The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded Erasmus School of Philosophy professor and DRIFT researcher Julia Wittmayer a prestigious Vidi grant, worth up to €850,000.
With this NWO Vidi grant, professor Wittmayer will conduct research into how the academic system itself is changing – and must change – to more effectively address intensifying challenges such as climate change, inequality, and polarisation.
A call for answers
Climate disasters, the biodiversity crisis and growing injustice – as society increasingly faces these persistent 21st-century challenges, governments, businesses, and citizens are turning more often to academia for answers. Research on such complex issues requires that scientists leave their ivory tower more often and engage in action-oriented, transdisciplinary research (i.e. research in practice and with practitioners).
But as it stands, academic systems are not well equipped for such research. Efforts to transform the scientific world are often blocked by existing rules and norms regarding research funding, and by dominant views on the role of scientists and science itself. This award signals that this gridlock is finally being taken seriously from within the university system.
“I am absolutely delighted to realise that, as a professor at one of the country’s largest universities, I can now, supported by the main Dutch research funder, explore how academia can reinvent itself.“
Julia WittmayerA milestone for philosophical enrichment
The launch of the ‘Academia in Transition’ research project, made possible by NWO’s support, marks Professor Wittmayer’s first major milestone since her appointment in July 2025 as Professor of Transdisciplinarity and Societal Transformations at the Erasmus School of Philosophy (ESPhil).
Dean Liesbeth Noordegraaf-Eelens remarks on the importance of this appointment: “Julia Wittmayer’s research is an inspiring example of how a leading scholar not only dares to question the position of academia, but also seeks to formulate alternatives. I look forward with great confidence to Julia’s contribution to ESPhil’s research and teaching.”
Within the Erasmus School of Philosophy, this appointment is more than a formal expansion of research on societal transitions – it signifies a philosophical enrichment of that research. Philosophy provides the space to examine the assumptions, values, and knowledge practices that shape and legitimise the scientific system.
By viewing the university not only as a producer of knowledge, but also as an active and responsible actor, Wittmayer explores the ethical, epistemological, and institutional conditions for science in times of climate crisis and social inequality. In doing so, her work strengthens ESPhil’s role as a place where thinking and doing, reflection and action, mutually reinforce one another.
Recognising the value of action research
There is no time to lose for the newly appointed professor and NWO Vidi laureate. Julia Wittmayer combines her professorship with a position as Senior Researcher at DRIFT (Dutch Research Institute for Transitions). She will be able to draw directly on her extensive experience with action research gained there.
With this grant, she aims not only to encourage the academic community to collaborate more frequently with societal partners on practical solutions to urgent problems, but also to work together to transform the existing institutions that hinder such collaboration. This approach is fully aligned with Erasmus University Rotterdam’s Strategy 2030, which seeks “to understand contemporary, complex societal challenges and ensure that our education, research and engagement make a positive and sustainable contribution to solving them.“
