Ambition and impact Research

Interview with Guillén Fernández

• Recognition for our hard work

  The committee that evaluated the Radboudumc was clear in its conclusion: the research is excellent and impactful. The organizational changes made are also seen as sound. For Guillén, this is confirmation of the hard work of everyone involved in research over the last years, but it is also a starting point for further development.

  "I am indeed content with this result. Not only because the committee calls our research excellent and impactful, but also because they recognize that we have built a new research organization together, by the way we are conducting, organizing, and financing research that addresses the challenges and opportunities of today and tomorrow."

• Recommendations as an invitation to improve

  However, a SEP evaluation is also a critical review. The committee made dozens of recommendations for the institute as a whole and for each research program. Guillén does not view these as criticism.

  "The recommendations help us continue to develop. They are not corrective; they are invitations to keep improving. That is exactly the culture we want: not being satisfied with the status quo. Continuous improvement, but in a way that suits us and our aims."

• Greater focus within our research activities

  The recommendation that stands out the most to him concerns focus.

  "The committee has made several recommendations about focusing our research activities, such as reducing the number of research programs per research group and the overall number of programs. Selecting five top programs will also help us focus. However, focus is not a virtue in and of itself, but it helps us to use our limited resources as optimally as possible. In this context, I hope this call for focus will help us digest the upcoming budget cuts while maintaining excellent research quality and significant impact."

  The next six years will therefore be all about further development and adaptation. Action plans are being developed for the institute and each research program. This evaluation report is reassuring, but the real work starts now.

What's next? Our action plans

Based on the results of the SEP and our own ambitions as described in the self-evaluation report, action plans are being developed:

• An action plan at the level of the institute
• Action plans at the level of the 47 research programs and an action plan from RIMLS-FNWI

The draft action plans will be discussed during the Research Strategy Day on 17 June 2026, after which the plans will be refined into final plans by October 2026. Subsequently, progress on the plans will be reviewed annually to assess whether adjustments are needed.

Action plan of the Resach Institute

The institute's action plan focuses on the following main themes:

• Further development of the research programs
• Talent development
• Improvement of research support and infrastructure

The actions already described in the self-evaluation report will be further developed with the help of the committee's recommendations.

What is the SEP?

The Strategy Evaluation Protocol (SEP) is the standard system used to assess Dutch research institutes every six years. An independent national and international committee of scientists and patient representatives evaluates the quality of the research, its societal relevance, the organization, and the institute's viability. The results are published publicly, along with an official response from the institute itself. Would you like to learn more about the SEP? If so, visit the website of the Universities of the Netherlands (in Dutch).

What are the committee's recommendations?

The recommendations are development-oriented: they are not corrective, but aimed at further growth. The key themes are the further development of the research programs (focus, collaboration, and maturity), talent policy for early- and mid-career researchers, and the strengthening of some research infrastructure and data science capabilities.

Will Radboudumc adopt all the recommendations?

Most recommendations will be adopted and translated into concrete action plans, both for the institute as a whole and for the individual research programs.

Some recommendations are already existing policy. We may deliberately not adopt or only partly adopt a small number of them, because our own strategy is leading and the recommendations are assisting. For each recommendation, we explain our choice in the official management response published simultaneously with the report.

What are top programs?

The committee has designated five research programs as top programs: programs that have been rated as excellent on all three SEP criteria — research quality, societal relevance, and viability. Over the next six years, these programs will receive extra attention and support to further strengthen their profile and impact. More information about the top programs and the support associated with them will follow shortly.

What are the next steps?

Action plans will be developed for each research program and the institute as a whole in the coming months. The Research Strategy Day on June 17th will provide the forum to refine the plans. These action plans are the basis of the mandatory annual assessment cycle, with an internal midterm assessment in 2028. And in 2031, we have our next SEP — after the SEP is before the SEP.