Review of the Research Institute for History and - Universiteit Utrecht

OGC Management
Academic director: prof. Maarten Prak (appointed October 2003), prof. Wiljan van den Akker (till October
2003), managing-director: dr Frans Ruiter.
An academic director is in charge of the Institute and has, according to university regulations, full responsibility
for its research programme and research policy, its personnel and its budget. The academic director is
appointed for a fi ve-year term by the Dean of the Faculty, and is accountable to the Dean.
Management Staff
The director is assisted by the OGC Management Staff which works under his direct responsibility, and by a
management & administrative support team of the Faculty of Arts. The staff consists of two part-time coordinators
and fund-raisers for commissioned research (dr Joost Dankers, and dr Bram Bouwens) a co ordinator
for PhDs and Postdocs (dr Simone Veld), an ICT-consultant (dr Jose de Kruif), a PR and management
assistant (this position has been terminated in 2005 due to budget cuts). Pending the foundation of a Graduate
School Arts & Humanities, a research-master coordinator has been temporarily appointed (2003-2004
dr Berteke Waaldijk, 2004-2005 dr Yolanda Rodriguez). Management and staff are supported by a secretarial
offi ce (consisting of Bas Plaatsman, head, Maike Groenouwe, and Suzanne van Vliet).
The directors of the ten scientifi c programmes (their names are listed under B.3) and the management
of the institute together constitute the Research Committee. This Committee meets several times a year. It
discusses the OGC research agenda and research policies, exchanges information about new PhD positions,
possibilities for applying for research funding, international exchange, housing, quality control, and so on. The
Committee’s status is advisory; ultimately decisions are always taken by the Director.
An Advisory Council advises the management on matters of research policy. It consists of two full professors
from within the Faculty: professors Koen Ottenheym, chair, and Ann Rigney; the respective Deans
of the Faculties of Theology and Philosophy: professors Willemien Otten and Keimpe Algra, as well as three
members connected to non-university institutions: dr John Leighton, director of the Van Gogh Museum,
professor Paul Schnabel, director of the Social and Cultural Planning Bureau of the Dutch Government,
and Saskia de Vries MA, director of Amsterdam University Press. The Council meets twice a year to discuss
general policy issues.
A commission of 3 PhDs and 2 Postdocs meets regularly (at least twice a year) with the OGC management
and staff to discuss issues concerning the ranks of PhD and Postdoc.
Communication with the rank and fi le of the OGC researchers is further warranted by a website, a
newsletter for PhDs (since 2004 integrated in the website), e-mail news updates, a research presentation series
‘Oogst van het OGC’, and through the programme leaders. All faculty have their own internet-page, that
includes a list of individual publications since 1997.
B 3. Strategy and Policy
The subfaculty of Arts is organized in fi ve Teaching institutes, which together offer 17 BA and 44 MA programmes,
and two research institutes, OGC and UiL/OTS (Utrecht institute of Linguistics OTS).
OGC manages a total of 111,89 fte, which includes 37 full professors, 18 extra-ordinary professors, 34 associate
professors, 81 assistant professors, 37 postdocs and researchers and 80 PhD-students. The research of the
institute is divided into ten programmes. Most of these programmes cross disciplinary borders. The ten programmes,
which have been described in greater detail in the fi rst part of this report, are:
1. Ancient and Medieval Cultures (prof. Mayke de Jong, 1994-)
2. Intellectual Culture and the Cultural Infrastructure in the Modern Age (prof. Wijnand Mijnhardt,
1994-)
3. The Cultural Construction of Media (prof. William Uricchio 1994-2002, prof. Frank Kessler, 2002-)
4. Arts, Culture and their Contexts (prof. Paul Op de Coul, 1999-2005)
5. Art History (prof. K. Ottenheym 1996-2002, prof. Peter Hecht 2002-)
6. Literary Studies (prof. Maarten van Buuren, 1994-)
7. Oriental Studies (prof. Frederick de Jong, 1994-)
OGC Research Institute for History and Culture
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