Excellence in Context by the Eindhoven Young Academy of Engineering

In this episode, we share a special fire-side talk recorded live during the Wellbeing Event of the Eindhoven Young Academy. Together with two senior researchers, we explored what makes team science unique, why it matters, how collaboration shapes excellence in academia. They reflect on how excellence in academia is often tied to an impossible idea: expecting researchers to excel at everything. They notice the shift towards recognizing diverse roles and valuing team science, while raising key questions: how does our view of excellence shape career and workload and and how can we better support team-based research? Because this was a live recording, the sound quality may not be as polished as our other episodes, but the conversation is full of insights worth hearing. Join us as we reflect on the challenges and opportunities of team science, and rethink what it takes to make collaborations thrive in academia.

Music: Higher Up by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

What does excellence in context mean for students, and for the people who teach them? In this episode, we sit down with a student psychologist and the university’s diversity and wellbeing officer to talk about what students struggle with, the support already in place, and what teachers can do without adding to their own workload. They emphasize that excellence is not a standalone goal, but something tied to everyday experiences: finding energy in the things you look forward to, treating failure as part of the learning process, and redefining what it means to strive for growth. Join us as we learn from their perspectives and rethink what excellence means for student wellbeing

Music: Higher Up by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

How to find your way in academics when every day you have to prepare for the unexpected? In this episode, two colleagues at TU/e openly discuss the often invisible context of their own academic career, in which they both have extensive caring duties for their children. They talk about how it has influenced and sometimes shaped their way of working and career, the relations with their colleagues, the benefits of the flexibility that comes with an academic job, but also how the expectations on career tracks and funding schemes often fail to properly take into account the circumstances of a person in life. They plead for helping people grow by giving them support rather than pressure.

Music: Higher Up by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Excellence is a term that is often used in academia. While we all probably have some idea of what this term means, it tends to remain superficial and generic. We therefore contend that to really understand and appreciate people, excellence should always be viewed in context. Without this, you often don’t see the complete picture, hampering appropriate judgement of someone's performance. Through this, talents can remain unrecognized and underappreciated. Failures, for instance, are rarely discussed, although they have a substantial effect on overall performance. Moreover, the contexts in which people operate can differ substantially, whether due to educational demands, caregiving responsibilities, or other factors. All the while, time is scarce, forcing us to make choices on where to focus our efforts and where not. 

This raises the question: What does excellence mean for people in academia, and what does it take to foster and sustain this kind of excellence for the future? 

Music: Higher Up by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

How do we sustain excellence, both at a personal and university level? In this episode, two senior TU/e colleagues dive into these questions by reflecting on their career paths, how they view themselves within the context of excellence, and what they think is needed to sustain and foster it. We learn that success often depends on others as well as yourself, and that we need people who can recognize talent in others and take a backseat while helping them to thrive. Sustainable excellence should be addressed at the university level and a university that strives to be an excellent employer should not push everyone to become excellent in every area.  

Music: Higher Up by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Is someone who obtained a personal grant excellent? And someone who didn't destined for failure? In this episode, two close colleagues at TU/e, one of whom obtained a personal grant, while the other didn't, engage in an open conversation about the differences in their career paths and the effects a personal grant (or the absence of it) can have on it. We learn that while personal grants can indeed open doors, they close others, and come with considerable pressures. The discussion nuances and questions the status of personal grants and concludes that they not only require a considerable dose of luck, but also a particular set of interests and motivations that not all (excellent) academics necessarily have.

Music: Higher Up by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com