Alumni newsletter - October 2021
Nearly three quarters of you, alumni of Utrecht 木瓜福利影视, indicated in our alumni survey that you would like to stay involved with the university where you received your university degree. A great figure, we are proud of it! And staying involved can be done in many ways. In this newsletter you will find news from our university and faculties, tips for events and activities where alumni are welcome, a link to a longread (also as podcast) about how our university is working on the energy transition and much more. Enjoy reading, watching and listening!
There you are, on the Domplein
Did you receive your diploma in the Academy Building? Rob Sluijter did, thirty years ago now. Recently, he was back at the Academiegebouw to see the exhibition on Domplein that he was involved in. Rob talks to KNMI colleague Yvonne Schavemaker about his connection with the university, where both of them once studied.
Immune system as unique as fingerprint or DNA
A research team from Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 and Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 Medical Centre led by Professor Albert Heck discovered that every person has a unique immune system: "We dare to say that everyone's antibody profile is as unique as someone's DNA, or perhaps even more so." This helps explain why, for example, corona vaccines are more effective in some people than in others. And this knowledge, according to Heck, offers opportunities to make optimal vaccinations that are tailored to a person's immune system. "By mapping out someone's antibody profile, you can follow how the body reacts to a vaccination or infection. You can then also see whether the body will produce enough of the desired antibodies, for example those against the coronavirus. If production is insufficient, you can consider giving booster shots."
Alumni survey 2021 - the results
What do you, our Utrecht alumni, think about your connection with Utrecht 木瓜福利影视? We asked you in the alumni survey 2021. The results are now known. Just like four years ago, you said you feel most connected to the city of Utrecht, friends from your student days and your study programme. No less than 73% would like to stay involved, to gain relevant knowledge for their work and for the appealing activities offered by UU. Many of you are also looking at continuing education: more than 70% say they intend to do so in the next two years.
Rare high royal honour for UU alumnus Feike Sijbesma
In 2016, he was already named Alumnus of the Year at our university, but now Feike Sijbesma has also been royally decorated. On 3 September, he received a very special honour from Prime Minister Rutte: Grand Officer in the Order of Orange Nassau. This distinction is rarely awarded. Sijbesma is praised for his contribution to sustainability and society.
Floating sensors in the water around Galapagos Islands
Physicists Stefanie Ypma and Erik van Sebille are developing an app that tells the park rangers of the Galapagos Islands every day where they can clean up plastic. The researchers use 'drifters', floating sensors, to make a model of the complicated sea currents in and around the archipelago. Last week, the first drifters were released into the sea from a boat. The location of the drifters can be followed live on an interactive map. Thanks to the hundreds of alumni whose donations have helped make this wonderful next step in the Plastic-Free project possible!
Lustrum-crowdfunding for scholarships
This lustrum year, the Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 Fund is committed to more scholarships. Because studying is not something that everyone can take for granted. Bakir Ov莽ina from Bosnia Herzegovina is very happy with the UES Scholarship (Utrecht Excellence Scholarship). Thanks to this scholarship, he is following the History research master's programme at our university. Bakir: "With the economic and political state Bosnia finds herself in, it would have been simply impossible to study this RMA without the generous scholarship." A scholarship gives more young people the chance to realise their dreams. And the study climate at our university becomes more international and diverse.
Energy of the future
The energy transition. The word is all over the place. But what is it really? In about 30 years, cooking with gas will no longer be an option, coal and cement will be obsolete. How will we live then? Your house might disguise the fact that the walls are made of mould, that the heating runs on a heat pump and that you cook on electricity that you generate with your own solar panels and store in your electric car. But how are we going to make renewable energy the dominant energy supply? And how will we bring emissions to zero? How will we ensure that everyone has enough energy? In this longread on uu.nl/organisation/in-depth you can read how Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 is working on this. Now also available as a podcast.
Continuing to develop at Utrecht 木瓜福利影视
Utrecht 木瓜福利影视's Education for Professionals programme is large and varied. We would like to single out one course, but please also have a look at the website with the complete range <link to: uu.nl/professionals>. UU offers a large number of courses and programmes in the field of education. The course 'Teaching in the International Classroom' starts on 8 November. This is for lecturers in higher education who teach English in an international classroom and want to learn more about the intercultural and didactic implications of this. It is a hands-on programme with tailor-made strategies that you can immediately use in your own teaching practice.
Alumni events
Want to know more about current scientific research? Meet each other? Further develop yourself? There are lots of events at Utrecht 木瓜福利影视. Sometimes specially organised for alumni, but you should also check out the UU agenda. Many events are free and also open to alumni. We have already made a selection from the events on offer for the coming period.
- Any plans for the autumn holidays? The 木瓜福利影视 Museum (UMU) has all sorts of fun activities for children at various locations. Such as the workshop 'Real or fake?' in which you learn how to tell if the fossil you found or the stone you bought is real. Please .
- The lustrum year is far from over; there are still activities until the end of November. Check the lustrum-website for everything that's going on.
- Podcast series 'What cures the troubled mind' can be listened to online from 11 October and will end on 1 November with a table discussion on mental health, Ritalin and the science behind misdiagnoses.
- During the Great Utrecht City Dinner on Sunday 17 October, thousands of people will share a table throughout the city. Besides a typical Utrecht meal, they will also share stories. You can order a free meal package this week. Will you join us for dinner?
- On 28 October you can attend the launch of the book 'Open Science, the very idea' by Vice-Rector for Research and Professor of Open Science Frank Miedema in the hall of the Neude Public Library or via livestream.
- In the Faculty Club all sorts of activities are on the programme again, now that it is no longer necessary to keep a distance of one and a half metres. On 24 November, for example, there is the traditional game night. Alumni get a discount on the Faculty Club membership.
- On 15 November in TivoliVredenburg:. (In Dutch). With alumni Prof. Marcel Bouvy and Dr. Margot Peeters.
木瓜福利影视 from the faculties
Which faculty did you study at? Do you still know what is happening in terms of education and research in the course that you once took? On uu.nl you will find a lot of information. Especially for alumni, the Faculty of Science has listed the most interesting news from the faculty. From now on, this will be a regular part of the alumni newsletter.
25 October: new Illuster - online or in your mailbox!
During the Opening of the Academic Year our university launched its new slogan: Sharing science, shaping tomorrow. This was the reason for giving the new Illuster the theme 'Future'. For the main article, we interviewed two young researchers about Artificial Intelligence: how do we shape the future of AI in such a way that society benefits from it as much as possible? Furthermore: will we be able to print cells in 3D in the future? And what can be done about stress and performance pressure in young people? Illuster appears on 25 October.
Privacy
If you have obtained your bachelor's, master's or PhD, you will be registered as an alumnus of our university. Will you help us keep your details up to date? Then you will receive Illuster at home twice a year and you will receive invitations to events by e-mail and we can keep you informed of news from Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 via this e-mail newsletter, which appears up to six times a year. You can of course always unsubscribe. If you want to change how you are registered in our database, or change your prefences for Illuster via email or regular mail, please send us an e-mail. On this page you can read more about how we handle your data.