Thea Laan: experienced in the management of the Campus

'We get questions from all over the Neuroscience Campus. Our world has grown immensely.' As secretary to the Director of the Institute, Thea Laan formally manages the contacts with the approximately four hundred people that are embedded in the Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam.

'Much of my work consists of keeping track of everything that is happening within the Neuroscience Campus. We get a lot of practical questions from researchers, which we have to answer as properly as possible. It really can be hard to provide information on an organisation that is only six months old.
Often the organisational structures are not completely clear, so much of our work is about creating more transparency. The development of an online portal is very important in that respect. It will bind people together.

'In our interaction with researchers, we are already noticing that the concept of the Neuroscience Campus is winning ground. After we presented the posters to promote the Campus, we immediately received emails, asking whether there were powerpoint formats yet for researchers to use. People are getting involved.'

Thea Laan has been involved in the Neuroscience Campus since its very beginnings. 'Together with Arjen Brussaard I started on this project last year, but we had no idea how big the task would be. As the project grew in our hands, we fortunately were able to employ Sandra van den Berg in January, which was perfect timing. Now we three are running the Campus.'

In the Office of the Director, Thea Laan brings the institutional knowledge of twenty-eight years of experience at the VU. 'I started at the Faculty of Biology, grew up in the Faculty of Life and Earth Sciences. After all those years people tend to get too keen on their routines. Now I feel that I'm being challenged again, which is good. And after all, it's a great place to work: that is what keeps me here, even after twenty-eight years.'