Expected: First half of 2026.

Book title: Fixing Academia – Reflections from a new generation of scholars.

Background: Universities can be great places to work and are designed to play an important role as institutions for knowledge creation, education and real-world impact. There are, however, also some issues that warrant attention from academics, policy makers, funders, and university managers, to make academia fit for the challenges of the 21st century. What’s currently ‘broken’ in academia, and how can it be fixed? With these questions in mind, ten members of Amsterdam Young Academy wrote the book “Fixing Academia – Reflections from a new generation of scholars”, which will be published in 2026 by VU University Press. Topics that are covered in the book include but are not limited to: the accessibility of academic education, reforming allocation of research money, the problematic power of commercial academic publishers, balancing parenting and academic careers, the usefulness and problems related to hierarchies at universities, and the impact of pharmaceutical companies on scientific work.

Preorder/contact: The book will be published open access (online). A limited number of physical copies of the book can be purchased online and in bookstores. Journalists can use the contact form to request a free copy of the book.

Book editors: Dion Kramer & Berend van der Kolk.

Contributors to this book: Yusuf Çelik (chapter 1), Diletta Martinelli & Maarten Bolhuis (chapter 2), Dion Kramer (chapter 3), Laura S. Dreissen (chapter 4), Evgenia I. Lysova (chapter 5), Callista Mulder (chapter 6), Gea Dreschler (chapter 7), Tiago R. Matos (chapter 8), Berend van der Kolk (chapter 9).

Publisher: VU University Press.

Updates regarding this project and the publication of the book will be shared here.
Use the contact form to contact the editors.