Dear reader,

For its 75th anniversary, SBE aimed to sharpen the positioning of the faculty. It soon became apparent that 'free thinking' is a value that almost all of us share and convey in research and teaching. A value that naturally fits very well with the VU, which after all was founded for free thinking, without influence from church and state. When discussing the new positioning around this value with our programme directors, we found that there was general agreement on its fittingness. That is until one of the undergraduate directors said, “I try not to let our students think freely at all.” For a moment we fell silent, while everyone looked at him with a mixture of surprise and curiosity. He laughed amusedly and continued with: “Students should actually unlearn free thinking; they should learn to think within the framework of science.”

He was absolutely right, of course. Academic skills such as critical reflection, arguing, coming up with creative solutions and communicating effectively are only valuable to science and society if they follow the conventions and frameworks which we, as scientist, have imposed upon ourselves. Since fake news does not advance society, it is essential that students learn the conventions and frameworks in order to learn to think freely. Therefore, though academic skills may not be the most popular parts of our courses, I still dare say they are the most important.

This edition of Vuurwerk is full of free thinkers who find counterintuitive research outcomes, seek connection in society and advocate critical thinking. Menusch Khadjavi and Kacana Sipangule, for instance, demonstrated in their research that the arrival of large-scale farms close to communities with small-scale traditional farms in Zambia not only leads to higher productivity, which everyone naturally expects, but also to positive effects on the communities, such as more gender equality. And of course, Marilieke Engbers: she helps professionals in the boardroom stay contrarian and teaches them how to keep asking critical questions.

I am extremely proud that Menusch and Marilieke are also in the classroom, inspiring our students to think freely! I hope that they, and the other SBE-members passing by in this edition, inspire you too. I hope you enjoy reading this edition of Vuurwerk!

On behalf of the Faculty Board,

Michiel van Drunen Director of Education