modern China • Het nieuwe BV-recht • Capita fiscaal recht voor ondernemingsrechtjuristen • De nieuwe aanbestedingswet • De forensische psychiatrische rapportage • Verdiepingscursussen op alle vakgebieden November - december 2012, 12.30 -17.45 uur, Novotel Rotterdam Brainpark Kijk voor het volledige programma en direct inschrijven op www.erasmusacademie.nl/recht

Why Rotterdam

‘Noordereiland is a village in the big city’ During her research Fouzia Outmany fell for the vibes of Noordereiland. ‘It’s really friendly there.’ text Eveline van de Lagemaat photo Levien Willemse

Name: Fouzia Outmany (32) Degree: Sociology Graduated: 2009 Proud of: Noordereiland

Fouzia Outmany was born in Morocco and moved with her parents to The Hague when she was thirteen. She still lives in The Hague and loves it there. But if she could have a house on Noordereiland, she would move in a flash to Rotterdam.

Rotterdam is the city where Fouzia studied.

After ‘a short trial programme in Political

Science’ at Leiden University, she decided to do Sociology and Philosophy at the EUR. She did not complete her degree in Philosophy.

Rotterdam is also the city where she is conducting research for the Dynamics of the City lectorate of the Inholland University of Applied Sciences.

‘I’m currently doing research on Noordereiland into forms of community art relating to citizenship. It’s about professional artists working together with the people of Noordereiland to record in art the stories of the common man.’ Outmany works with three other researchers: a sociologist, a social geographer and a historian.

‘The research has uncovered some terrific stories. What is clear is how incredibly proud the inhabitants are of living on the island.

The area was originally a port and became an island in about 1880, when the Noorderhaven was dug out. The first inhabitants were mainly seamen. The island then attracted more and more other inhabitants, including many artists.

‘The island now has a population of some three thousand. It really is a little village in the big city with a supermarket, a baker, a few cafés, a few main streets and a little square. Everyone knows everyone else, which makes it really friendly, a vibe I haven’t come across in The Hague. The Hague is, after all, a bit snobby, a bit slick.’

erasmusalumni. magazine 31

Alumni affairs

Erasmus University Rotterdam Alumni & Corporate Relations Office Room A1-51 Burgemeester Oudlaan 50 3062 PA Rotterdam Telephone 010-4081110 Fax: 010-4089075 Alumni@smc.eur.nl www.eur.nl/alumni Alumni Advisory Board Rinske Brand, Marcella Breedeveld, Michel Dutree, Jan Hendrik Egberts, Bon de Jonge van Ellemeet, Sietze Hepkema, Frans van Houten, Ila Kasem, Guus Lubsen, Lilianne Ploumen, Derek Roos, Dominic Schrijer, Dick Verbeek, Frans

‘Dies Natalis (Foundation Day): Women mean business’ The University will celebrate its 99th birthday on 8 November 2012. Every year a different faculty is the focus of this ceremony. This year it is the Rotterdam School of Management. In the English-language programme an honorary doctorate will be awarded to Alice H. Eagly, Professor of Management & Organizations, Northwestern University, US. Professor Eagly is a leading researcher in the field of gender, leadership and business companies. Her supervisor is Professor Daan van Knippenberg (RSM Professor of Organizational Behaviour).

Weisglas, Henk Weltevreden, Pieter Zevenbergen (chair) UL library card for alumni EUR alumni receive a discount on the university library card and pay €15 instead of €30.

Apply for your UL library card by sending an email to alumni@smc.eur.nl, stating your surname, initials, address, date of birth and former student number.

Social Media For its communication the EUR uses LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Register now.

Erasmus Alumni Database In 2013 your alma mater, the EUR, will celebrate its centenary. We want to involve as many alumni as possible in these centenary celebrations.

If you are unsure whether we have your recent address, please contact us (alumni@ smc.eur.nl, 010-4081110).

You can also request a new login from us so that you can manage your data in the database. Then you won’t miss a single announcement.

32 erasmusalumni. magazine

EUR Language and Training Centre Alumni receive a discount on our language courses. In the first year after your graduation you pay the student fee (50 percent). After that you receive a 10 percent discount.

