International evaluation committee  praises Hubrecht Institute

4 June 2009

In October 2008, an international review committee visited the Hubrecht Institute. The institute was assessed as ‘excellent’ by the committee. The board and management of the Hubrecht Institute is extremely happy with the evaluation and has emphasized the pivotal role that director Hans Clevers has played in this magnificent achievement. The Hubrecht Institute is a collaborative research institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht.

The Hubrecht Institute scored ‘excellent’ for all points on the Standard Evaluation Protocol. The committee referred to the Hubrecht Institute as ‘an excellent institute that offers its employees an extremely and highly stimulating working atmosphere.’ The scientific output as publications in international journals was also rated excellent. According to the review committee, director Hans Clevers has the capacity to build the institute into an internationally leading institute in the area of biomedical research.

The review committee has made a number of recommendations to the institute. For example, when recruiting new employees, efforts should be made to recruit more female senior researchers. The Board of the KNAW shares this view and is currently looking for more possibilities to promote female researchers at KNAW institutes to senior research posts. In order to build the institute into one that stands out at world level, as well as safeguarding the vitality of the organization, it is essential to continue to attract the very best international candidates for new positions at the institute.

The review committee consisted of the following people:
→ Professor Carl Figdor of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre (chairman)
→ Professor Roel Nusse, Stanford University Medical Center
→ Professor Tom Look, Harvard University
→ Dr Peter Goodfellow, Canterbury
→ Professor Austin Smith, University of Cambridge.
→ Secretary: Professor Joost Verhaagen, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience NIN-KNAW. l