Sector Plan Physics and Chemistry

Introduction
The Sector Plan is a national initiative towards a structural strengthening of the Physical and Chemical Sciences, aiming at specific research and teaching fields. The Sector Plan has a duration of 6 years, starting 1 January 2011.
Within the Plan extra money is available for new positions and education projects. The money is explicitly labeled for the implementation of the Sector Plan.

The Sector Plan is running according to the plan of implementation of a national advisory committee: advies van de commissie Breimer (in Dutch).

Education
The education and outreach efforts of Utrecht University in this context aim at 100 first year students in both the Bachelor programmes in Physics and Chemistry. Also a 70% diploma rate among these students is aimed at.
The plan has a focus on the connection between the current Master programmes and the so called 'zwaartepunten' (axes) in research. 
Each Dean of the seperate Science Faculties of the Dutch Universities is committed to achieve these goals on the local level as well as the national .

Research
In order to strengthen the research axes as described in the Sector Plan several new positions have been granted to Utrecht University. These positions will be embedded in the Research Institutes.

Chemistry

• Catalysis: "Organic-based porous catalytic materials"
  • 1 Full Professor in Organic Hybrid Materials
  • 1 technical assistant
• Nanoscience of Functional Materials (Colloids)
  • 1 Assistant Professor in Scanning Probe Microscopy and Spectroscopy (shared position with Physics*)
• Structural Biology: "Molecular and Structural Biology"
  • 1 Full Professor in Molecular and Structural Biology
  • 1 Associate Professor
  • 1 technical assistant
• General Position
  • 1 Faculty postion (tenure-track) in Chemistry: Organic Chemistry or Structural Biology 

Physics

• High energy physics
  • 1 Full Professor Heavy-Ion Physics
• Theoretical physics
  • 1 Assistant professor in Theoretical Elementary-Particle Physics
  • 1 Associate/Assistant Professor in Hard Condensed-Matter Theory 
• Nanophysics 
  • 1 Assistant Professor Nano-imaging with electron microscopy
  • 1 Technical Assistant
• Nanoscience of Functional Materials (Colloids)
  • Assistant Professor in Computer Simulations  (shared position with Chemistry*)
• General Position
  • 1 Assistant Professor in Soft Condensed-Matter Theory

    * Only one out of two shared positions will be filled.

The scientific fields above are each strengthened by one or several new positions. Positions will be filled for 1.0 or 0.8 f.t.e. Goal of the Plan is to occupy 40% of all these positions by women.

Utrecht has chosen to occupy the new Sector Plan positions initially on a temporary basis. Continuation of the extra money has not yet been guaranteed after 2016. Utrecht still aims at a structural strengthening of the research area's above.

Personnel
An individual development process will be agreed upon with every new employee in order to: 

• strengthen the scientific field in a broad sense;
• to market the Utrecht research en education programme's; 
• further professionalizing of the employee.