SURF Story

Felienne Hermans studies how anyone can learn about programming and digitalisation, whatever your background is. She has a prominent voice in the public debate on science, education, AI, and inclusion in the digital world. “AI companies are only interested in power and money. And we’re giving it to them.”

There is a serene calm in the historic university building on Minderbroerdersberg. This is hardly surprising, as the induction week is over and the new academic year has yet to formally begin in Maastricht. It is a good time for a conversation about the personal motivations of UM executive Jan-Tjitte Meindersma, who was still pouring beers for his students just the day before.

How do you ensure that a large university of applied sciences like Hanze continues to learn, innovate and use new technology responsibly? Haye Jukema, senior adviser on educational innovation, finds answers to this question at the SURF Onderwijsdagen. “I’ll go home feeling satisfied if I’ve learnt something new that we can build on here at Hanze.”

How does one go from being an industrial designer to a driving force behind educational innovation at VU University Amsterdam? For Silvester Draaijer, that path led via product design and teaching to his current role as programme manager at the VU Onderwijswerkplaats. He has now spent over 25 years exploring how technology can better support teachers and students.

How do you combine a job at the National Library in The Hague with work as a body-oriented coach and yoga teacher? We put this question to Astrid van Wesenbeeck, who explains the choices she has made in her professional life with passionate answers. “I believe that through open science, we are working towards a better world.”

Digitalisation in higher education is no longer simply about a learning management system (LMS), a student information system, or adding even more applications. The real challenge over the coming years lies elsewhere. Sanna Dijk, information manager at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA), advocates for collaboration and for supporting subject-specific technologies that align with professional practice.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way: that saying seems tailor-made for Inge Bryan. After a remarkable career in government and business, she now advises organisations on security. She spoke to us about joy, hard work, threats and being different.

Neuropsychologist Eveline Crone investigates how young people’s brains develop and how they find their way in a complex society. She has won many prestigious scientific awards and wrote the bestseller Het Puberende Brein. “I was a well-behaved teenager myself.”