We provide courses in English, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Dutch and many more languages. Always wanted to learn Spanish? Or Chinese? Or are you interested in customized training, individual lessons or in-company courses? Visit our website for the options. First-year alumni can register for our Job Interview training. www.eur.nl/ ttc

take place in Rotterdam from 4 to 13 July 2014. We are expecting more than 4000 athletes and 1000 officials. If you would like to help us make the 2014 European Universities Games a big success, register as a volunteer or sponsor. www.eugames2014.eu, Facebook: eugames2014, info@eugames2014.eu

Studium Generale/ Erasmus Culture Willem Scholten Room E1-47 Telephone 010-4081144 American Victory Night & Breakfast Watch the United States Presidential Election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney live, with commentary, theatre, debate, lectures and a live-stream with Professor Dick Houtman, from Yale University, US. 6 November 7.30 p.m. to 7 November 9.00 a.m. 2012, Rotterdamse Schouwburg

Erasmus Sport Jon de Ruijter, director Telephone 010-4081875 info@erasmussport.nl www.erasmussport.nl.

99th birthday, 8 November 2012, Auditorium, Woudestein CampusFurther information and registration: www.eur.nl/dies Meer informatie en aanmelding: www.eur.nl/dies

Alice Eagly will receive an honorary doctorate

will begin around the University’s anniversary. We will use social media, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, together with the alumni website for this. You, as an alumnus, have an important role here. By sharing the campaign with your former study mates you will help us update the addresses in the Erasmus Alumni Database.

Help please!

The top priority of the central alumni office staff is to trace and update the data of more than 73,000 alumni in the Erasmus Alumni Database. A campaign featuring Erasmus

2014 European Universities Games in Rotterdam The first ever EU Games took place in Cordoba in Spain last July. More than 2700 athletes from 35 countries competed for the European student titles. Unfortunately the Dutch teams did not win any medals.

The second EU Games will

‘Goed gestoord’ (Good and crazy): TBS (sectioning)/ Lunchtime Lecture Lunchtime lecture by Professor Hjalmar van Marle on insanity, sectioning and the DSM-5 controversial diagnosis bible.

14 November 2012, 12.30– 13.30 p.m., Lecture Hall 2, Erasmus MC

Studio Erasmus/Talk Show Academics reflect on current affairs, together with guests from the worlds of politics and culture, the media and the city of Rotterdam.

Reservations recommended via reserveren@deunie.nu.

15 November 2012, 7.30 p.m., e Unie, Mauritsweg 3435, Rotterdam Understanding Turkey Guest lecture on life and culture in Turkey: how does Turkey differ from the Netherlands when studying or doing business?

By Bram Vermeulen, correspondent in Istanbul for the NOS broadcasting organization and former Journalist of the Year.

19 November 2012, 3.00 p.m., Senate Hall, Woudestein Campus

‘Goed gestoord’ (Good and crazy): Depression/ Lunchtime lecture Lunchtime lecture by Maarten van Buuren, author of ‘Kikker Gaat Fietsen!’ (Frog Goes Cycling!) about reclaiming his life after severe depression.

27 November 2012, 12.301.30 p.m., Education Centre, Erasmus MC

General Erasmus Alumni Association Bon Ellemeet/Alexandra Staab PO Box 4382 3006 AJ Rotterdam Telephone 06-19955994

(Bon Ellemeet)/010-4149407 (Alexandra Staab) eav@ erasmusalumnivereniging.nl ‘De EUR Draait Door’ special event On Saturday 8 June 2013 the Erasmus Alumni Association and the associations of former members of student associations are holding ‘De EUR Draait Door.’ This special event, part of the EUR anniversary celebrations, will have inspirational guests from the EUR and outside. Make a note of the date: 8 June 2013.

Sport at a discount EUR wants to emphasize and strengthen its ties with its alumni. Alumni can therefore take part in sporting activities at Erasmus Sport even after they graduate. What’s more, EAV members can participate in its sporting activities at student prices.

For information on the sports on offer and fees see: www. erasmussport.nl

Erasmus School of Economics ESE Alumni Affairs Charles Hermans hermans@ese.eur.nl Room H7-19 Telephone 010-4081803 www.esealumni.nl Together with the Erasmus Alumni Association (EAV), the ESE organizes several annual events, such as the ESE Alumni Day on the opening day of the EFT Business Week in the spring and the Autumn Day. EAV membership for ESE alumni New ESE alumni receive a two-

year membership of the EAV as a gift from the faculty. If you are not yet a member of the EAV, register via www.esealumni.nl, under the heading ‘become a member of EAV’.

