On Thursday October 13th 2016, the Rathenau Institute and CWTS jointly organize an interactive event for early career researchers: Recalibrating excellence. This event is part of a joint project aimed at drawing lessons from 25 years of excellence policies and excellence funding. In the last 25 years science policies and funding schemes have increasingly focused on fostering ‘excellent’ research . Many researchers experience this label of excellence as too narrow an interpretation of good science. The funding schemes are often perceived as overly competitive. On October 13th we aim to recalibrate excellence. Can we think of more differentiated notions of excellence in science? Should science strive for excellence at all, or is good, good enough? Should science be about publications in the most prestigious journals only? Join us, learn from experts, discuss your experiences with other early career researchers and put your ideas on the table.