Close-up #4
This edition has a festive touch, as we devote several articles to the renovated UMU (木瓜福利影视 Museum Utrecht), which is breaking new ground in its encounter with the public.
A museum full of research
The UMU (木瓜福利影视 Museum Utrecht) is all about academic research of the past and present. For the new museum, we collaborated with various researchers from Utrecht 木瓜福利影视.
Students and children as climate-conscious pioneers
Glaciologist Faezeh Nick and her colleagues decided to plant a 鈥榯iny forest鈥 together with a local primary school to raise climate awareness and residents鈥 active involvement in their environment. What can we learn from this project?
The Philosofa
Can researchers predict the future? And can a researcher rule a country? At UMU (木瓜福利影视 Museum Utrecht), you can take a seat on the 鈥楶hilosofa鈥 to engage in a conversation. On this bench there is room for encounters, in-depth discussions and reflection.
First aid for school research projects
Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 is a first port of call for secondary school students doing a school research project. For many students, a fixed part of their research project is interviewing an expert. And the university has plenty of those!
Eighteenth-century MythBusters at UMU
What does an ancient collection of physics instruments have to do with public engagement? And how was it done in the past, involving the public with research? With Paul Lambers, curator at UMU (木瓜福利影视 Museum Utrecht), we step into a time machine, back to the year 1777.
We no longer want research to be something for a select few, there is now more focus on really doing it for everyone.
In gown on the barricades
Several Utrecht professors joined the climate protests on the A12 highway wearing their gowns. Is that allowed? What does that question say about the social role of researchers?
'Kennismakers'
At UMU (木瓜福利影视 Museum Utrecht), 'Kennismakers' (museum aducators) act as a bridge between research and the public: they themselves have one foot in science and can talk from their own experience about their studies and research. Three students talk about their unique side job: what is it like to be a Kennismaker?
Check your playground
What do children鈥檚 favourite outdoor playgrounds look like? That is what anthropologist Kathrine van den Bogert and social geographer Gijs van Campenhout are researching together with children aged 8-14 in the citizen science project 鈥楥heck your playground鈥.
鈥楢 story doesn鈥檛 have to be pompous, but can be very simple鈥
Arend Schot has worked in the Department of Anatomy at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine for over 47 years. Among other things, he is responsible for making anatomical preparations, so-called 鈥榩lastinates鈥 and silicone models of dead animals. This work has made it possible to greatly reduce the number of laboratory animals at the faculty.
All Citizen(s): from palace to public engagement
Anyone walking across Domplein is probably not aware that metres below ground a medieval palace is hidden. Programme maker Erwin Maas of the Centre for Science and Culture tells how the story of this palace is to become the starting point of a brand new education project: All Citizen(s).
Especially in getting to know the target audience lies a great challenge.
Learning from and with each other
In developing and organising programmes, the Centre for Science and Culture often collaborates with (cultural) partners. What is the value of this cooperation for the partners and what does it bring for students and visitors?
Everybody digs Heerlen
Archaeologist Saskia Stevens teamed up with Heerlen residents to dig for remains from the Roman period. At 25 locations in the city, both in public areas and in residents鈥 backyards, they laid out 鈥榮quare-metre pits鈥. Under the guidance of archaeologists, residents conducted real archaeological research.
Bingo!
The terms on this card have to do with societal engagement or impact. When we talk to each other about our goals or strategies for societal engagement or impact, we often find that not everyone gives the same meaning to the words we use. This can lead to confusion and misunderstanding. By using this bingo, you make differences in meaning explicit. This way, you can create common ground in the conversation.
Researchers in front of a class full of families
Slowly, curious families trickle into the room, it is another last Sunday of the month and thus time for a family lecture at UMU (木瓜福利影视 Museum Utrecht). Jos茅 de Wit organises the family lectures and tells how she approaches this.
A new collaboration
The Centre for Science and Culture aims to reach the widest possible audience with public engagement activities. But these public engagement activities are always organised and carried out by colleagues and students from Utrecht 木瓜福利影视, and we wanted to change that.
Doctor Atomic
In July 2023, Werkspoor Kathedraal in Utrecht was transformed into a theatre in which the Utrechtsch Studenten Concert performed the opera 鈥楧octor Atomic鈥. This opera is about the development of the atomic bomb and takes the audience into the suspense of the last hours before the first atomic test.
Interview: 鈥業 actively engage with people - from lawyers to gardeners鈥
Ever since environmental chemist Chiel Jonker contributed to the Dutch TV programme Zembla, all kinds of people have wanted to talk to him as the 鈥楶FAS expert鈥.
May I have your attention for a moment?
Can you do two things at once? In the research workshop 鈥楢ttention!鈥 at UMU (木瓜福利影视 Museum Utrecht), families do research together on attention and multitasking.
Column Yvon van der Pijl: Science of service
鈥淚 felt trapped in a system that hindered true encounter with a real outside.鈥
Working towards an accessible museum
The UMU (木瓜福利影视 Museum Utrecht) wants to be a museum for all curious people. That includes people who have difficulty walking, are hard of hearing or deaf, have a visual impairment or cannot cope well with stimuli due to autism or non-congenital brain injury, for example. Marieke Verhoeven explains how the museum adapts.
Change the world, start with a board game
How do we know what works in public engagement activities? That is the research question Nieske Vergunst started with when she was appointed as postdoc. After several months of reading, talking to people and brainstorming, she came up with a game.
What happened before
It sometimes can look so effortless: researchers standing in front of packed halls during a festival or in front of a class at a primary school. What training and support do they receive before they take to the stage?
Other issues Close-up
Columns, background stories, and experiences of researchers and support staff: Close-up magazine highlights the connection between public and science at Utrecht 木瓜福利影视. Get inspired by the examples in the magazines, develop your own ideas and find suitable partners to realise them.