LinkedIn The EAV has set up a LinkedIn alumni group for ESE alumni.

Students from Suriname Twenty-one students from the Anton de Kom University of Suriname are studying at the ESE this academic year. These students completed a bridging programme in Suriname and are now following the Master’s degree programme in Accounting, Audit & Control at Rotterdam. The students will remain in the Netherlands until February and will complete the rest of their degree in Paramaribo. In September 2013 they will receive a degree from both the EUR and the Anton de Kom University.

Centenary IIn academic year 2013–2014 the ESE and therefore the Erasmus University Rotterdam will be 100 years old.

Obviously the ESE will not let this milestone pass unmarked.

We will keep you informed via www.esealumni.nl Professors appointed On 1 May 2012 Dr Bas Donkers was appointed Endowed Professor of Marketing Research at the ESE on behalf of the EUR Trust Fund.

Donkers’ research is on the modelling and analysis of consumer behaviour.

Piet Sanders, founder of the Erasmus School of Law

Professor Piet Sanders deceased The founder of what is now the Erasmus School of Law, Professor Piet Sanders, died on 27 September 2012, six days after his hundredth birthday. As well as an academic, Sanders was also the architect of the University’s art collection. Days before Sanders’ hundredth birthday the Erasmus School of Law held an event to commemorate his life and work. There was also an exhibition until 19 October of his art collection in the Erasmus Gallery on the Woudestein Campus and in the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, where Sanders lived.

On 1 July 2012 Professor Richard Paap was appointed Professor of Econometrics at the Econometric Institute of the ESE. His research interests are the application of Bayesian statistics to time series and cross-section data in the field of macro-economics and marketing.

On 1 July 2012 Dr Dennis Fok was appointed Endowed Professor of Applied Econometrics at the Econometric Institute of the ESE on behalf of the EUR Trust Fund.

erasmusalumni. magazine 33

Alumni affairs

The Erasmus Education Fund The Fund supports initiatives that enable underprivileged, talented young people to go through further education and thus become the leaders of the next generation. Your contribution is much appreciated. Make your donation to account number 11.69.09.463 in the name of ‘Erasmus Trustfonds’ in Rotterdam, with the reference ‘Erasmus Education Fund’.

Further information at www. erasmuseducationfund

Party leaders debate at the EUR

Debate The EFR/EenVaaandag party leaders’ debate was held on 6 September 2012 in the Auditorium. Mark Rutte (VVD), Emile Roemer (SP), Geert Wilders (PVV), Alexander Pechtold (D66), Diederik Samsom (PvdA) and Sybrand van Haersma Buma (CDA) debated for over an hour on matters such as European regulations, the economy and the increasing cost of health care. The students then had the opportunity to grill the politicians. This resulted in a lively debate between the politicians and the audience.

34 erasmusalumni. magazine

EFR Alumni Association Marc Hendrickx Room H16-30 Secretaris@efralumni.nl www.efr.nl/alumni During your EFR year you laid the foundations for friendships for life. The alumni association would like to help you maintain these friendships.

New office We will have a new office from 12 October 2012: HB-20, in the corridor between the H and C Buildings. Feel free to pop in for coffee. On our website, www.efr.nl, you can read reports on our activities, as well as interviews with members of the business community and of the university.

Ex Duplo Contact person: Dominique Poot bestuur@exduplo.nl Graduates of the Master of Science (MSc) & Master of Law (LL.M.) programmes Ex Duplo is the alumni association for graduates of the EUR’s Master of Science (MSc) & Master of Law (LL.M.) programmes, established in 2005. Ex Duplo organizes a number of annual activities and offers its members access to an exclusive online network.

Further information: www. exduplo.nl Accountancykring Association for Alumni of the postgraduate Accountancy programme Contact: Saskia van Dijk Telephone 010-4082713 svandijk@ese.eur.nl www.esaa.nl

LinkedIn: Accountancykring ESAA – a subgroup of the Erasmus School of Accounting & Assurance (ESAA) For more than forty years the EUR Accountancykring has welcomed alumni of the postgraduate Accountancy programme. Events are held twice a year on related topics like the credit crisis, AFM supervision and the pension markets. Membership and the events are free of charge. If you participate in an event, you will be awarded credits for the NBA (The Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants) mandatory continuing education programme.

