'The entrepreneurial attitude is in our genes.' Ramses Wessel, dean of the faculty of Management and Governance opened the one-day event with a welcome speech and an overview of the UT. 'Next to excellent research and excellent education, we have strong connections with industry and try to create some spin-offs. Everything we do, we want to apply.'
Wessel emphasized the benefits of being a small university. 'It is easy for us to find each other. We are especially looking to combine social and technical sciences.' He admitted to the delegation that although these combinations bring many benefits, it is sometimes a struggle to convince the technical sciences of the added value of soft science.
Photo: Gijs van Ouwerkerk
Halmstad University expressed special interest in the matrix organization of our university. 'This matrix is almost as scary as the movie', Wessel jokingly said. But the degrees of freedom that comes along with the separation of heads of education and science was appreciated by the delegation. 'Still, despite the separation, most people do both activities.' Wessel continues. 'This is what makes the difference between us and vocational training. We really would like to keep that link between education and research.'
Having learned about the potential merger between the faculties of Management and Governance and Behavioural Sciences, the Swedish could not relate that to the University’s profile. Vice-Chancellor Mikael Alexandersson: 'You are looking to combine high-tech with human touch. Why don’t you merge social sciences with technical sciences, instead of social with social?'
After Wessel’s opening speech, the delegation received several more presentations. Koos Krabbendam (chair BA) spoke about the department Business Administration and its activities in innovation and entrepreneurship. Hans Vossensteyn (business director CHEPS) informed the Swedish about quality measurements, performance agreements and entrepreneurship as a distinctive quality feature. Finally, Aard Groen (chair NIKOS) and Wilbert Pontenagel (Kennispark) gave updates about entrepreneurship development support.
Mariska Roersen
