On 1 November, Jorgen D’Hondt officially starts as director of Nikhef. In doing so, he succeeds Stan Bentvelsen, whose second term as director is now coming to an end. Previously, D’Hondt was, among other things, professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, VUB director of the Interuniversity Institute for High Energies (IIHE) and president of the European Committee for Future Accelerators (ECFA).
He is enthusiastic about the appointment and looking ahead to the future: “Nikhef developed an outstanding research programme with unique opportunities for pioneering work in the next decade. As the new Nikhef director, I will maintain the vision that future advances in particle and astroparticle physics will continue to be closely linked to technological innovations to make the invisible visible.”
His appointment was announced back in July. After a transition period, he will now really start as director. On this, he says: “Through various external positions, I was already impressed by Nikhef’s many strengths, in particular its drive for innovation and its vision to create an inclusive and dynamic research environment. Meanwhile, over the past few weeks, I have been able to effectively meet many Nikhef people, all driven to build the future together with their scientific, technological and organisational talents. I now look forward to getting to work with everyone.”