As of today, the cycle shed in the Gasthuishof, the Allard Pierson’s courtyard garden, has been removed. The shed has to make way for the forthcoming renovation of the courtyard. Over the coming months, the courtyard will be transformed into a replica of the Hortus Medicus, a medicinal garden that was situated on roughly the same site in the 17th century.
 
The cycle shed is making way for a water supply system for the new garden and will therefore not be returning. Staff are advised to park their bikes from now on in the indoor cycle shed at Oude Turfmarkt 145 or to use the cycle shed beneath the University Library.
 
The university warns that any bikes not collected by next week will be removed. (MH)

Last week, the legislative proposal Fitting leases, that requires landlords to offer their tenants a contract for an indefinite period after a thirty-day-stay, was met with criticism by the Umbrella organisation Universiteiten van Nederland and the Hogeschool Utrecht. This was reported by De Telegraaf.

According to the Hogeschool, the new law would not only impact the hotel industry, but students as well. It could hinder international students in their search for housing. The law could for instance make renting to students, that stay in the Netherlands for a shorter period, less attractive. Umbrella organisation Universiteiten van Nederland says it shares that concern.
 

The critique did not fell on deaf ears. Responsible minister Boekholt-O’Sullivan, in charge of the portfolio Housing and Spatial Planning, comments that she is prepared to revise the proposal by addressing the “bottlenecks”. She emphasizes that the proposal after all was intended to “strengthen the position of students, expats and migrant workers in the housing market”. (MH)

Warren Gregory, better known as the Flowerbikeman, has been allowed to await his likely deportation in freedom. A judge ruled this today. Earlier this week, an interview with Gregory was published on the Folia website. At the time the article was published, he was still being held in custody, but that has now come to an end. The state must also pay him more than €1,000 in compensation. (TH)

Former PvdA MP Mariëtte Hamer is to lead the list on behalf of Pro – formerly GroenLinks-PvdA – in the Senate elections next May. Hamer thus succeeds politician Paul Rosenmöller, who announced his departure last week.

Mariëtte Hamer studied general linguistics at the UvA and founded the National Students’ Union in the 1980s, becoming its chair. Between 1998 and 2014, she was a PvdA Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives, and in 2014 she became chair of the SER, the Social and Economic Council. In 2022, she was appointed government commissioner on sexual misconduct and advocated, amongst other things, for sex education for first-year students. (SvdB)

Students living in the HiCondo residential complex in Amsterdam feel that alderman Zita Pels (Housing) is not listening to them. The Dutch daily De Telegraaf reports this. The students have been complaining for some time about intimidation by their landlord, including threatening emails about collection costs and eviction. The municipality, however, says there is insufficient evidence to classify the landlord's actions as intimidation.

The municipality has taken action against the landlord, including over excessive service charges, security deposits and rents. Rent has since been reduced for seven of the more than 350 studios. For residents, however, this does not feel like the “tough action” or “strong signal” the municipality previously promised. (DH)

Last night, Dutch professor Marcel van der Heijden won the Ig Nobel Prize for his research, in which he had volunteers in Switzerland bury two thousand cotton underpants. Had the underpants been broken down by micro-organisms after two months? That would indicate healthy soil.

The Ig Nobel Prize, a parody of the Nobel Prize, is awarded annually to ten high-profile studies that first make you laugh and then make you think. Other studies that won awards looked at how exactly to define a kiss, the benefits of cockroach milk and how to blow your nose. Two years ago, the prize went to research by the UvA.

After 35 years in the US, this year’s ceremony took place in Zurich for the first time. Founder Marc Abrahams moved the ceremony to Europe because it was no longer safe for international visitors to travel to the US. Next year, the ceremony will take place in Antwerp. (SvdB)

Three students started studying Frisian at the University of Groningen (RUG) this week, reports Omrop Fryslân. This is notable: it is the first time in fifteen years that a full academic programme dedicated to the Frisian language is being offered in the Netherlands.

For years, there was too little interest in a bachelor's programme devoted entirely to Frisian. To make the programme possible, funding was provided by the government in The Hague and the province. The three Frisian students will share a number of courses with Dutch Studies students

At the UvA, Frisian is only available as an elective. (DH)

Carolien Abrahamse will become the UvA's new Director of Human Resources Management (HRM). Starting October 17, she will succeed Robert Grem, who left the UvA in August to join LUMC. As director, she will serve as a strategic adviser to the Executive Board (CvB) and will be responsible for HR and organisational matters.

Abrahamse currently works as People Strategy & Change Leader at consultancy firm PwC Netherlands, where she worked alongside Executive Board Vice-Chair Richard Goldstein, who was a partner there until last September. (DH)

The number of Dutch students living away from home has fallen by more than 16 percent in eight years. De Volkskrant reports this based on figures from the National Student Housing Monitor. According to Kences, the knowledge centre behind the monitor, the persistent shortage in the housing market is likely prompting many students to stay with their parents for longer.

Last academic year, more than 381,000 higher education students lived in student accommodation. Around one-third of them came from abroad, compared with 19 percent eight years ago. This means the share of international students among those living in student housing has increased significantly. (DH)