Bachelor Honours Class Alumni Society Nicky Hoogveld Pigeonhole H6-26 secretary@esehonours.nl www.esehonours.nl Fourth Honours Union On Tuesday 5 June 40 current and former members attended the twice yearly dinner of the former ESE Bachelor Honours Class. Anton van Rossum (former CEO of Fortis, alumnus and member of the Supervisory Board of the EUR) was the guest speaker. The theme of his lecture was ‘the current financial situation’.

New website The association’s website has been updated. The address remains unchanged: www. esehonours.nl FSR Alumni Association (Financial Study Association Rotterdam) Room H14-06

Telephone 010-4081830 alumni@fsr.nu www.fsralumni.nl

Faculty of Social Sciences FSW Alumni Affairs Marjolein Kooistra Telephone 010-4082135 kooistra@fsw.eur.nl FSW 50 jaar – viering in 2013 FSW 50 years old – celebration in 2013 FSW will celebrate its fiftieth birthday in 2013 with an interesting programme, the majority of which is open to alumni. The programme includes an alumni event, jointly organized by Cedo Nulli. The programme will be published in December 2012 on the special FSW 50 website.

You will be informed about the activities at the beginning of January.

Public Administration Contact: Lalita Rambhadjan rambhadjan@fsw.eur.nl Abeur Alumni Association www.eur.nl/fsw/ bestuurskunde/abeur/ abeur@fsw.eur.nl Twitter: @ABEUR_alumni, @EUR_BSK Suggestions The Erasmus University Rotterdam Public Administration Alumni Association (ABEUR) organizes company visits and annual events on a particular theme.

Email any suggestions for interesting themes for a lecture, autumn event or working visit to: abeur@fsw. eur.nl.

LinkedIn groups: ABEUR LinkedIn Group – general Public Administration Alumni Group Master’s degree programme in International Public Management and Public Policy – IMP Alumni LinkedIn Group.

Master’s degree programme in Labour, Organization and Management LinkedIn Group Research Master’s degree programme in Public Administration and Organizational Science Alumni Group

Psychology Psychology Alumni Association alumni-psy@fsw.eur.nl The Psychology Alumni Association sends out a newsletter three times a year and organizes alumni events.

Psychology graduates automatically become members of the alumni association.

Correction The May edition (no. 4) of the EA Magazine erroneously stated that Dr E.H.W Korsten would be appointed Professor

in Psychology, specializing in child and adolescent psychology.

Sociology Sociology Alumni Association alumnisociologie@fsw.eur.nl www.eur.nl/fsw/sociologie/ alumni/ Alumni Association The Sociology Alumni Association aims to organize two activities per year, one linked to the Master’s degree programme in Labour,

Organization and Management and the other to the Master’s degree programme in Urban Issues and Policy. If you want stay informed, become a member (free of charge) by sending an email to lumnisociologie@fsw. eur.nl.

LinkedIn More than two hundred alumni are members of the Sociology Alumni Association (EUR) LinkedIn Group.

Korting voor alumni www.erasmusacademie.nl

www.erasmusacademie.nl Ook al bent u afgestudeerd, uitgeleerd raakt u nooit. Op een groot aantal opleidingen ontvangen alumni van de EUR daarom 10% korting op onze cursusprijs.

Dit najaar starten: • Psychologisch Kapitaalmanagement • Ketenregie in het publiek maatschappelijk domein • Procesmanagement • Document Management & Sociale Media • Water Governance nieuw Kijk voor ons volledige aanbod op www.erasmusacademie.nl of neem contact op met Miranda Smit, opleidingsadviseur van Erasmus Academie tel. 010-408 1796 of mail naar smit@erasmusacademie.nl

Alumni affairs

Erasmus School of Law (ESL) ESL Alumni Affairs Hanz Zwart Room L5-37 zwart@law.eur.nl www.frg.eur.nl/alumni

De Doelder Day 2012: Dutch enterprise law of the future The Future of Enterprise Law Speakers: Professor B.F. Assink and Professor J.B.S. Hijink 16 November 2012, 1.15-4.30 p.m.

28 August 2012. Students, staff and visitors can use the teaching rooms, independent study and lounge areas, and project rooms.

The Shape of Diversity to Come Global Community, Global Archipelago or a New Civility?

