Chapter 5 Accomplishments – research quality and societal relevance

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. 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).

Facilitate team science

A second element of the academic culture is that we strive to facilitate team science. This was our theme for 2020, and it was one that we had selected even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Team science is of great importance, for example, in translational research and it is imperative for the mission and vision of our research institute. This is why we aim to build teams around important topics in neuroscience, to enhance our knowledge, develop new treatments and make a difference for patients. In the past few years during the COVID-19 pandemic, the team science theme turned out to be spot-on. Not only was it an essential state of affairs for many of our colleagues within Amsterdam Neuroscience, but it was also a prerequisite to continue and strive for meaningful and curiosity-driven academic endeavors and translational medicine research. In essence, it was essential for keeping up the work within the neuroscience field. Team science at Amsterdam Neuroscience has been an essential achievement from the start as is proved from our co-author’s analysis in Appendix 5, Figure 5.1 and Figure 5.2, p. 80. These network plots indicate that researchers from Amsterdam Neuroscience collaborate with researchers from both in and outside the research institute. In both figures, the first three years (2016-2018) are compared to the second three-year period (2019-2021). It appears that, in the second period, the extent of collaborations is more granulated. Team science has also been showcased in various ways in our Amsterdam Neuroscience MAGAZINEs over the past three years, and played the central theme of the 2020 edition (see Figure 11).

Figure 11 The numbers of established teams working across disciplines on important issues at Amsterdam Neuroscience are staggering, and these pictures illustrate the team science within the institute. Team science was a central theme of the 2020 edition of Amsterdam Neuroscience MAGAZINE, thereby underscoring the fact that, these days, it is hard to imagine working at the frontier and creating opportunities for breakthrough science without working in a team.

Centers that combine patient care and research

A third major driving source of innovation in Amsterdam Neuroscience’s endeavors is our focus on scientific excellence and patientcentered Translational Neuroscience, which go hand in hand. This is manifested in the way in which we structured our research organization along the research programs (see Figures 1, p.09 and 3, p. 11). It is also the latest incentive behind our plans to establish and start branding our expertise centers (see Figure 12). And it is confirmed by the citation analysis (see Appendix 4, p. 66); by the recognition of international collaborators (such as is well established through our participation in the Human Brain Project, and the SynGO project in collaboration with MIT Harvard and the Simons Foundation); and by the recognition of our societal impact consortia (the ABOARD project under the supervision of Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, the Don’t be late project established under the supervision of MS Center Amsterdam, and the N=You Neurodevelopmental Precision Center activities for autism patients with epileptogenic phenotypes). See several use cases in Appendix 6, p. 83).

Support in the COVID-19 period

A fourth and timely incentive in getting organized during the COVID-19 pandemic was the deeply-felt motivation of several groups of investigators and supportive staff at Amsterdam Neuroscience to participate in the COVID-19 Taskforce. There was the active participation of co-director Diederik van de Beek in both a COVID-19 clinical trial on the ICU of Amsterdam and his efforts together with Matthijs Brouwer (and many others) in organizing the COVID-19 biobank initiative (see COVID-19 biobank and here). Secondly, the teams headed up by both Brenda Penninx and Guido van Wingen were involved in applying artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to all kinds of data (including imaging, epidemiology and blood biomarkers). Thirdly, the business development team under the supervision of Pieter van Bokhoven performed a biweekly market watch from 2019 to 2022 to identify novel interventions both relevant for the ICU protocols and in search of a proper vaccine.

Figure 12 Expertise centers affiliated with Amsterdam Neuroscience. The research efforts of SILS, CNCR and the collaborative partner institute Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience are aligned with the Amsterdam UMC-based (expertise) centers for clinical research. Some centers have been well-established for decades; these include the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, MS Center Amsterdam and Amsterdam Leukodystrophy Center. Others have been active for several years but could improve their branding; these include the Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorder Center Amsterdam, Deep Brain Stimulation Center Amsterdam, Neuroinfection Center Amsterdam and Neurovascular Disorder Center Amsterdam. Other centers were established more recently or are yet to be set up, for example, the N = You Neurodevelopmental Precision Center, and the Anxiety & Depression Center Amsterdam. Criteria for their foundation often include a) a unique longitudinal patient cohort in which retrospective and prospective research about the disease etiology is made possible, b) a major scientific track record underscored by the ambition to establish new appointments and secure funding for infrastructure, c) being an international hub in the neuroscience community, and d) being a major hub in the matrix of the research organization chart of Amsterdam UMC.

