Social Safety Statement

Statement of the Delft Young Academy in relation to the publication of the Report on Social Safety at the TU Delft published by the Inspectorate of Education, and the response from the TU Delft’s Executive Board and Board of Supervisors.

The Delft Young Academy (DYA) brings together early career academics at the TU Delft. As such, amongst our members are some of those affected by situations of lack of social safety included in the Inspectorate’s Report.

Our position is that every single case of discrimination, intimidation, exclusion, sexism, integrity violations, gossiping, racism, and bullying is unacceptable. We expect that the leadership of our university does their utmost efforts to ensure that all students and employees feel that they can come to study and work in a socially safe environment.

We were disappointed by the response to the Inspectorate’s report by the Executive Board and Supervisory Board of our university in their public statement of 1st of March. While pledging a general commitment to social safety, the response conveyed a mixed message by criticizing the methodology of the report and by adopting a defensive tone. We believe that the possibly flawed methodology should not be a reason to dismiss the evidence and poignant witness statements presented in the report. The testimonies of those who had the courage to tell their story should be listened to and be taken seriously.

We do not support the decision to bring the Inspectorate to court. Instead, we recommend using the university’s efforts and resources to develop an inclusive and constructive social safety discussion that results in plans with concrete actions.

As part of these efforts, we, as Delft Young Academy board, are prepared to act as a bridge between the community of early career academics and the university’s leadership, through a series of concrete actions and initiatives, including but not limited to:

• Support initiatives aimed at flattening hierarchical structures, both symbolic and formal, at the university, such as Ius Promovendi and Iedereen Professor.
• Advocate for more clarity and transparency on procedures regarding social safety, such regular training for staff at different levels. 
• Contribute to the integration of social safety as a key aspect of the Academic Career Track (ACT), including awareness raising and monitoring.
• Continue to monitor the ACT implementation, towards more transparent and rewarding career paths, and transparency in promotion decisions.
• Acknowledge and reward efforts by colleagues that strengthen the integrity and social safety at our university.

We aim to serve as a sounding board for the concerns and expectations of early career academics on social safety at our university, through setting up a discussion forum within our community and liaising with the university’s leadership to search for joint solutions. To this end, we are in the process of organising a wide consultation with our members to gather their views and ideas about how to improve social safety at our university, paying special attention to vulnerable groups. We will liaise with APNet and Postdoc association on any joint initiatives in this direction related to our common target group.

We look forward to working with the Executive Board, Deans, the Works Council, DEWIS and the wide variety of social partners across the university to make the TU Delft a place where everyone can feel safe and thrive.

Darinka Czischke (co-chair), Cees Haringa (co-chair), Angelo Accardo, Delphine de Tavernier, Yan Feng, Martin Sand, Ana Somoza-Tornos, Junzi Sun, Michael Weinmann, Jazmin Zatarain Salazar.