This year there was no traditional New Year's breakfast at the UT because of the lockdown. Instead, there was an online programme with a music bingo and a speech by Victor van der Chijs, the President of Executive Board. ‘Hang in there,’ were his words for staff and students. ‘We know it wasn’t easy for you to cope with another lockdown.’
In his speech, Van der Chijs paid special attention to the workload at the UT. ‘The workload faced by UT staff remains heavy, sometimes too heavy. And Covid has only made things worse. Therefore we need to prioritize and deprioritize for 2021. We need to make clear choices.’
One of those choices is that the UT does not return to the 'pre-Covid situation'. ‘Hybrid forms of teaching and working are here to stay. We need to find a good balance between what needs to be done on campus and what can be done digitally. For that reason a major priority of this year will be further innovation of our educational programmes.’
For, according to Van der Chijs, the educational landscape is changing rapidly. ‘The traditional academic situation in which students spend four or five years on campus and then are being awarded a degree, is no longer what society really needs.’
UT Media Prizes
Traditionally, the UT in the Media Awards are awarded during the New Year's breakfast. This year the prizes were divided as follows:
1st place: Ruud Verdaasdonk - professor of Health Technology Implementation
2nd place: Peter-Paul Verbeek - professor of Philosophy of Technology
3rd place: Detlef Lohse - professor of Physics of Fluids
Students category: Solar Team Twente
PhD category: Ellen van der Gaag - paediatrician and researcher of BMS
UT Social Media Award: Cristina Zaga - assistant professor at Human-Centred Design Group
