Robert-Jan Smits (born 1958) is the President of the Executive Board of the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands since May 2019. [1] In 2018-2019, he was a senior adviser for open access and innovation at the European Political Strategy Centre and from 2010 to 2018, he served as director-general of research and innovation (RTD) at the European Commission. He is known for his key roles in planning Plan S, to ensure that all publicly funded scientific publications are available in Open Access by 2020, as well as for being one of the main architects of Horizon 2020.
Robert-Jan Smits was born in 1958 in the Netherlands. He has degrees from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Switzerland, and Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy in the United States. [2]
Following his studies, Smits worked for the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs from 1985 to 1989, and left in 1989 to work at the European Commission. [3]
Smits is considered one of the main architects of Horizon 2020, an EU Research and Innovation program providing €80 billion of funding between 2014 and 2020. [2] Smits has also played leading roles in developing the European Research Council, the European Research Area, and the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures. [4]
Recently, Smits has spearheaded the Plan S initiative, which requires scientists make their publications open-access immediately on publication. 11 national funding agencies in Europe, who collectively spend €7.6 billion in research grants per year, have signed up to Plan S. [5]
In May 2023, Smits was criticized for physically removing student climate activists engaged in an occupation of two meeting rooms on campus and that were seeking, among other demands, that the university cut its ties with fossil fuel producers and increased transparency about the university's commercial collaborations. [6] GroenLinks and Party for the Animals members of the Eindhoven municipal council questioned Smits' physical intervention and mentioned a previous incident in March 2022 when police had "disproportion[ately] and unlawful[ly]" intervened in a previous student climate protest. [7]
Eindhoven is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest and is also located in the Dutch part of the natural region the Campine. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022, it is the fifth-largest city of the Netherlands and the largest outside the Randstad conurbation.
The Eindhoven University of Technology, abbr. TU/e, is a public technical university in the Netherlands, situated at Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its BSc and MSc programs and around 1350 students were enrolled in its PhD and PDEng programs. In 2021, the TU/e employed around 3900 people.
North Brabant, also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the west, and the Flemish provinces of Antwerp and Limburg to the south. The northern border follows the Meuse westward to its mouth in the Hollands Diep strait, part of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. North Brabant has a population of 2,562,566 as of November 2019. Major cities in North Brabant are Eindhoven, Tilburg, Breda, its provincial capital 's-Hertogenbosch, and Helmond
The University of Twente is a public technical university located in Enschede, Netherlands. The university has been placed in the top 170 universities in the world by multiple central ranking tables. In addition, the UT was ranked the best technical university in The Netherlands by Keuzegids Universiteiten, the most significant national university ranking. The UT collaborates with Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology and the Wageningen University and Research Centre under the umbrella of 4TU and is also a partner in the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU).
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek is an independent research organization in the Netherlands that focuses on applied science.
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Smits is a Dutch surname that is considered a variant of the more common Smit surname. The name is an old plural of Smid (blacksmith), though the plural in modern Dutch would be Smeden.
Smit is a Dutch occupational surname. It represents an archaic spelling of the Dutch word "smid" for "smith" and is the Dutch equivalent of the English and Scottish surname Smith.
Egbert (Bert) Willem Meijer is a Dutch organic chemist, known for his work in the fields of supramolecular chemistry, materials chemistry and polymer chemistry. Meijer, who is distinguished professor of Molecular Sciences at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and Academy Professor of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, is considered one of the founders of the field of supramolecular polymer chemistry. Meijer is a prolific author, sought-after academic lecturer and recipient of multiple awards in the fields of organic and polymer chemistry.
Jan Karel Lenstra is a Dutch mathematician and operations researcher, known for his work on scheduling algorithms, local search, and the travelling salesman problem.
Koert van Mensvoort is an artist, philosopher and scientist best known for his work on the philosophical concept of Next Nature.
Alex Vermeulen also recognised as SOH Alex Vermeulen, is a Dutch artist known for his multimedia projects, films and film books.
Antonius Cornelis Joannes (Ton) de Leeuw is a Dutch organizational theorist and Emeritus professor of business administration at the University of Groningen, known for his contributions in the field of systems theory and methodology applied to business administration, management and innovation.
The following is a timeline of the history of the municipality of Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Jalila Essaïdi is a Dutch artist, inventor and entrepreneur based in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Essaïdi is specialised in the fields of modern biotechnology and biological arts (bio-art), and an entrepreneur in the field of sustainability with a background in business management and expertise in cross-sectoral collaborations. She is also founder and director of the non-profit BioArt Laboratories, and the for-profit Inspidere BV.
Michel Wedel is the PepsiCo Chaired Professor of Consumer Science in the Robert H. Smith School of Business, and a Distinguished University Professor, at the University of Maryland, College Park. He works on the development of statistical and econometric methods to analyze and predict consumer behavior, in addition to market segmentation and eye tracking research.
Plan S is an initiative for open-access science publishing launched in 2018 by "cOAlition S", a consortium of national research agencies and funders from twelve European countries. The plan requires scientists and researchers who benefit from state-funded research organisations and institutions to publish their work in open repositories or in journals that are available to all by 2021. The "S" stands for "shock".
SciPost is a non-profit foundation dedicated to developing, implementing and maintaining innovative forms of electronic scientific communication and publishing. It is notable for operating the scipost.org open-access scientific publishing portal.
Emiel Jan Maria Hensen is a Dutch chemist and professor of Inorganic Materials and Catalysis at Eindhoven University of Technology. Hensen's research has focused on developing novel heterogeneous catalysts, kinetics and mechanism, and energy conversion. He leads a team of over 50 researchers working to improve "clean and sustainable chemical conversion processes for the production of fuels and chemicals."
Sofía Calero Diaz is a Spanish chemist who is a professor and Vice Dean of the Department of Applied Physics and Science Education at the Eindhoven University of Technology. Her research considers computational modelling of functional materials for applications in renewable energy. She was awarded the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry Award for Scientific Excellence in 2018.