This was confirmed on Wednesday by RUG spokesperson Gernant Deekens, who was unwilling to share the reason for his dismissal. ‘I can only say that we have parted ways on good terms.’

Hobma’s duties will be taken over by the technical director Haije Wind for the time being. The RUG has already begun looking for a replacement. Deekens will not disclose whether Hobma will receive a severance payment or not. Wind also declined to comment on the situation. ‘If Gernant wants me to talk to you, he will tell me so’, he says.

Concerned letter

The ICT department was in the news due to a concerned letter which the staff council sent to the management. Following the removal of two directors by the management, the staff grew anxious and the personnel’s trust in management was damaged. The management was also reportedly unclear about the future plans for CIT.

Hobma had been employed as the general director of CIT since 2013. In addition to this position, he was a board member of the recently bankrupt full-dome theater Infoversum, director of the ICT foundation LOFAR and president of the Sustainability taskforce at the RUG.