Marc Bierkens appointed interim dean of Geosciences

In December, the university announced that Wilco Hazeleger, Dean of the Faculty of Geosciences, will succeed Henk Kummeling as the rector of Utrecht University. This forced the faculty board to look for someone to replace him in his current position.

They have decided to appoint an interim dean first. Marc Bierkens, a Professor of Geographic Hydrology and a researcher at the Deltares, will occupy this position. He researches if enough water will be available for a growing world population. Bierkens is already part of the faculty board as its vice dean of Research.

Bierkens (1965) studied in Wageningen and obtained his PhD in Utrecht. After his PhD, he worked in Wageningen at the research institute Alterra. In 2002, he was appointed professor of Hydrology in Utrecht.

The university will soon start a recruitment procedure to find the new dean. In the latest Geosciences Faculty Council meeting, held last Tuesday, UU President Anton Pijpers said that the recruitment process will take place both internally and externally. They expect to publish the vacancy in February, find the new dean in May or June, and have them start in September. The faculty council was asked to comment on a preliminary text for the vacancy, which emphasised that the new dean would have to deal with significant budget cuts. "It sounds like this will be one of the main tasks," council members noted, wondering what kind of candidates this would attract.