Work Activities The director of AMOLF is a recognised scientist with a strong international reputation, a passion and vision for the main research directions of AMOLF, and a strong interest in leading a research organisation. It is common to combine the directorship position with heading an active research group at the institute.
As director of AMOLF, you lead AMOLF’s scientific and support staff in an engaging manner, with a keen eye for potential future directions, and a vision for the position of AMOLF within the Dutch research landscape. You are also responsible for initiating contacts and collaborations with industrial, societal, and academic partners. As AMOLF is one of NWO’s ten research institutes, the director is also a member of the collegial team of institute directors in order to align a common agenda for the whole organization.
Responsibilities & Key Challenges - As director, you maintain the institute’s excellent scientific quality, foster the existing research themes and identify new cross-disciplinary research directions and opportunities for collaboration with industry.
- You are responsible for leading the institute, in close collaboration with the management team consisting of the director, institute manager and the three department heads.
- You foster relationships with Dutch universities and other national and international partners in science, industry, and society, and proactively engage AMOLF in research consortia and funding opportunities.
- You are the primary representative of AMOLF and actively advocate the interest of the institute in a dynamic external environment.
- You are responsible for the institute’s staff recruitment and talent development.
- You create a diverse and safe working environment, fostering a collaborative and stimulating atmosphere. You act as a role model for these qualities.
- The AMOLF director is accountable to the chair of the Board of the NWO Institute organization and reports to the Board concerning AMOLF’s scientific strategy and mission.
Qualifications As a director of AMOLF, you bring:
- Capacity to develop the institute’s scientific and organisational strategy with a clear vision, and to translate this strategy into concrete actions.
- Experience in building a high-performance team of professionals.
- Proven management experience.
- Ability to engage in national and international scientific consortia and to secure funding. Interest in developing opportunities for industrial collaborations, and building a strong external network, including governmental and societal partners.
- Commitment to an empathetic and inclusive leadership style that allows employees at all levels to develop optimally, resulting in an inspiring and collaborative working environment. This environment is nurtured by personal interactions, for which a strong presence is essential.
- Capacity to clearly explain complex messages, and enthusiasm for open communication both within and outside the institute.
- Familiarity with the Dutch and European system of scientific research and the relevant political structures.
Work environment AMOLF is the national research institute for the physics of functional complex matter in the Netherlands. AMOLF’s mission is to initiate and perform leading fundamental research on the physics of complex forms of matter, and to create new functional materials. We do this in partnership with academia and industry, providing solutions to societal challenges. AMOLF is one of ten research institutes under the umbrella of the Dutch Research Council (as NWO-I, Foundation for Dutch Scientific Research Institutes), and is located at Amsterdam Science Park.
AMOLF regularly renews its scientific programme with the aim of serving as an incubator for new cross-disciplinary research directions, encompassing physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. The current research themes are Sustainable Energy Materials, Information in Matter, and Autonomous Matter. In 2023 a strategic plan for the next six years has been laid out (see the
AMOLF website).
With a yearly budget of around €25 million, AMOLF hosts 19 research groups and has 250 employees, including about 70 PhD students and 30 postdocs. It is a flat and informal organisation committed to internal collaboration and sharing infrastructure between groups. AMOLF shares its support staff, which consists of about 50 technicians with a wide variety of expertise and 35 administrative support staff, with another NWO-institute ARCNL (Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography). About a third of the research projects are performed in collaboration with industrial partners. The base funding from NWO covers the costs of infrastructure, support staff and the tenured staff. Junior research positions and material budgets are funded by external grants, earned in national and international competition, and by collaborative contracts with industry.
Working conditions We offer a contract for 40 hours per week. NWO-I will employ you on a tenured appointment with an initial commission as AMOLF director for a five-year term, after which reappointment can take place for another term. After that, it is possible to continue working within NWO-I in a different position. AMOLF can support the transition of your research group to the institute.
The gross monthly salary -dependent on experience- ranges from €9,526 to €12,644 (scale 18 in the Dutch Collective Labour Agreement for Research Institutes), with an additional 8% holiday allowance and 8.33% year-end bonus.
NWO-I offers a flexible set of secondary employee benefits, including both retirement and work disability pensions through the national Civil Pension Fund ABP. If accepting this position requires your partner to find new employment, we can offer assistance.
More information? More information on AMOLF can be found on the
AMOLF website. For further information about the position, you can approach AMOLF management team member prof.dr. Sander Tans (s.tans@amolf.nl) and AMOLF’s institute manager dr. Paula van Tijn (p.van.tijn@amolf.nl).
For information about the procedure Henk Tamsma, secretary to the advisory appointment committee, is available (h.tamsma@nwo-i.nl, +31 6 16049639).
Application If you feel the profile fits you, and you are interested in the position, we look forward to receiving your application. You can apply online via the button on the page. We will accept applications up to and including 1 June 2025.
Your application should include the following information:
- A letter which addresses your working life path and how your experience contributes to the job profile
- A detailed cv
- A list of publications
The first round of interviews will be held end of June / beginning of July 2025.
A certificate of good conduct will be required in the final stage of the process. Screening (selection assessment) and online screening may be part of the procedure.
Diversity code AMOLF is highly committed to an inclusive and diverse work environment: we want to develop talent and creativity by bringing together people from different backgrounds and cultures. We recruit and select on the basis of competencies and talents. We strongly encourage anyone with the right qualifications to apply for the vacancy, regardless of age, gender, origin, sexual orientation or physical ability.
AMOLF has won the NNV Diversity Award 2022, which is awarded every two years by the Netherlands Physical Society for demonstrating the most successful implementation of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).
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