Further information: www.esl.eur.nl/diversity 24-25 January 2013

Twijfel The Faculty of Philosophy’s Post Scriptum newspaper was given a new lease of life in 2010 under a new name: Twijfel (doubt). Twijfel is published twice a year and each edition has a specific theme. Within the Faculty of Philosophy Twijfel is a platform for students and lecturers to publish and share articles, essays and reviews. Alumni can subscribe to Twijfel by sending an email to redactie@twijfel.nu. An annual subscription costs €10. If you would like to sponsor Twijfel, please contact redactie@twijfel.nu and become a Friend of Twijfel. www.twijfel.nu

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Erasmus MC

Faculty of Philosophy

Erasmus MC Alumni Affairs/ Erasmus MC Alumni Association Elles de Waard Communication Department Room Gk-954 PO Box 2040 3000 CA Rotterdam Telephone 010-7044538 alumni@erasmusmc.nl www.erasmusmc.nl/alumni

Alumni affairs Dr W.M.J. Ophelders Room H5-33 Telephone 010-4088993 ophelders@fwb.eur.nl

Alumni Association Members of the Erasmus MC Alumni Association receive ‘Monitor’, the quarterly magazine of the Erasmus MC, free of charge. If you want to become a member, please register via www.erasmusmc. nl/verenigingen/alumni/ algemene-informatie.

Junior doctors receive a free candidate membership at the start of their clinical clerkship and do not pay any membership fees for three years.

New Education Centre for Erasmus MC The new Education Centre of the Erasmus MC opened on

ERA Faculty Association Room H4-15 Telephone 010-4088985 available Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.

-5 p.m. contact@erarotterdam.nl http://erarotterdam.nl/ Monthly ERA reception Every third Thursday of the month at Café Boudewijn, Nieuwe Binnenweg 53 a-b.

Rotterdam, www. bbcboudewijn.nl.

Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication ESHCC Alumni Affairs Sabai Doodkorte Room L3-30 010-4082874 doodkorte@eshcc.eur.nl www.eshcc.eur.nl/alumni Valedictory lecture of Professor Ton Bevers Professor Ton Bevers will give

his valedictory lecture on Friday 16 November 2012. He has worked at the EUR since 1989.

He taught different course units in the field of cultural sociology at the Department of Art and Cultural Sciences.

16 November 2012, Auditorium Woudestein Campus, further information at www.eshcc.eur.nl Employment Market Orientation Days 2013 On 27 and 28 February the ESHCC and the Histartes Student Association will hold Employment Market Orientation Days, with different activities relating to possibilities after graduation.

Students and alumni from all degree programmes of the Faculty can follow different workshops.

The programme will be published in January 2013 on www.eshcc.eur.nl/amo 27 and 28 February 2013 NWO grant Dr Stijn Reijnders, a specialist in media studies, has received a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) for the project ‘Locating Imagination’. The grant of €750,000 will allow Reijnders to conduct a five-year research project into media tourism.

Further information: www.eshcc.eur.nl/english/personal/reijnders Whole cohort graduates within one year On Thursday 30 August 2012, 27 students from the Englishtaught MA in Media Studies graduated. This is unique, because all 25 students who

Column In Motion

began this Master’s programme in 2011 have completed the programme in one academic year. More than 20 of them attended the graduation ceremony in the Auditorium of Erasmus University.

Aardig Onderweg ESHCC alumna Angelique van Tilburg (28) was awarded the Aardig Onderweg Award (Well on the Way Award) during a show at the Nieuwe Luxor Theatre for Jong010, the Rotterdam children’s newspaper she set up.

The Aardig Onderweg Award is a community prize from the RET transport company for people from Rotterdam who have done something exceptional for the city. With the prize money of €10,000, Angelique will be able to develop Jong010 further.

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University ISH Alumni Affairs Jennifer Ritfeld Room T6-26 Telephone 010-4082698 alumni@rsm.nl www.rsm.nl/alumni RSM Rotterdam Marathon Come and join the RSM team and test yourself in the Rotterdam Marathon on 14 April 2013. The training for advanced runners begins in November and for beginners in January. www.rsm.nl/marathon RSM Alumni Day The perfect opportunity to pick up where you left off with your old classmates, as well as share experiences and make new contacts – and at the same time refresh your knowledge in lectures by top RSM researchers.

