Laborant (onderzoek) - UGent - Laborant Universiteit Gent Employee Review

Great coworkers, processes were clear, good pay and benefits

None I can think of

The colleagues, without question. Coming from North American academia, I quickly discovered a remarkable community of talented, driven, and supportive colleagues in an (initially) unfamiliar environment. Meeting and working with my peers and supervisors helped me develop my professional skills in ways I couldn't have predicted, and I'm truly grateful to count many of them among my closest friends.

These flaws aren't necessarily unique to UGent, considering the nature of the Flemish academic environment. However, I'll point out a few difficulties I found in my time at the university: - Lack of transparency at multiple levels of decision-making. Decisions made at department and faculty level are often driven by interpersonal politics; some have even been the result of inter-generational conflicts spanning decades. - Dutch-language policy. While UGent does have substantial English-language provisions in place for non-native Dutch-language users, it still lacks complete linguistic support for those who are not/less fluent in Dutch. I count myself fortunate to have become fluent in Dutch during my time at UGent, which helped me navigate the university substantially; however, I know this is not the case for many other international scholars and students. - Limited opportunities for career advancement. As someone who was hoping to extend my stay at UGent, I was disappointed not to be offered a new position by the university when my contract expired. In my view, UGent could become a much stronger institution if it could retain its talent.