40 years of ROA: an institute that grows with its people

For nearly thirty years, Timo Huijgen has been part of ROA. What started as a temporary replacement evolved into a career in which he witnessed the institute change up close, while also evolving along with it. He joined as a substitute during an internship placement, “kind of by accident,” as he puts it himself. But the temporary became permanent: he has now worked at ROA for almost thirty years, and within SBE for 32 years. “It’s a long time, but it doesn’t feel that way,” he says. “The colleagues are great, and so is the work. I guess that’s why I never left.”

Timo’s career illustrates how ROA grows alongside its people. He started as a management assistant, became a statistical officer, then a data analyst, and eventually developed a role in research data management, long before this had become a formal field. “Our roles were always a bit unusual within the university,” he says with a laugh. “We fell between different structures, but that also gave us the space to shape our own positions.”

He has seen ROA grow from around 25 staff members to approximately 80, and evolve from a top-down organisation into a more open one. “It has become much freer, and that’s a positive development. You don’t do the same job here for thirty years.”

The biggest change? Without a doubt, the rise of AI. “What used to take days can now be done in an hour. The core remains the same, but everything is faster and easier.”

Still, he also sees challenges: ROA’s unique position within the university, its dependence on external funding, and the need to sometimes decide not to take on everything that comes its way. “Sometimes the challenge is to say no to things, no matter how interesting they are.”

His description of ROA in one sentence: “Grounded yet unconventional, in a way that has earned us a strong reputation, both nationally and internationally.”

Didier Fouarge joined ROA in 2007, drawn by something he considers pretty rare: contributing to high-level scientific insights while also using them to inform policy and practice. He was already familiar with ROA through reports and articles and reached out directly to Andries to introduce himself. Although there was no vacancy, he was invited to give a seminar. Shortly afterwards, an opportunity arose and he started as a project leader.

Remarkably, he gave up a permanent position for a two-year temporary contract. “A bit like Pippi Longstocking: I think I can do it.” And he could: he progressed to full professor and became director in 2021.

Didier has seen ROA evolve from an institute with a clear divide between academic research and policy-oriented research to an organisation in which these worlds have increasingly merged. “That separation has disappeared. There is much more equality and collaboration now.”

As director, his focus is on connection: within teams, across research lines, and with the wider external environment. The COVID period made this especially important. “We had to bring people together again and emphasise our shared purpose.”

He sees opportunities in the broadening of the research field, the growth in the number of PhD candidates, and collaboration with educational institutions through the Education Lab. At the same time, there are challenges: workload, dependence on external funding acquisition, and the tension between policy relevance and research quality. “Rejections are part of the job, both for project proposals and academic publications. It is important that our colleagues learn to deal with this.”