At the coming general meeting of the NFA, Philip Spinhoven will step down as chair of the NFA board after having fulfilled this function for seven years.
During these years the NFA has been ‘re-animated’: it has become a formal association and with the active support of NIAS has started several initiatives such as summer stays at NIAS, year group meetings, satellite meetings (besides the organization of the yearly Uhlenbeck lecture).
NFA members know better than anyone the importance of curiosity-driven research and the value of a fellowship at NIAS for scientists personally and for society as a whole. As independent research is under pressure and institutes of advanced studies in the Netherlands and abroad need active support, being an ambassador and fundraiser for NIAs will become important goals for the coming years.
Therefore, we are looking for a new chair who will not only support what the NFA has achieved during the last years but also advocate the NIAS ‘blue sky principle’ (the notion that fellows propose to study a topic of their own choosing) by contributing to fundraising for NIAS fellowships.
Interested NFA members can contact the present chair (spinhoven@fsw.leidenuniv.nl) or director of NIAS (janwillem.duyvendak@nias.knaw.nl) for more information. As other board members will step down in 2025 also after having served the board for seven years, persons interested in a function on the board are also invited to respond to this vacancy to facilitate continuity within the succession scheme of the NFA board.