The Executive Board of Erasmus University Rotterdam has appointed Professor H.A.E. (Hub) Zwart as Dean of Erasmus School of Philosophy (ESPhil) as of 1 October. Zwart is currently Professor of Philosophy at Radboud University Nijmegen and Director of the Institute for Science in Society at that university.
Professor Zwart (1960) holds the Chair of Philosophy in Natural Sciences at Nijmegen. He researches philosophical and social issues regarding contemporary natural sciences, particularly life sciences including genomics, brain research and synthetic biology.
New dynamics
The Executive Board is very pleased that Hub Zwart will become part of Erasmus University. The Executive Board is convinced that the new Dean will deliver new dynamics and new opportunities and is therefore looking forward to his contribution, to the faculty as well as to Erasmus University as a whole.
The appointment of the new Dean took place in close consultation with the faculty appointments advisory committee.
Zwart is succeeding interim Dean Professor Frank van der Duijn Schouten, under whose leadership philosophy has become permanently anchored as a fully-fledged academic field within Erasmus University. After a difficult period, things are going well again with ESPhil. The English-language double degree programme enjoys considerable interest from students from all EUR faculties, who follow philosophy as a second degree programme. Using the incomes associated with this, the faculty is again able to invest in young philosophical talent.
About Hub Zwart
The research of Zwart concerns scientific developments that demand philosophical reflection and that also cast a fresh light on fundamental understanding regarding nature, life, knowledge, technology and the human existence. According to Zwart it is the task of philosophy to develop instruments and concepts to place these issues in a broader perspective.
Zwart studied psychology and philosophy at Radboud University. He obtained his PhD in Philosophy cum laude in Nijmegen in 1993. Zwart was also a researcher at the Centre for Bio-Ethics (Maastricht) before he became a Professor in 2000. He was initiator of a master degree track Science in Society in his department, as well as Scientific Director of the Centre for Society & Genomics. He also established the Institute for Science in Society (ISiS), of which he has been Director since 2005.
Zwart is Chief Editor of journals including Life Sciences, Society and Policy and of the Library of Ethics and Applied Philosophy. He is author of fourteen books.
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