Governance & ANBI
Public accountability
Stichting United Academics Foundation is recognised by the Dutch tax authority as an ANBI — an institution serving the public benefit. This page carries the information we are required to publish, in one place.
Statutory details
- Statutory name
- Stichting United Academics Foundation
- Known as
- United Academics Foundation
- RSIN / ANBI number
- 852230175
- Chamber of Commerce
- 56638396
- IBAN
- NL97 TRIO 0390 2532 51
- Established
- January 2013, Amsterdam
- Address
- Mauritskade 63, 1092 AD Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Telephone
- +31 (0)6 22 97 52 09
- info@united-academics.org
Objective
The foundation’s objective is to connect science and society by promoting free and unrestricted access to peer-reviewed scientific research, and by making that research intelligible to a general audience. The foundation pursues this objective without a profit motive, and any surplus is applied entirely to its stated purpose.
Board
The board was renewed in 2026 and is responsible for the foundation’s policy, activities and finances.
- Louis Lapidaire Founder and chairman
- Erik Schoorl CIO / CTO
- Robert Jan Baaijens Treasurer
- To be appointed Secretary — publishing, social media
Lucas Bergkamp serves as advisor to the board. Biographies of the board members will be added to this page.
Remuneration policy
Board members receive no remuneration for their work. They are entitled only to reimbursement of expenses reasonably incurred in the performance of their duties. The foundation employs no staff on a salaried basis; work is carried out by the board, by contributors engaged for specific assignments and by volunteers.
Policy plan
The foundation works towards its objective along three lines, described in more detail under what we do:
- Open Access Library. Rebuilding our searchable, freely accessible collection of peer-reviewed papers, to launch at coalibry.org.
- United Academics Magazine. Commissioning and editing articles that translate peer-reviewed research for a general readership.
- Advocacy. Making the public and institutional case for open access, and working with researchers on publishing models that do not depend on paywalls.
Income consists of donations, gifts and contributions from institutions and private supporters, and from 2026 also of limited advertising revenue from the magazine website. Funds are managed prudently, held at Triodos Bank, and spent on the activities above; the foundation holds no more capital than is reasonably necessary to continue its work. On dissolution, any remaining assets are allocated to an ANBI with a similar objective.
Annual report 2025
2025 was a difficult year, much like the years before it. A good deal of that came down to circumstances in the private lives of our founder and board members, which left the mission for open access and open science short of attention. United Academics runs on volunteers, so upheaval in one person’s life is felt across the whole foundation. With renewed energy and a new board we believe we can address those shortcomings and secure the future of the foundation.
Financially, 2025 was as poor as 2023 and 2024. We received no donations and were consequently unable to organise any events. We did keep the magazine running — largely thanks to the dedication of our editor-in-chief, Josefina. The costs of upkeep, IT and banking were covered in full by payments from our founder.
Financial statements 2025
| IT costs / domain registrations | € 367,66 |
|---|---|
| Banking costs | € 254,03 |
| Total expenses | € 621,69 |
| Donations and other income | € 0,00 |
| Founder payments | € 592,66 |
| Total income | € 592,66 |
| Annual loss 2025 | − € 29,03 |
| Assets | € 0,00 |
|---|---|
| Liabilities | € 29,03 |
| Equity | − € 29,03 |
The founder guarantees the balance owed.
Future plans
After the last few years it has been decided to renew the board and to start reinvesting in our domains, including the open access library at coalibry.org, which is currently under development. It has also been decided to allow limited advertising on the magazine website in order to generate some revenue and so secure a financial way forward.
Our IT manager believes that with new technologies becoming available in the field of AI, the mission of United Academics can be fulfilled in easier and less costly ways than were possible in the past. The years 2026 and 2027 are therefore set by three tasks: the continuous upkeep of our main sites, the exploitation of the magazine, and the development of an AI-driven consolidated open access library.
To build better traction we plan to publish a quarterly management brief to keep our followers up to date, and to make better use of social media to that end.