5. Accomplishments – research quality and societal relevance Open Science At any given year the Amsterdam Neuroscience community, as a network institute, publishes more than 1,250 peer-reviewed papers, with more than 55% open access labels (see Appendix 4, p. 66). The policy on Open Science is described in Appendix 8 (p. 103). Academic culture We have an open academic culture where the strategic aims of reaching scientific excellence, Translational Neuroscience and creating societal impact are supplemented and supported by a series of network institute initiatives, including Annual Meetings, TN2 webinar series, the publication of the Amsterdam Neuroscience MAGAZINE, ad hoc hybrid conference organizations (such as the Amsterdam UMC & COVID-19 research event), and the Young Amsterdam Neuroscience intervision (online) meetings. At all events, in which we celebrate the academic dialogue, we strive for a culture of being the resource-based teaching-research nexus. Keynote lectures, clinical case discussions on stage (with patients being interviewed by their treating physician, see Figure 10), and young talent award competitions are deliberate instruments to create an all-inclusive culture and dialogue across the different generations of neuroscientists of Amsterdam Neuroscience. Over the past six years, the executive office of Amsterdam Neuroscience has been very active in helping and letting this academic culture flourish. Self-Evaluation Report 2016-2021
The Amsterdam UMC Doctoral School ensures a good education and development of PhD candidates by offering support to the candidates and their supervisors. Its training platform provides PhD candidates with a wide variety of courses to develop their skills, and the PhD advisers provide coaching, advice and support so that PhD candidates can safely and efficiently carry out their research. Within our
institute, we support young talent in becoming excellent researchers. As stated in our set of PhD regulations, the Amsterdam Neuroscience PhD education commission stimulates PhD candidates to develop both their technical and transferable skills by following courses, by attending national and international conferences or by gaining experience in teaching, among others.
Figure 10 Bringing patients on stage as we do during our Annual Meetings and at other events benchmarks the fact that our institute serves both as a teaching-research nexus as well as an organization that reaches out to our respected stakeholders. From left to right (top): Jens Neumann (a blind patient who had a neurotechnical device implanted) on stage in 2017; Job Hoff (a patient with extreme tremors, implanted with a DBS electrode) on stage in 2017; Sophie van Nuis meeting Larry Steinman and Joep Killestein (Sophie van Nuis is an MS patient in her thirties, Steinman is the inventor of Natalizumab, and Killestein is an MS neurologist) on stage in 2018; Jetske van der Schaar (a PSEN1 gene carrier with healthy cognition) on stage in 2019; Wim van Vollenhoven (born in 1921 and participant of the 100-plus study) on stage in 2021. From left to right (bottom): the STXBP1 public day at CNCR (autism spectrum patients and their carers brought on stage by CNCR, 2019); an MS patient (being interviewed by MS Center Amsterdam in recent years).
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