As professor, Schrijver will be teaching and conducting research in the UvA’s study programmes in Hebrew Language and Culture, and Book Studies and Palaeography. He will be combining his new position with his existing duties as curator of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, which forms part of the UvA’s Special Collections. The collection of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana encompasses the lion’s share of the University Library's collections in the field of Jewish history and culture.

Schrijver’s appointment to the special chair has been made possible thanks to a generous gift from the René und Susanne Braginsky-Stiftung in Zurich, Switzerland. René Braginsky owns one of the world’s largest private collections of Hebrew manuscripts.

Schrijver has been the curator of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana since 2003, as well as curator of the Braginsky Collection in Zurich. He is also chair of the board of the Jewish Educational Centre 'Crescas' and serves in the advisory boards of various Jewish organisations in the Netherlands and abroad. In addition, Schrijver is editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Jewish Book Culture, which will be published in 2018 (Brill Publishers, Boston), and of the academic journal Studia Rosenthaliana (Peeters Publishers, Leuven).