Frank & Rianne, when I saw the first names of the rectors from Eindhoven and Maastricht in such intimate proximity, it reminded me of the legendary Dutch singing duo Frank & Mirella, who used to score one hit after another in the seventies and the eighties of the last century. Frank Baaijens and Rianne Letschert, because we’re talking about them here, were linked together last week on two occasions.

First, there was the happy announcement that Dutch universities and research financers aim to introduce a new system for recognizing and rewarding academics in the Netherlands. In this system, the emphasis should no longer lie exclusively on research accomplishments, but on educational accomplishments and the impact of a scientist’s research as well. Frank & Rianne, representing the umbrella organization for Dutch universities VSNU, spent a long time working on the proposal, which needs to create more balance in academic careers.

But not all is well between the two universities from the south, because a disagreement has arisen about a plan from Maastricht University – that is to say, from somewhere within Rianne’s organization – to launch two technical programs in 2020 or 2021. Frank from Eindhoven and his colleagues from Delft, Twente and Wageningen don’t see any need for such a plan and would prefer it if the programs weren’t launched. That other duo, Frank & Mirella, once had a hit song called ‘What I should want, you should want as well’, but that certainly does not apply here.

The question I ask myself is: is it possible to separate these issues and receive applause for a joint achievement (new system for recognizing and rewarding) one day, only to have one person strongly criticize the other person’s plan (launch of new technical programs) shortly thereafter? Or does the academic community operate in the same way as the music business:  singing duos also regularly break up, but they quickly reunite, because the show must go on!