Selection procedure and criteria

Selection Committee

The selection of new members is the responsibility of a six-member selection committee, which is reconstituted annually. The composition of the selection committee is ratified in the General Assembly at the Fall retreat of the Young Academy (which typically takes place in November).

The composition of the selection committee takes into account as much diversity as possible in terms of gender (3 m, 3 f), affiliations (5 universities and one artist), disciplines (science + engineering + medical + social + humanities + arts), seniority in the Young Academy (distribution in generations) and seniority in the selection committee (overlap with those who were on the selection committee last year). This diversity is an ideal and it can be deviated from because the availability of members interested in being on the selection committee does not allow for such a diverse puzzle.

The chairman of the selection committee ideally participated as a member of the selection committee the previous year and in principle changes every year.

The members of the Young Academy delegate the authority to select new members to the selection committee. This means that at the end of the interview day, the decision is made and final, without further ratification. 

Selection process

Call for applications

Mid-November, the call for new members is published on the YA website. The call is distributed through the YA newsletter and social media. The secretariat asks (the communication services of) scientific institutions such as universities and art colleges to distribute the call to their researchers.

Mid-December is the deadline for submitting applications to the secretariat (info@jongeacademie.be). Shortly after the deadline, the selection committee decides on the eligibility of the applications.

Review by members and alumni

Current members and alumni of the Young Academy serve as reviewers/reporters for some applications. The members go through their assigned applications and score them in terms of merit (excellence, CV) on the one hand and motivation on the other. They fill in an open text box to inform the selection committee. Each candidature is reviewed by three current members and one alumnus/a who can properly assess merit in the field.

Review and shortlisting

The selection committee conducts the final selection after the review phase in two rounds: a shortlist meeting and the interviews. Policy staff may attend these meetings but have no voice in the process.

The selection committee selects a shortlist of candidates to be invited for an interview. To do so, it makes an informed choice, taking into account the selection criteria (see below), based on (i) their own reading of the dossier and (ii) the reviews, about four per candidate. Afterwards, the secretary notifies all candidates whether they are invited for the interview or not.

Interview

During the interview, the elements of the cover letter are discussed in more detail. This includes how candidates think they can contribute to the Young Academy and how they see their own role within the Young Academy. The time investment they themselves expect from YA membership, their knowledge of previous YA achievements within a theme they mention themselves or their previous engagements in areas relevant to the YA can also be probed.

At the end of the interview day, the decision is final.

Selection Criteria

The call for applications states the following:

"Selection will be based on academic excellence / excellence of the artist, motivation and the contribution the prospective new members believe they can bring to the Young Academy."

Excellence

Great merit for science or art ("excellence") is an important criterion. Indeed, Young Academies, like established science academies, are "merit-based academies," receiving their authority from their members. This distinguishes the Young Academies from certain (pressure) groups of academics who found each other around one particular target.

Excellence is a basic criterion, a minimum threshold condition to become a member of the Young Academy. Of all the candidates labelled as sufficiently excellent by the reviewers and the selection committee, those with the strongest cover letters are invited for the interview. 

Motivation and contributions

Motivation to join the Young Academy and a view on possible contributions are also important. In the past, several excellent scholars, even all-round outstanding academics, have not been invited for the interview because their cover letters failed to convince the selection committee that they would be committed to the Young Academy during their membership.

Diversity

It is desirable that the membership-base of the Young Academy demonstrates a good balance of gender, status (prof/postdoc), disciplines and affiliations. The selection of new members seems to be the only tool to control (diversity in) the composition of the Young Academy. Nevertheless, the selection committee has never deliberately selected on the basis of diversity; selection on the basis of the other criteria has proven sufficient to produce a diverse membership-based.

In the past, the Young Academy has tried to pursue this diversity by (i) distributing the call in a more targeted way in certain underrepresented faculties, (ii) in consultation with the university administration, distributing the call more structurally in institutions from which relatively few candidates come, and (iii) including in the call that postdocs are particularly encouraged to apply.

Eligibility and time window

To define "young," all Young Academies in Europe apply a defined career time window in which to apply. For our Young Academy, this one is as follows:

"Candidates have at the time of appointment (April 1) as a rule [W] completed their PhD at least three and maximum ten years ago / [K] are at least 25 and maximum 39 years old."

An excess may be admitted subject to justification by the candidate (e.g. because of parental leave or career break). The selection committee determines autonomously whether the justification in the application is reasonably proportionate to the extent of the excess. Thus, the "3 to 10 years after PhD" or "25 to 39 years old" rule may be waived if justified by the candidate. Care obligations such as maternity (1 year per child) and informal care, illnesses such as burnout and adjustment time to learn the language have already been accepted in the past as justified motivations for exceeding the 10 years after PhD.

Motivated undershoots (less than 3 years after PhD) are generally not accepted because there is a new opportunity next year. Nevertheless, even here a deviation on the basis of a strong motivation (e.g. topicality of a topic, impossibility to be still a member within five years) is not excluded.

Since 2021 (call 2020) the ineligibility examination by the selection committee is done shortly after the deadline for applications, in a short and prepared online meeting.