Christian Noack has been director of ARTES since September 2015. He introduced many initiatives during his directorship to enhance the visibility of research conducted in ARTES and to maintain the level of research output in terms of both quality and innovation. Thanks to his efforts, a pre-PhD programme for promising students has been developed and new research agendas have started.

Christian Noack decided to discontinue his ARTES directorship because of his obligations as project leader of the international HERA research project The European Spa as a Transnational Public Space and Social Metaphor.  

New ARTES director Micha Kemper is professor and chair of Eastern European Studies, one of the four chair groups of European Studies at UvA; between 2015 and 2018 he also served as head of the Department of History, European Studies and Religious Studies.