AYA welcomes and supports the current attention to Recognition & Rewards in Dutch academia and is committed to furthering forms of excellence and academic community care that are often overlooked in the current system. In line with this commitment, we have launched a new award aimed at academic staff at UvA and VU whose exceptional contributions to the academy might remain below the radar, but nevertheless are essential for a healthy university, be it in the form of teaching, societal impact, or of academic community support as a colleague, teacher, supervisor or mentor. After a successful first edition in 2022, the AYA Recognition & Rewards Award is now going into its second round.

Romy van der Lee (VU) and Bert Bakker (UvA) have been appointed as co-chairs of the board of the Amsterdam Young Academy (AYA) by the General Assembly. With the chair being fulfilled by two board members, the VU and the UvA will be better represented and links between the universities will be strengthened.

Four young academics from VU Amsterdam, five from the University of Amsterdam and one from Amsterdam UMC were appointed to AYA. See who they are!

Bregje van Groningen, Diletta Martinella and Floris Vermeulen are the first winners of AYA's first Recognition & Rewards Awards.

With this evaluation, AYA would like to present what has been achieved over the last four years since the installment on 6 November 2018.

This award is aimed at academic staff at UvA and VU whose exceptional contributions to the academy are often overlooked, but nevertheless are essential for a healthy university.