And last but not least, Arjen Brussaard and Naomi Vorstermans organized an online Amsterdam UMC & COVID-19 research event that was held on December 3, 2020, and was attended by more than 1,000 participants and watched more than 10,000 times afterwards.

PhD candidates

Amsterdam Neuroscience has a vibrant PhD community with, on average, 450 PhD candidates working in active projects each year. The PhD candidates are enrolled in the doctoral school program of either the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam or the UvA, which recently merged to become the Amsterdam UMC Doctoral School for the medical faculties. Mandatory and eligible courses for PhD candidates are organized by the universities’ science faculties, in collaboration with NIN and in ONWAR (see Appendix 8, p. 103). The standard evaluation protocol audit of the Amsterdam UMC Doctoral School will be executed in 2024 and is separated from the Amsterdam Neuroscience audit in 2022.

As outlined previously we have an open academic culture in which PhD candidates are actively involved in the research strategy being undertaken in the departments and being executed in collaborative projects of the research programs (see Appendix 7, p. 102). We facilitate dialogues with the younger generations of researchers at the Annual Meetings, in which we organize poster- and story slamcompetitions across the research programs every year; at TN2 symposia biannually; and in our monthly TN2 webinars (2020-2021). Moreover, we reach out to them via our social media channels and through our newsletters (watch a recap of our two-day hybrid Annual Meeting of 2021).

Furthermore, Amsterdam UMC has an active PhD association called the Association of Amsterdam UMC PHD Candidates (ASAP). ASAP offers a professional and social network for PhD candidates at Amsterdam UMC by organizing symposia, workshops and networking events. Furthermore, ASAP is involved in the training for PhD candidates. They also represent Amsterdam UMC PhD candidates in the employee’s council, in the Amsterdam UMC Research Board and national PhD student associations.

Apart from that, both universities have a PhD council. The energetic VU PhD council advocates for the interests of internal and external Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam PhD candidates. They work on social and professional interplay within the PhD trajectory of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam PhD candidates and are concerned with organizational developments affecting PhDs. The Central PhD Council of the UvA serves the interests of all UvA PhD candidates at an administrative level, and is a sounding board for organizational developments concerning PhD candidates within the university. The Central PhD Council has monthly meetings to exchange information between the PhD candidates of each facility and quarterly meetings with the University’s Rector Magnificus, a representative of the department of academic affairs and a representative of the faculty deans. And each half year, they monitor the experiences of PhD candidates via a survey.

Figure 13 Young Amsterdam Neuroscience meetings started in 2016 by bringing a group of selected high-potential junior faculty members together in dialogue with the directors of Amsterdam Neuroscience. The meetings include discussions about their careers, invited guests (for instance ERC recipients and those alike), and coaching by professionals to guide them through the project interviews at grant agencies (such as their Vidi, Vici or ERC starting grant application).

Human Resource policy

Amsterdam Neuroscience gives consent to the Human Resource policy of its universities and the affiliated university medical centers (see Appendix 8, p. 103). This includes participation in the Principal Investigator system, which challenges individual scientists to take up leadership, develop their own research lines and gain visibility. The criteria are: Publications during the past six years as first or last author that demonstrate one’s line of research; active research funding of ≥ €200,000 as the main applicant; and supervision of ≥ 1 PhD candidate as co-promotor. Principal Investigators are appointed annually by the executive board. The Principal Investigator system originated at location AMC, was adopted at location VUmc in 2017, and has been harmonized at both locations of Amsterdam UMC since 2019. The Principal Investigator system at Amsterdam UMC aligns with the policy of the universities’ science faculties (CNCR and SILS) to become an assistant professor. As such, Principal Investigators, assistant professors and associate professors form the core of the faculty of the research programs of Amsterdam Neuroscience. The guidance of their careers is primarily carried out at department level, however there is a secondary setting across generation intervision in Amsterdam Neuroscience’s research programs by which guidance is offered. In addition, the directors of Amsterdam Neuroscience are active and in frequent dialogue with the junior faculty via the Young Amsterdam Neuroscience (online) meetings (see Figure 13, p. 23).