[staff-physics-and-astronomy-HL-UHD-UD] P&A Retreat 2026: program and instruction for pitches

[Juan Rojo]

Dear all,

We are looking forward to our retreat next week.

A gentle reminder of two important things:

1) If you want to make a pitch about a new research topic (or a consolidation of an existing one) or about some other activity which may be relevant to converge on the profiles of the new hires, please submit to Karin by tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday June 17 end of the day). this way we will know how much time we can allocate to the discussion.

2) On Thursday morning we will have the training on annual consultations. If you have not send the (very short) intake form to the trainers, please do so at your earliest convenience so that they can prepare accordingly.

Thanks, best,
Juan

-------------------------------------------------
Prof. Dr. Juan Rojo
Professor of Theoretical Physics
Head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy
Faculty of Science, VU Amsterdam
De Boelelaan 1081, 1081HV Amsterdam
----
Nikhef Theory Group, Science Park 105,
1098 XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Webpage: http://www.juanrojo.com/
Zoom: https://vu-live.zoom.us/my/juanrojo
E-mail: j.rojo at vu.nl
         j.rojo at nikhef.nl
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On 21/05/2026 18:17, Juan Rojo wrote:
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> The 2026 P&A retreat is upcoming, and we have finalised the program. Please find it below:
> 
> Thursday
> --------
> 
> 09:00 - 09:45                 Arrival
> 09:45 - 10:00                 Welcome by Juan
> 10:00 - 13:00                 Course on annual consultations (including break out rooms and a coffee break)
>                                => Please submit the intake materials by Thursday 18th June at the latest
> 
> 13:00 - 14:00                Lunch
> 
> 14:00 - 17:30                 Defining the strategic research agenda for the coming years:
> 
> a. Three short presentations
>      - Erwin/Sven/Lyuba on the National Technology Strategy
>      - Kjeld/Matz on the Dutch Physics Council vision document (sectorbeeld)
>      - Juan on the SEP evaluation recommendations, VU instellingsplan, Beta multi-year plan
> 
> b. Pitches (to be communicated one week before the retreat, see below)
> 
> c. Discuss pitches in small groups
> 
> 17:30 - 18:00                 Poll to identify most relevant topics
> 
> 18:30                                Dinner
> 20:00                                Pub quiz / social activity
> 
> Friday
> ------
> 
> 07:00 - 09:00                 Breakfast
> 09:00 - 12:00                 Discussion on new PI hiring profiles (following up on discussions on Thu)
> 
> 12:00 - 13:00                 Lunch
> 
> 13:00 - 14:00                 Free time for discussions & walks
> 14:00 - 15:30                 Discussion on new PI hiring procedure
>                                - Including discussions on best practices in hiring from the DEI committee (Andrea)
> 
> 15:30 - 16:00                 Wrap up and discussion of the best steps
> 16:00                         End of the retreat
> 
> 
> As announced already, we encourage everyone to prepare a pitch for the discussion on our strategic research and hiring agenda for the coming years. To make sure we have enough time, and to avoid that multiple people will prepare a similar pitch, we ask from everyone who wants to give a pitch to share the idea with the MT beforehand. At the latest one week before the retreat (Wednesday June 17 end of the day) this pitch should be sent to Karin (<k.s.colvin at vu.nl>). Please include, in this pre-pitch:
> 
>      - Title
>      - Short description & motivation of the position / research topic
>      - Embedding, including possible inter-/cross-section aspects
>      - Name of presenter(s)
> 
> Based upon the pre-pitches, we will provide a format and the time limit for the pitch.
> 
> We look forward very much to the retreat and the discussions about the strategic future of the department. Many thanks for thinking along, your activate participation is essential!
> 
> Best,
> 
> Juan (on behalf of the MT)
>