Report of the Supervisory Board

Taking into account the nature of the university, its activities and the desired expertise, the Supervisory Board has drawn up a profile for its size and composition. This profile is public and can be found on the EUR website. For further information, see the Supervisory Board | Erasmus University Rotterdam.

The Supervisory Board is composed in such a way that the members can operate independently and critically with respect to each other, the Executive Board and other stakeholders. The members of the Supervisory Board are appointed for a period of four years by the Minister of Education, Culture and Science (OC&W) and the Supervisory Board reports to this minister. The Supervisory Board comprises 60% men and 40% women.

The composition of the Supervisory Board remained unchanged in 2025 and was as follows:

•  Prof. Jaap Winter – Chair of the Supervisory Board
•  Prof. Ellen Giebels – Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board and Chair of the Quality Committee
• Dr Rahul Vas-Bhat – Chair of the Audit Committee
• Ms Angelique Berg – Member of the Audit Committee
• Prof. Elmer Sterken – Member of the Quality Committee

The Supervisory Board has an Audit Committee and a Quality Committee.

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee focuses on EUR’s financial policy (including its internal control and risk management) and operational management. The external auditor periodically reports their findings to the Audit Committee.

The Audit Committee met four times in 2025. During these meetings it provided advice on many topics, including:

•  The EUR Multi-year budget, the EUR Annual Financial Statements and Erasmus Perspectives (the framework memorandum);
• The findings set out in the Auditor’s Management Letter and the Auditor’s report;
• Various periodic financial reports and calculations, including on the impact of the policies of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, in particular the government’s plans to cut funding and the consequences of the Balanced Internationalisation Act;
• Enrolment figures from the 1 October student count and the impact on funding;
• The internal allocation of resources to faculties and service units in support of the primary objectives for teaching, research and valorisation, and the link to the EUR Strategy 2030;
• EUR Business Continuity Management and EUR Corporate Risk Management, and the progress on Integrated Security and Knowledge Security;
• The Internal Audit function: the Audit & Review Agenda, the results of audits and follow-up on action points;
• Half-yearly financial report on the ‘Campus in Development’ real estate strategy and the short- and medium-term real estate plans, including progress on the renovation of the listed Tinbergen Building;
• Results and areas for improvement regarding EUR’s Procurement Policy;
• Preparations for the implementation of the new operational management system;
• IT (Information security plan, risk detection, cyber security);
• Progress in the registration of ancillary positions of professors and other staff;
• The potential consequences of the tightening of the ‘Policy Rule on Investment of Public Funds in Private Activities’ of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

Quality Committee

The Quality Committee focuses on the quality of education and research, and on safeguarding and boosting this quality within EUR and in collaborations.

The Quality Committee met four times in 2025. During these meetings, the committee discussed the following topics, among others:

•  Strengthening internal quality assurance;
• The Institutional Quality Assurance Audit (ITK) dossier;
• Internationalisation;
• The process for allocating Administrative Agreement funds;
• Grant success;
• Development of the Community for Learning & Innovation (CLI);
• Recognition and Rewards;
• Lifelong Learning;
• Insights into enrolment, progression and graduation figures;
• Appointments of professors.

In its capacity as employer of the Executive Board, the Supervisory Board held evaluation meetings in 2025 on cooperation with the Executive Board as a whole and with individual Executive Board members. The Supervisory Board has strictly complied with the Senior Executives in the Public and Semi-Public Sector (Standards for Remuneration) Act (Wet Normering Topinkomens, WNT) in relation to the remuneration of Executive Board members. This also applied to the remuneration of members of the Supervisory Board.

As part of its duties, the Supervisory Board oversaw the lawful acquisition and efficient and lawful spending of funds, and the design of the quality assurance system. In 2025, the Supervisory Board held four regular meetings with the Executive Board, one strategy session with the deans and the Executive Board, and one two-day strategy session with the Executive Board. The Supervisory Board ensured that a wide variety of topics were discussed with the Executive Board at the meetings throughout the year, as a result of which a comprehensive view was gained of the organisation. In their joint meetings in 2025, the Supervisory Board and Executive Board discussed and approved a number of documents in accordance with the Supervisory Board’s statutory powers, including the following:

• EUR 2024 Annual Report and Financial Statements;
• EUR Budget 2026-2030;
• EUR Administration and Management Regulations (Bestuurs- en Beheerreglement, BBR) 2026;
• EUR Strategy 2030.

In 2025, the Chairs of the Supervisory Boards of Dutch universities met twice in their national meeting. These meetings were chaired by the Chair of the EUR Supervisory Board. Amongst other topics, discussions touched on the potential consequences of limiting the influx of international students at universities under the Balanced Internationalisation Act. There was also an in-depth discussion of social safety at universities and experiences of demonstrations on university campuses in response to the geopolitical situation.