19 April 2013, 1.30-9 p.m., Woudestein Campus, J-Building. www.rsm.nl/alumni/events/alumniday/

International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) Alumni Affairs Sandra Nijhof Kortenaerkade 12 2518 AX Den Haag Telephone 070-4260414 alumni@iss.nl www.iss.nl/alumni Anniversary 2012 ISS is celebrating its sixtieth birthday in the period September 2012-July 2013.

ISS Alumni Fund The ISS Alumni Fund was set up at the start of 2012 and has the goal of supporting talented students during their studies at the ISS.

Institute of Health Policy and Management (iBMG) iBMG Alumni Affairs Ernst Bakker alumni@bmg.eur.nl www.bmg.eur.nl/alumni Alumni Actueel Newsletter The iBMG and the aBMG publish a newsletter four times a year containing information on the iBMG, aBMG and other establishments, developments and activities that are relevant to alumni.

Alumni can receive the newsletter by post or in digital format.

You can register or unregister via alumni@bmg.eur.nl

When I look out of my window at the building work outside, it’s an inescapable fact: the EUR is drastically changing on its way to the top. In today’s world, though, we have no choice. This is the EUR’s interpretation of survival of the fittest.

In early 2010 a new Executive Board was installed at the EUR. Almost immediately this new Board developed clear ambitions in the field of operational management. It was to be taken to a higher level in the coming years. Most importantly, it was to be modernized.

This ambition has led to a significant development at the EUR – the introduction of the BV2013 improvement programme, which touches all aspects of operational management and promises ‘Top Support for a Top University’. As the unmistakable symbol of this change, the campus is also being overhauled. It is rapidly acquiring new connecting paths, an underground car park and an iconic new student pavilion. Yes, the EUR is in motion.

What is most apparent to me about this development is the eagerness with which we’re welcoming it. It’s as if we’ve been waiting for each other for a long time. No, that doesn’t mean that everything’s suddenly running smoothly and harmoniously, but it does mean we’re working together on it.

Anyone in motion at the EUR, anyone looking further than his own desk, gains an understanding of how other sections and departments of the EUR function. This insight clearly illustrates the need to work together.

So motion does help, sitting at another desk in the EUR organization for a change. I myself have moved a lot across the campus, first as a student, later as an IT manager and faculty director, and now as Manager of the IT Improvement Programme.

BV2013 gives me the opportunity to continue to move and therefore to develop. In my new role as IT Programme Manager I again face new challenges and am gaining a better understanding of the ins and outs of the EUR as a whole.

You have to move forward to progress, so is motion progress?

Yes! For both people and institutions. And if you ask me, we at the EUR should keep moving!

Dominique Campman (1963) is IT Programme Manager at the EUR. He first studied Business Administration (1992) and then did a Master’s degree in Business Information Management, both at Erasmus University.

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Alumni affairs

Alumni Event: Zorg voor Kennis II (Care for Knowledge II) On 22 November 2012 iBMG is holding the second edition of the Zorg voor Kennis event. iBMG alumni are warmly welcome. You can also bring a guest.

Further information: www. bmg.eur.nl/zorgvoorkennis aBMG The Health Policy & Management alumni association (aBMG) is a very active association with more than 700 members (Health Policy and Management graduates from Erasmus University).

Knowledge centre for family businesses The Erasmus Centre for Family Business will officially open on 30 November 2012 with an interactive seminar. During the event family businesses from all corners of the business community will be able to have their say, and visions and strategies will be shared. The aim of the centre, which is sponsored by a consortium of family businesses (Van Oord, Royal de Kuyper, De Stiho Groep and Peterson Control Union), is to develop and spread knowledge about the specific management challenges faced by family businesses.

30 November 2012, 2.30–4.30 p.m., Forum Room, M-Building, Woudestein Campus.

Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies

of Antioquia, and the governor of Lagos, Nigeria.

IHS Alumni Affairs Sarah Steendam/Ore Fika Room T14-33 Telephone 010-4089850 (Ore Fika)/010-4089874 (Sarah Steendam) fika@ihs.nl steendam@ihs.nl www.ihs.nl/alumni The alumni network of IHS now consists of over 7500 alumni in more than 140 countries. On our website is an overview of the network and the local IHS alumni associations that have been set up by IHS alumni. Details about events or meetings held by local associations can be found in the diary on the website.

