Daring to Connect

In turbulent times, as societal challenges grow increasingly complex, an inter- and transdisciplinary perspective is crucial. With substantial budget cuts in higher education and a tumultuous political climate, it seems harder to connect and find common ground. Yet now, more than ever, it is important to meet in education, exchange perspectives, and work towards shared visions of the future.

In 2024, we launched several projects where lecturers, students, and external stakeholders came together to explore solutions for local challenges—such as in the Placemaking module, also part of the Bachelor’s in Bèta-Gamma—or by addressing themes from the university’s strategic plan, such as ‘healthy futures’ in the Change Making module. The curiosity and creativity of students is boundless. The Create a Course Challenge gives them full rein to explore it: from more than 50 submissions, the UvA community selects a winner who gets to bring their educational idea to life. Last year’s winning course was Sex, Stigma and Steroids.

We are also proud of the new UvA-wide Master’s programme Complex Systems and Policy, which we developed in collaboration with six faculties and the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS). We are now actively recruiting for the September 2025 start. Twenty years ago, we launched the Master’s in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and we celebrated that anniversary extensively. We also won a Comenius Leadership Fellow grant—together with the Teaching and Learning Centre—for the project Empowered Minds, aimed at supporting programmes in integrating affective learning into their curricula.

We look back on a wonderful 2024 in which we, together with faculties, lecturers, and students, contributed to meaningful exchanges in education. At IIS, we feel privileged to provide that interdisciplinary space.

Enjoy the read!

Lucy Wenting, General Director of the IIS
Luca Bertolini, Scientific Director of the IIS

Edith Hooge about the IIS

‘As a university in the heart of Amsterdam, we believe it is important for our students to contribute to today's societal challenges. With courses like Changemaking and initiatives like the Create a Course Challenge, the IIS offers students the opportunity to work, interdisciplinary and in collaboration with the city, on these issues. It gives students the experience of how valuable it is to use their knowledge, curiosity and ability to co-create for a shared future. As a judge of the Create a Course Challenge, I was impressed by the current and innovative subject ideas of the nominated students. It shows how valuable it is to have a place within the university for this type of experimentation and educational innovation.’

Prof. dr. Edith Hooge, Chair of the Executive Board, Professor of Policy and Governance of Education

Vítor Vasconcelos about the IIS

"The collaboration between the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies and the Institute for Advanced Study was vital to launching the MSc in Complex Systems and Policy— a programme shaped through bottom-up dialogue across faculties and with societal partners. Transdisciplinary education could support strategic decision-making, because in the context of large societal challenges, information is sparse, emergent behavior hard to anticipate, and complexity shines.

In times of uncertainty, institutions often retreat into disciplinary silos— but the IIS and IAS show another path: one that helps our university and its partners engage the complexity of future challenges head-on. Looking ahead, this collaboration remains essential—not just for educating a new generation, but for enabling society to navigate the intertwined challenges it faces."

Dr. Vítor Vasconcelos, Co-lead of the POLDER center at the Institute for Advanced Studies, and programme director MSc Complex Systems and Policy.

Brain and Cognitive Sciences celebrates 20 years

Lecturers, students, alumni and partners gathered at Pakhuis de Zwijger to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Brain and Cognitive Sciences master's programme. It was an afternoon full of memories, visions and lively discussions that not only highlighted the rich history of the programme but also spoke about the future of the programme and the field.