EUR’s participation in various regional, national and international partnerships and strategic alliances was a regular item on the agenda.

The EUR-TU Delft-Erasmus MC Convergence alliance was established in 2019 to provide an integrated approach to complex societal problems from different perspectives. The Supervisory Board was kept informed and involved by the Executive Board in a number of discussions about this collaborative alliance, of which the ultimate goal is to create societal impact, using the region as a ‘living lab’. The framework agreement, signed in 2021, also establishes agreements on operational management within the Convergence that are coordinated from the Convergence Office. A separate governance structure has been established for the Convergence alliance, with a Convergence Executive Board and a Convergence Supervisory Board. The Chair of the Supervisory Board participates in the latter.

EUR has partnered with Leiden University and TU Delft as part of the LDE cooperative arrangement. This collaboration centres around multidisciplinary education at the intersection of technology and society and is also regularly discussed at meetings between the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board.

EUR is the coordinator for UNIC, a European partnership of eight universities. Results from the partnership were discussed in meetings with the Executive Board.

In accordance with statutory provisions, the Supervisory Board monitors the quality and performance of individual members and of the Supervisory Board as a whole. An internal evaluation took place as usual in 2025. This included input from the Executive Board with regard to collaboration. Developments in the levels of knowledge and skills of members, the role of the Supervisory Board and the additional powers of the Supervisory Board were discussed. The internal evaluation also included a dialogue with the Executive Board on further developing insights into important, forward-looking themes for EUR, based on current information collected from EUR, partnerships, society in general and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

Reflection by the Supervisory Board

As an impact-driven and engaged university, EUR once again felt the full impact of current geopolitical and social developments on its range of programmes offered, society-oriented research and partnerships in 2025. The question: ‘who are we actually working with?’ became an increasingly prominent issue, for example in relation to the fossil fuel industry and in alliances with institutions in various countries.

This also sparked a wider debate about what the university considers to be scientifically valid and how it can continue to safeguard research integrity and academic freedom.

As the Supervisory Board, we believe EUR is taking the right steps to address these issues, for example by establishing a framework for collaboration with the fossil fuel industry and an assessment framework for knowledge security and for sensitive collaborations with institutions abroad. In this regard, the assumption is always that the faculties themselves are responsible for making such assessments. At the same time, the Executive Board also makes decisions at the central level when it believes that an institution-wide assessment would provide guidance for the decision-making process. For example, when an overarching ethical question has been raised or when the safety of staff and students is at risk. 

This balancing act between maximum faculty responsibility and freedom, and safeguarding overarching goals and values at a strategic level, made 2025 a remarkable and intense year. It is particularly important at a Social Studies & Humanities (SSH) university such as EUR that such moves are made in collaboration with the community and regular checks are carried out to ensure that staff and students still feel properly represented by their faculty and their university. The key focus is on creating space for people to express their views, although it is always a challenge to give a voice to the majority who do not normally speak up. The Supervisory Board has observed how the Executive Board has engaged in dialogue with the EUR community, always with good reason and with varying degrees of success. Regular demonstrations and incidents on campus relating to the situation in Gaza and Israel have revealed an inevitable polarisation. The hardening of positions has caused unease and tension within the community. Quite rightly, the Executive Board’s efforts have consistently been focused on providing ongoing opportunities for dialogue and evaluation. At a university, people must be able to express their views, even with emotion, but this requires everyone to show the mutual respect that is necessary to maintain a community. The opportunity to join forces with Rotterdam City Council in a joint approach was also put to good use. The Supervisory Board regularly asked the Executive Board to explain its own management experiences and, in doing so, helped it to decide on the most appropriate approach.

In 2025, the university’s strategic plan was discussed as part of a thorough process involving the university community, collaborative partners and societal partners, and was subsequently reaffirmed in EUR Strategy 2030. The new strategic plan sets out a clear vision for the future, enabling EUR, as an SSH university, to firmly position itself as an engaged university that can make a difference in its region through social engagement and be a global leader in pioneering education and research. In these times of financial uncertainty, resulting from the government’s cuts to higher education funding and the Balanced Internationalisation Act, this clear positioning will help to refine and achieve our teaching and research objectives.

The continuing uncertainty regarding financial frameworks from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science throughout the year, stemming from a lack of clarity around government policy, made it difficult for the university to navigate these challenges. The Supervisory Board notes that the Executive Board played a key role in reaching strong agreements between the universities in the context of the self-regulation arrangements approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

The Supervisory Board concludes that, in 2025, the Executive Board made progress with regard to the strategic vision of EUR as a socially engaged university. At the same time, the Executive Board demonstrated resilience by being well equipped to manage and discuss the tangible impact of external factors – such as geopolitical debates and uncertain government measures (particularly financial measures) – within the EUR community, and to integrate this impact into policies and frameworks.