UNLimited – 28 and 29 September 2023

A gathering about transcending boundaries for everyone who works at, with and for universities

On thursday september 28 and friday september 29 2023, Universities of The Netherlands will host the UNLimited Festival

With UNLimited 2023 the universities will show how they work continuously towards better education, excellent research and an even bigger impact on their region. UNLimited will bring together new insights, best practices, learned lessons to make universities more versatile and resilient, so that they can take society to the next level.

Queen Máxima will festively open the first edition of UNLimited. As honorary president of the MIND Us Foundation, she will pay special attention to the mental well-being of students. Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf and ASML CEO Peter Wennink will also be present at the opening. Furthermore, we take a look into the galaxy through the lenses of the biggest radio telescope of the world with dr. Marc Klein Wolt, director of the Radboud Radiolab. On Friday we close the festival with the Academic Startup Competition, but not before we stopped for a quick trip to the moon in the mobile planetarium. Between sessions there is enough time for good coffee and good conversations with initiatives for the higher education sector like Wetenschapveilig, Recognition & Rewards and the team from the Teaching Agenda.

The programme is put together by and for the universities, about education policy, talent strategies, campus development and dilemma’s in national and international cooperation, student wellbeing, digitalisation, flexibilisation and right use of data. All in a different guise than the one you are used to: no reports and papers, but discussion, Theatercolleges, whirling workshops, a trip through space and the education innovation café. 

UNLimited will have four key items:

The university as a driver of progress
Give your input on how we could use science communication in our society

The university as a breeding ground for talent
Take part in an open conversation with young scientists about talent, work pressure and personal and professional development

The foundation of the university
Exchange knowledge about the campus of the future with sustainable innovations

The university as a hub of cooperation
Let yourself be inspired by insights and challenges that come with crossing the boundaries of the binary system

Ralph Meulenbroeks en Ghislaine van Bommel

Exploring ways to implement well-being support initiatives for students

Student well-being forms the basis of a structure on campus where students flourish and can develop their talents. However, in order to validate interventions and measures, we often lack the indicators to perform online and continuous monitoring of our – often well meant – initiatives. First, the theoretical background on student well-being in terms of Self-Determination Theory as well as practical implications of well-being initiatives are briefly presented. Thereafter, participants are invited to brainstorm about ways to monitor and promote student well-being, and opportunities for cooperation between universities in this important field. All university students and staff are welcome to join!