According to the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is en route to Gaza, the Israeli military has boarded several boats. Dutch newspaper Het Parool reports that Dutch UvA student Jesse van Schaik was also removed from a vessel near Cyprus.

“We are deeply concerned about their wellbeing,” delegation leader Marieke Stam told Het Parool.

Dozens of boats departed from Barcelona on 12 April. Van Schaik had previously told Folia that he was “preparing for the worst.” (IS)

A demonstration on the VU campus square has escalated into the occupation of the BelleVUe building by VU for Palestine, university magazine Ad Valvas reports. Around 13 O’clock, a group of masked protesters entered the building, after which VU staff left the premises on police orders. Police officers who arrived at the university during the afternoon were reportedly there as a precaution in case the demonstration gets out of hand, or if a counter-protest arises. It is not yet clear whether the building will need to be evacuated. (TH)

The Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde is immediately retracting a publication by the prominent Amsterdam professor Joline Beulens, who works as a professor at Amsterdam UMC. This was reported by the Dutch daily de Volkskrant today. The reason for the retraction of the article is that the 2007 article on the health effects of alcohol allegedly failed to mention that Beulens received funding for her research from the alcohol industry. The article advocates moderate alcohol consumption for older people. According to the authors, consuming one to two drinks a day provides ‘sound scientific arguments’ for a protective effect against the onset of cardiovascular disease.

Beulens has declined to comment. She previously told Follow the Money that, as a young PhD student, she had “only gradually” become aware of where the research funding came from. Beulens was also a member of the Health Council of the Netherlands’ Alcohol Advisory Committee, but has since stepped down. (DW)

To improve the implementation of the student finance system and make it more user-friendly, a legislative proposal (the Variawet) has been made. This proposal contains nineteen points aimed at improving the system and its implementation.

The rights and obligations of pupils, students and debtors are clarified, and terms and rules are agreed upon. Examples of the changes include the legal enshrinement of the obligation to remain contactable. Students must be contactable, both at home and abroad, so that their student debt can be repaid. At present, it still regularly happens that students abroad disappear from view, either deliberately or inadvertently. Their student debt currently expires after five years; the bill extends the limitation period to ten years.

The deadline for the cessation of student finance will also be aligned with the discontinuation of the student travel pass, so that students need to take only one date into account rather than two. In addition, it will become possible to apply for the lifelong learning credit with retroactive effect. (YH)

Instructure, the company behind the hacked digital learning platform Canvas, has reached a deal with the hackers from ShinyHunters. The company announced this in a statement. According to Instructure, the data stolen last week has now been deleted. The company did not say whether a ransom was paid, as demanded by the hackers.

Despite the deal, Canvas remains offline at the UvA for the time being: “UvA technicians are currently analysing the status of the system in order to carefully assess a stable and secure relaunch of Canvas.” The university expects to provide more information later today. (DH)

The student council elections for the Central Student Council (CSR) and Faculty Student Councils (FSRs) have begun. Since 9 a.m. this morning, it has been possible to vote for the fifteen participating parties. Eligible students can cast their vote via stem.uva.nl. The polling stations are open until Tuesday, 19 May. (DH)

Although Utrecht University (UU) has been able to reopen its doors today, the website of university medium DUB remains inaccessible for the time being, the magazine reported on Instagram. This is the result of a fire at a data centre in Almere. Since last Friday, the incident has been causing problems with the University of Utrecht’s network, applications and websites.

After the university remained completely closed on Friday for that reason, students are now welcome on campus again. However, they are being advised to take possible system limitations into account. (TH)

From 11 May to 26 June, the current printers will be replaced by new machines. These are more modern, energy-efficient printers. The replacement follows a European tender, in which the current supplier, Canon, emerged as the winner. Printing usage has fallen sharply in recent years: from 45 million prints in 2019 to 13.2 million prints in 2022. Students now print an average of 60 pages per year, whilst staff print an average of around 800 pages. Printing is expected to decline by a further 10 per cent in the coming years. As part of the replacement programme, the number of printers will therefore be halved.

Information managers have, in consultation with their constituencies and based on printer usage data, determined which printers will and will not be replaced. Once all printers have been replaced, the transition to a new printing environment will take place. This will happen on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 July. On those days, printing will not be possible anywhere on the UvA campus. (DW)

Effective September 1, 2026, Han van der Maas, professor of psychological methodology and Folia columnist, will become director of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS). He will take over from Huub Dijstelbloem, who has led the research institute for outstanding scientists since 2021.

According to Rector Magnificus Peter-Paul Verbeek, Van der Maas’s profile “fits seamlessly” with the IAS. Van der Maas has, in fact, done pioneering work in translating complexity theory – a theory from the natural sciences that was introduced at the IAS in 2016 under its first director, Peter Sloot – into the social sciences.

In addition, Verbeek describes Van der Maas as “a connector with a big heart for the UvA” who “knows better than anyone else what the UvA has to offer academically”. According to Verbeek, this makes Van der Maas the ideal person to further advance the IAS’s mission: to bring scientists together across disciplinary boundaries to collaborate on complex societal issues, such as climate change, geopolitical conflicts, and migration. (SvdB)