The other day I sat on a committee in charge of deciding which promising post docs would be granted a personal fellowship. I read quite a few CVs that had interruptions such as parental leave, illness, time devoted to changing research field, part time research activities, or unemployment. However, in all cases, these interruptions were…

In the Netherlands, the PhD defense is more of a ceremony than an examination. A few times now I have sat on a PhD committee (‘promotiecommissie’) to evaluate a PhD thesis and ask questions during the PhD defense. PhD defense committees need to comprise several, if not a majority of professors. Since about 18% of all professors…