At UMC Utrecht, 25 new associate professors, eight of whom are associated with strategic program Infection & Immunity, have been appointed as of January 14, 2022. The talented employees have been appointed based on performance and having qualifications in research, education and management. From strategic program I&I, the following scientists were appointed: Peter Noordzij, Nienke Vrisekoop, Trudy Straetemans, Robert Wisse, Robert Jan Lebbink, Henny Otten, Eric Spierings and Maarten van Smeden.
UMC Utrecht aims to attract and retain talented employees and offer an attractive career policy. Therefore, through uniform quality criteria, associate professors (UHD) are appointed centrally at UMC Utrecht. Medical scientific managers and chair persons of the strategic programs nominate the candidates. All regular associate professors appointments are submitted to the dean. The dean is advised by the Promotion Advisory Board of the UMC Utrecht.
Last UHD round had two profiles for associate professors: Research and Valoriser. Coming UHD round (2022) the profiles will be expanded: the profile Methodology & Technology is a new profile and has been awarded to a candidate for the first time. All candidates are required to complete a qualification portfolio which suits them. For example, for the Research profile, the candidate provides a brief summary of his/her research over the past five years and future research plans, the five most important scientific publications, research funding obtained, supervision of PhD students, and scientific awards. For the Valoriser profile, the candidate describes his or her capacity to create impact as well as an innovation that has been brought to a company or has clearly generated concrete interest from industry through, for example, a patent or startup. In all profiles the candidates also describe their leadership qualities, development and internal and external collaborations.
The new associate professors within UMC Utrecht consist of 25 colleagues (eleven women and fourteen men) from seven divisions and six strategic programs (see table).