A dream come true? No, it certainly isn’t, says Pamela Habibović (44) decidedly. She is professor of Inorganic Biomaterials and scientific director of MERLN, the UM institute for regenerative medicine. “In fact, when I was approached by the supervisory board for the rectorship, I thought: What, me? I then took two days to think a little about it and eventually decided that I wanted to know more. Once I was in the job application procedure, one of the things I had to do, was write a vision document, and I thought: now I want the job.”
Exciting
Why? She has two reasons, she says in a Zoom session. “The first has purely to do with me. I always want to learn something new. Well, this job is something completely different, I can develop myself further in it. I need that too, I love taking on things that are exciting, things that I don’t know yet.” The other reason has everything to do with the present academic world. “I notice that achievements are still in many cases attributed to the individual’s score card. I don’t agree with that, you can’t achieve a lot by yourself as a scientist, you always need a team. I see that I get more satisfaction from creating the right environment in which others can excel, than that I achieve something myself as a scientist, such as writing an article (she has published about a hundred, ed.) or acquiring a subsidy (she herself received Veni, Vidi and Aspasia subsidies from NWO, and a Gravity subsidy, ed.). As director of MERLN, I saw that the successes of the institute meant more to me than my own.” She thinks that maybe that is the reason why she won’t mind so much that her own research will play a less prominent role over the next eight years (the appointment is in principle for two terms, with a reappointment after the first term). “I hope, and I am going to try, to still be involved in research but at a distance. Fortunately, all my PhD candidates and postdocs have already had a second supervisor since I became director. They will now have more to do, but I will try my utmost to stay involved in their supervision.”
She realises that her vision on scientific research ties in extremely well with the national Recognition and Rewards project, which is being led in part by her future colleague Rianne Letschert, and in which team work is very important. Letschert couldn’t have put it better herself.
“That is the kind of leader I am”
The profile for the new rector states that administrative experience, preferably at the level of dean, is a must. Does she have enough of that? She laughs, then relaxed: “I don’t have it on paper. But the rectorship is less exciting than flying an aeroplane without experience. Management isn’t a trick. Management is dealing well with people in order to achieve an objective. That is the kind of leader I am. I have already done it on a smaller scale, it is mainly about communicating well. And if you look at my age and my CV, how much experience can you expect? I won’t be doing this by myself, I am surrounded by many talented people.”
No fuss
There is something down to earth about her, she doesn’t seem to have much need for status, doesn’t like a fuss. She doesn’t seem to mind at all that she will be walking in the footsteps of a very successful rector who made a start that one could only dream about, who received much credit, who does very well in the media and in doing so, grew to be the figurehead of the UM. “I don’t want to equal her, but, well, I don’t need to, I am very different to Rianne. I hope to learn a lot from her and I get on really well with her. As president, Rianne must continue to do what she does well. I don’t necessarily need to be in all the newspapers, even though I am not afraid to take centre stage when needed. I was also a figurehead for MERLN. I certainly won’t be sitting in a corner as rector, but the Executive Board is a team, everyone must work to their own strength.”
Glass ceiling
In 2018 – when she had been a professor for three years but not yet director – she said in an interview in Observant that she still hadn’t reached the glass ceiling. Is that the case now? Grinning: “This question shouldn’t be about me, the glass ceiling is much more about reaching a position. It is about acceptance. We will soon have an Executive Board with two relatively young women, which is still exceptional, unfortunately. I hope that by setting the example for others, I can show them that it is possible. I have been doing that for years.” For example, she was chairwoman of a large European association in the field of biomaterials for four years; founded in 1977. “I was the youngest chairwoman ever and the first woman. When it was announced, someone said: ‘This is the end of our association.’ It is five years later and the association is doing better than ever.” She just wants to say: high time that women were valued for what they are worth.
Engineer’s mindset
The initial period as a rector will be spent reading up on education at the UM. “Until now, I was primarily a researcher who contributed to education. Now it is a matter of me seeing the bigger picture and getting to grips with it. And yes, I have ideas about the direction it needs to go, but it is too soon to say anything about that yet.” In addition, she will of course go out to get to know the other faculties. “I mainly know FHML.”
She trained as an engineer, a scientific researcher who fits in well with the still rather young Faculty of Science and Engineering and the further expansion (recorded in the latest strategic plan) of the science side of the university. “I have a scientific mindset. An engineer’s brain works differently. We often have a no-nonsense approach and like to look for solutions that are as efficient as possible. I feel good when I am among engineers, but I can deal with it if the decision goes the other way.”
Dangerously soon
In answer to the question what she wants to have achieved at the end of her rectorship, there is hesitation. “I feel it is dangerously soon to say anything about that. I hope that the UM will be better able to show what impact we have when it comes to teaching, research or working together with local government, the region, the hospital and the industry. I really believe in interdisciplinary research where we truly use the power of the various disciplines. We need to find a way to both work together and all the disciplines using their potential to the full.”