Who are the humans that make a university flourish? When thinking about the faces of a university, professors and students may be the first people that come to mind. But there are so many more people: beadles, technicians, study advisors, secretaries, and many others. They all bring their stories with them when they come to study and work at the university, and they experience new stories together. Without them, the University would not be what it is.

“Humans of RUG” is a podcast series that showcases, in conversations with various guests, the many human faces of a large university such as the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. It was developed by the 2020 cohort of the Young Academy of Groningen (Sonja Billerbeck, Julia Costa López, Marcos Guimaraes, Lisa Herzog, Casper van der Kooi, Lukas Linsi, and Hanna van Loo), with help from podcast producer Wim Brons. It looks at the history of the RUG, its students and professors, the support structure within departments , but also how the University is perceived by and interacts with the outside world, the city of Groningen. As such, it makes different parts of the university more visible to one another and to the outside. Listen to these conversations - with study advisers and academic prize winners, with a beadel, a Dutch champion in 800m track running and the Mayor of Groningen, and many others - which bring the human side of this time-honored institution to life!