Mission Statement 2021

The Young Arts Network or YARN is a network that brings together enthusiastic, ambitious and talented junior ('early career') academic staff (ECAS) in the Faculty of Arts. Its members organize a variety of activities related to research, teaching, outreach, career and faculty policy. YARN was founded in 2017 and currently has 14 members.

YARN’s main goal is bringing together, fostering exchange, and promoting the interests of ECAS within the Faculty of Arts. It does so by organizing outreach events and dialogue with a range of external stakeholders such as the Young Academy Groningen (YAG) or other Young researcher networks at the University of Groningen, and by collecting, expressing and amplifying the voices of ECAS vis-a-vis the Faculty Board.

More specifically, YARN strives for:

- Generating an open and welcoming environment for ECAS so that they can fully realise their work in the realms of education, research, policy and administration.

- Working towards an inspiring, safe, collegial and productive professional home for ECAS, with two specific areas of focus: diversity and interdisciplinarity.

• Important topics for YARN with regard to diversity are inclusion and social justice reflected in a diverse staff and students’ background, a respectful environment for the expression of opinions, and diversity in research topics and approaches.

• YARN also wants to enable and support interdisciplinary collaborations (both inter-faculty and within the Faculty of Arts), both in research and teaching

- Fostering intensive dialogue with the faculty to

• Exchange ideas and brainstorm on current topics in teaching, research and policy that are put on the agenda by the faculty board, other faculty members, and/or by YARN,

• Collaborate on projects working towards a healthy working environment of ECAS, by advocating for better work-life balance, less precarious contracts, strong career prospects and mobility, attracting ECAS with strong local and international embedding,

• Increase visibility of ECAS in and outside of the Faculty of Arts