The aim of Recognition and Rewards is to recognise and reward academic staff for their broad contributions to science and scholarship. By recognising and rewarding not only publications in leading journals, but also other achievements in the areas of education, research, leadership and valorisation, we are aligning ourselves with the university's core tasks. This will enable employees to better exploit various career opportunities, in keeping with the talents of each individual scholar. 

In november 2019, the VSNU, NFU, KNAW, NWO and ZonMw published the position paper ‘Room for everyone’s talent: towards a new balance in the recognition and rewards of academics’. It advocates a change where universities, research institutes, research funders and teaching hospitals recognise and value academic staff more broadly. Recognition and Rewards is a national programme in which these parties will work together towards a culture change.

The recognition and valuation of science and scholarship, and of academic staff, is often one-sided, focused on numbers of publications. With this programme, the affiliated institutions want to find a better balance by allowing teaching, leadership, impact and (in the case of a teaching hospital) patient care to play a role, in addition to research. This will allow academic staff to orient their careers in a way that suits their ambitions and talents. Effective leadership must support this development.

It is certainly a subject that is on many people's minds, especially young academics who still have a significant part of their careers ahead of them. But it's also an issue for academics who can look back on a long career and would like to see certain things change. You can read what young academics have to say about this subject in the Amsterdam Young Academy's AYA magazine (in Dutch).

At the UvA, a working group led by Rens Vliegenthart investigated improvement opportunities in the field of recognition and appreciation in 2021. Starting in 2023, the UvA will focus on the national Roadmap 'Room for Everyone's Talent' under the leadership of Huub Dijstelbloem, new chair of Recognition & Rewards.

The topic is particularly relevant for academic staff, as certain issues (e.g., pressure to publish in research magazines or undervaluing teaching tasks) only affect academics. That being said, however, scientific work is increasingly carried out in teams and involves close cooperation between academics and support staff. This work also calls for Recognition and Rewards.

See the webpage https://recognitionrewards.nl/about/about-the-programme/ to learn more about the Recognition and Rewards programme, including how other universities are approaching this issue.

No. But it may help you redefine the focus in your work. A commonly noted problem among academics is that they sometimes feel pressure to be a ‘unicorn’ who is good at everything. If this applies to you, it is important to discuss this with your manager. You can then jointly decide in which area you could and would like to develop, so you don't have to excel in all areas. More recognition for what you do well in your work can also provide an energy boost, making you better able to manage your workload.

The UvA has endorsed DORA, an international statement indicating that the content of research is more important than those quantitative indicators. This does not, of course, mean that all quantitative indicators have now become irrelevant. There are also other concrete or qualitative aspects you can use to substantiate the quality of your work. An example of this might be if you have developed a new curriculum, or if everyone in the team sees you as a good team player.

The Netherlands is not alone in this development. Institutions all across Europe are devoting attention to recognition and rewards. It is also a topic of discussion in the LERU, a European group of research-intensive universities, and in the European Commission.