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Ralph Meulenbroeks has been appointed as chairman of the Freudenthal Institute by Dean Isabel Arends as of September 1, 2024. He succeeds Toine Pieters, who is resigning from his position as chairman of the board after 10 years.

Isabel Arends, dean of the Faculty of Science, about the appointment: ''Ralph has a strong passion for education, research, and impact. In combination with his open and connecting attitude he is the right person to lead the Freudenthal institute in the future.''

Meulenbroeks appointment follows an application process that started almost a year ago, he says. ''There were many internal discussions about the type of person taking over following Toine’s departure, about the requirements that person must meet. A profile emerged. When I looked at that profile I thought, yes, this fits.''

The new chairman talks with great enthusiasm about the institute and the importance of the work being done: ''I think 'Scientific Literacy for Life' is a really beautiful and important mission. Ensuring that everyone can have a say in scientific developments, developments that we are constantly dealing with and will have to deal with in the future, is essential. I'm excited about that. As a teacher, as a researcher and as a coordinator of all kinds of large projects, I have already worked on this. The fact that I can now do this as chairman of the institute is of course a wonderful opportunity."

Ensuring that everyone can have a say in scientific developments, developments that we are constantly dealing with and will have to deal with in the future, is essential.

The teacher shortage was and is also an important theme for Meulenbroeks. The project has been one of his focal points in recent years. The Freudenthal Institute provides teacher training in mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry and computer science within the Graduate School of Teaching. The Institute has a wealth of research experience in these areas and, according to Meulenbroeks, knows how to integrate that experience into teacher training, a good example of "social impact".

Science, philosophy & AI

The Freudenthal Institute (FI) is, also within Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, a bit of an anomaly. In 2014, the Freudenthal Institute for Science and Mathematics Education and the Institute for History and Philosophy of Science merged to form the current FI. The fusion created a multidisciplinary institute with around 100 employees who are concerned with the history and philosophy of, education in and communication about mathematics and the natural sciences in the broadest sense.

The Freudenthal Institute is therefore no longer an institute that merely deals with arithmetic education - although this of course remains an important group within the institute. The integration and combination of science, history and philosophy may not be clear to everyone, but Meulenbroeks explains that it is actually a very logical connection. You need to know what science is, where it comes from, what the paradigms are, and so on. And you must be able to highlight science: you need our education and science communication experts for that. All those things are extremely important. And that entirety really appeals to me personally.''

Meulenbroeks himself also has a background in which he combined different disciplines and areas of interest. During his studies and in his later career he combined science and music. He is also interested in philosophy. "I'm deeply into Proust at the moment" he says. The mix of disciplines and perspectives therefore links both on a personal level and in the institute.

Meulenbroeks also sees further potential to bring everything together. He takes the example of AI. ''I don't think we have a good idea yet of ​​how much of an influence AI will have, how it will change our lives. But here too we are forced to think about fundamental philosophical questions. What exactly is science? What is AI? What is education? What should we teach our young people? And what skills and abilities are needed for teachers and communication experts? If we live in a world where writing a cover letter no longer has value, what does? That requires a discussion in which you need all parts of the FI. And if I really go on a philosophical tour, I think, it could just be that you end up in the arts and take things from that domain.''

Future vision

Meulenbroeks' other plans for the future also focus on the everyday tasks of running an institute. Finances, projects and managing the team. ''We are a very broad institute, which is great, but there’s a challenge there as well - to make clear to the outside world what we do, but also to find internal cohesion between the different groups and to work on diversity. We have already taken many steps in that regard, but there is still much to do. And of course that is also great to be able to get to work on. We have very good people, and I want our people to be inspired and say, I do fun and important work. In addition, there is a strategic plan that we are in the middle of. We are busy working on that and we will continue to do so.''

The vision from the strategic plan will therefore be continued in the coming years. Meulenbroeks continues to talk about what he hopes to achieve in the future. ''There is a lot of potential. When people think of the Freudenthal Institute, I would like it if they associate us with that scientific literacy. That we can give all citizens, really all citizens, the knowledge and skills to deal with all the technological information and challenges that come their way. When there is a new challenge or project, and a decision has to be made on how to implement it, I want people to immediately think of the FI to solve it. Because that is where our strength lies. And we sometimes don't realize that we are very unique in that."