Refresher courses 2012 This year IHS is offering two more refresher courses thanks to Nuffic funding: - Affordable Resilient Housing for Vulnerable Communities Manila, the Philippines, 19-30 November 2012 - Are Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) REALLY pro-poor and gendersensitive? Uganda, 22 October-2 November 2012 IHS Awards During the World Urban Forum VI on 5 September 2012 in Naples, Italy, IHS Alumni International gave awards to two people who have made a considerable contribution to the design of their cities. They were Dr Sergio Fajardo, former mayor of the Colombian city of Medellin and current governor

Erasmus Institute for Financial Planning IFP Alumni Affairs Theo Hoogwout Room H16-07 Telephone 010-4081491 hoogwout@ese.eur.nl www.erasmusifp.nl Financial Planning Symposium The Erasmus IFP will be holding a symposium on 1 November 2012. The topics covered will be the 2013 Tax Regime and Geopolitical and Financial Planning. The following will be discussed: in which BRIC countries can you invest (explained from the geopolitical aspect); in which currencies can you get a mortgage, for example; the relationship between the euro and the dollar.

1 November 2012, 3.30 p.m., M-Building (Woudestein) room 3-03.

Familiy portrait

From left to right Dennes van der Vlist 24, works for an investment company Degree: International Economics 2006-2011 Winter van der Vlist 20, third year Fiscal Economics Hans van der Vlist 60, Secretary-General at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science Degree: Law 1977-1981 Flint van der Vlist 19, second year Economics and Law (Master of Science/ Master of Law)

‘The fourth child at the EUR gets in free’ Hans and Lida van der Vlist have five sons and one daughter who all grew up in the historical centre of Schoonhoven. Dennes, the eldest, is an EUR graduate and two of his four brothers are students there. text and photo Ronald van den Heerik

Hans: ‘I’m a real collector. After gaining my MULO, HAVO and HEAO qualifications, and a false start at teacher training, I began studying

Law part-time. I had tutorials on Fridays and did the rest of my studying in the evenings and at weekends.’ He had already begun his career at the Ministry of Social Affairs. From there he moved to the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, where he is now Secretary General.

‘I chose the EUR mainly because it was between Schoonhoven, where I lived, and The Hague.’

The EUR’s location also played a part for his sons.

Dennes says, ‘I only went to live in Rotterdam in my third year. Before that it didn’t even cross my mind. The journey time is minimal and I liked living at home.’

None of the sons are members of student associations and neither was their father. Despite

his double degree, Flint still has enough time for fun, ‘It’s a question of good planning. I am a member of the In Duplo study association.’

Third-year student Winter’s priority is working as a student assistant. He did this last year in the IT department and is now a mentor. ‘In addition to the social contacts you make doing this, I’m really benefiting from the deepening of knowledge you get when passing it on to others.’

His father Hans says he recently met the Executive Board of the EUR. When he said that three of his sons were studying at the EUR, Board member Bart Straatman quipped that ‘the fourth one gets in free’. ‘He didn’t know we’ve got two more children in secondary education. I wonder whether he’ll keep his word...’

erasmusalumni. magazine 39

Fuel your future Choose your Open Programme Sustain your leadership, learn!

Renew yourself.

Strategy will follow The ability to understand, generate and implement new management strategies is essential for every business. Become a Certified Strategic Manager with the Erasmus Executive Programme in Strategic Management.

The secret to inspiring others is to stay inspired – and integrated – in your own leadership development.

Consider the Advanced Management and Leadership Open Programme.

Prof. Dr Pursey Heugens

Prof. Dr Daan van Knippenberg

Customers aren’t just ‘king’.

They’re everything Technology has created intense new competition, but also endless new growth opportunities for those who can craft winning marketing strategies. Consider the Strategic Marketing Open Programme.

Trust is the new control Understanding the impact of new management control techniques is more important than ever if you are a non-financial manager who wants to take on a bigger role in your oganisation. Consider the Principles of Management Control Open Programme.

Prof. Dr Frank Hartmann

Prof. Dr Gerrit van Bruggen

Business was usual The business environment we work in can be unpredictable – and that means challenges for you and your organisation. RSM Executive Education and Organisational Development (EEOD) can help you understand and master this complex environment. For over 20 years, we have been keeping the leaders of international business ahead-of-the-curve in every functional area of business, through our Open and In-Company Programmes. Open your mind. Find out more about our full offering of Open Programmes at rsm.nl/open.

Alumni of EUR and RSM receive a 10% discount on all of RSM’s Open Programmes.

ROTTERDAM SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT ERASMUS UNIVERSITY