ERASMUS UNIVERSITY ROTTERDAM

WHO WE ARE

Our mission is to create positive social impact. We strive to understand contemporary, complex societal challenges and to contribute to their solution through our education and research. We do this in close collaboration with our external partners both locally and globally. We strive to contribute to solving social issues through excellent academic research. We do this with curiosity-driven research that is embedded in society and by actively engaging with local and global communities. We create impact in our education by training our students to be tomorrow’s ‘change leaders’ – in the public and private sectors, in their own workplaces and beyond. We strive to offer professional services that are needed to perform impactful core activities of our institution (education, research and impact). We are committed to having support staff who are able to be flexible to the increasingly diverse, demanding and ever-changing international environment.

WHY WE ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE PROJECT

At EUR we aim to make positive societal impact. This project is an example of exactly that. In this project, the partners share insights, experiences and knowledge on the topics of inclusion, diversity, equity and access, for students and staff. By building a community among the project partners and beyond, we all can make a real change by contributing to a more inclusive working and learning environment at our institutions.

OUR ROLE IN THE PROJECT

As IDEA Center EUR, we are the formal coordinator of the project. Since 2015, we have been working in IDEA topics. Since 2023, we are a structural Center with 20 experts, lead by our Chief Diversity Officer. We adhere an integral approach, working on all relevant dossiers within our institution that touch on IDEA topics, such as HR policies, inclusive education, student engagement, monitoring and research, inclusive communication, social safety. We also have a large university led academic outreach programme, to tackle inequality in education leading up to university. We aim for changes in the system, while having an eye for individual support. We bring all our experiences to this project. In this project we aim to learn from each other and get to most out of this cooperation. Of course, without the work of all partners this project would not exist. 

OUR TEAM

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Prof Semiha Denktaş

Prof Behavioural Change, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Vice Dean of Research, Chief Diversity Officer

Prof. Denktaş studied Clinical and Health Psychology and Integration and Migration Studies. She obtained her PhD on The Health and Healthcare Use of Elderly First Generation Migrants in the Netherlands. Throughout her career, she has focused on issues concerning civil participation, equity, inclusion and human behaviour. In 2017, she started the Behavioural Insights Group Rotterdam (BIG’R) and HEALTHY’R together with the Municipality of Rotterdam.

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Dr Gwen de Bruin

Manager IDEA Center

Gwen de Bruin studied psychology, with a specialisation in cognitive functional disorders, at the University of Utrecht. In 2006, she obtained her PhD at EUR. Since 2018, she works as the manager of (now called) IDEA Center, leading a team of 20 experts. She combines her knowledge with her focus on attaining sustainable results, to work towards an inclusive university