By choosing this 39-year-old chemist, the department gains a young director in the board. Boneschanscher sees this as a bold move by the executive board for a department that has been through quite a bit. The report by former dean Jaap Schouten revealed that, among other things, the administrative culture, social safety, and career prospects within the faculty were not up to standard.

"During my time as interim managing director, I saw a department that was inward-focused, but from a position of excellence, held a golden opportunity to make a social impact," he reflects on his earlier time at CE&C. 

A new way of working

Last year, he witnessed steps taken to create a new way of working together: from technology-driven to challenge-driven. “Essentially, a kind of diagram emerged where four classic disciplines (molecules, processes, and materials, divided into materials for electrochemistry and physical chemistry of materials) form the columns, and societal challenges form the rows. If you look at the department through this lens, you see where scientific excellence and societal challenges intersect, and as a result, you approach things differently.”

In a bottom-up process, the department chose to organize itself around the societal challenges of 'materials/circularity,' 'high tech,' 'health,' and 'energy.' Boneschanscher already sees opportunities to collaborate more with other departments, "for example, with Biomedical Engineering for health issues, or with Applied Physics for high-tech issues." This, he believes, will also contribute to a more open attitude within his own department.

Also appointed professor

With his appointment as dean, Boneschanscher also became a full professor, as required by law. "Traditionally, a dean is often an experienced professor," he says. "Now I'm taking on the role, even though I've never had the position of professor before. But I went through just as rigorous a process as anyone else. I wanted that myself: ask me everything you need to know, and assess me strictly, even if you already know me from my previous position." To give him enough time to focus on his deanship, his professor appointment only concerns 0.1 FTE.

He wants to immediately set a good example of this open and outward-looking attitude by collaborating with the department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences (IE&IS) through his chair. "My chair, 'Sustainable Chemistry Innovations,' will bridge a gap to the chair of Floor Alkemade of the TIS group at IE&IS, and we will focus on making the chemical industry more sustainable." 

Plans

Dean Boneschanscher has plenty of ideas for his new board role, but he wants to start by creating a large team with representatives from every discipline and every societal theme. "That's eight people in total. That sounds like a lot, but I think it works well to have these people develop collaborative strategies. And for the board, it's good to be able to brainstorm with them. This allows us to build on the renewed momentum and engagement that has emerged from the bottom-up process."

"This department is now accelerating towards a fourth-generation department," Boneschanscher looks ahead with anticipation. First-generation universities focus on education, second-generation universities on research, third-generation universities on valorization, and fourth-generation universities combine all these aspects with the goal of addressing societal challenges.

Farewell to EIRES

Mark Boneschanscher co-founded and led the energy institute EIRES for the past five years. He is eager for his new role, although he will certainly miss EIRES. Saying goodbye is difficult; it's my baby. But the team has already shown they can handle everything perfectly without me, when I had a dual role for six months (at EIRES and as interim MD at CE&C, ed.), so I'm confident things will go well here.

In addition to managing director Sham Moodliar and Boneschanscher, the CE&C board will eventually appoint a vice-dean.

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.