Institute for Gravitational and Subatomic Physics and three other Natural Science institutes rated outstanding to world-class

Every six years, an independent panel evaluates the Natural Science institutes at the Faculty of Science. This year, the panel considered the quality of four institutes affiliated with the Physics and Chemistry departments during the period 2016-2021. These include the Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Research (Debye), the Institute for Gravitational and Subatomic Physics (GRASP), the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (IMAU) and the Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP). All four received a rating of outstanding to world-class.

The audit committee, consisting of leading scientists from a variety of disciplines and an external PhD candidate, focused on the four institutes’ quality of research, relevance to society, and future viability. Together, the institutes represent the research activities of the Department of Physics and around half of the research at the Department of Chemistry. The external panel was chaired by Professor Daan Frenkel, and paid special attention to issues such as Open Science, PhD training, academic culture, talent policy and diversity.

The accreditation panel’s visit was prepared by Raimond Snellings. Scientific Director of the GRASP Institute, Frank de Groot on behalf of the Chemistry department, with support from Martina Radii,  Quirine Laumans and Theodora de Vries.

Positive evaluation

In summary, the four institutes were rated as outstanding, with world-class research. The panel also expressed its admiration for the important role on the world stage in leadership positions, including the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and international climate panels. 

Raimond Snellings: “The committee emphasised our relevance to society, as fundamental research is crucial to meet the long-term challenges our society faces today and tomorrow, and vital for designing the future.”

The panel was also very satisfied with the approach to Open Science. Open Science is thoroughly embedded in the audited institutes; not only in their publications and re-use of data, but also in facilitating the use of open hardware.

New Chemistry institute

A new institute has been added since the last accreditation visit: the Institute for Sustainable and Circular Chemistry. This institute’s research addresses challenges related to the energy, raw materials and material transitions needed to make the world more circular and sustainable. The new institute collaborates closely with the Debye Institute and the ITF, but in the future other logical partners will include the IMA and the Centre for Complex Systems Studies.

Raimond: During the audit, we were able to reinforce the Physics and Chemistry departments with the second sector plan. This plan set up the gravitational wave and biophysics programmes at the ITP, Debye and GRASP, which have already been wildly successful. The sector plan 2.0 also takes a major step forward in creating a more diverse and inclusive work environment.”

The institutes were awarded a large number of international prizes and grants during the audit period. These are all impressive tokens of appreciation for the excellent quality of the institutes’ researchers. During the period under consideration, the researchers made influential contributions to major national and international partnerships. 

Recommendations

As in Science for Life (S4L), one of the panel’s recommendations emphasises the importance of good accommodations for the institutes. It is important for the Natural Science institutes to be housed together, in order to continue the strong collaborative partnership that has grown between the institutes.

Raimond Snellings: “All of our staff were involved in this evaluation, and this evaluation helped us quite a bit; not only to recognise our strong points, but also to see the potential areas of improvement. We look forward to implementing the recommendations we’ve received, and to be worthy of the title ‘absolute world class’ that we have earned together.”

Welcoming an accreditation panel demands a high level of cooperation and logistics, but it also requires someone at the centre of it all. Raimond: ”Martina Radli played an irreplaceable role in getting all of the documents to the panel on time and in keeping everyone focussed on our goal. She made sure that time was set aside in the research directors’ busy agendas to finish the necessary documents. So I would like to express my special appreciation for her efforts.”