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Lili's proto lab opens to visitors at the Faculty Day
Lili’s Proto Lab (LPL), named after the legendary technologist Caroline Emilie Bleeker is a brand new maker space at the Science faculty for turning creative ideas into working prototypes. From 3D printing and laser cutting to microfluidics and robotics, in the LPL you get to practice various prototyping methods and operate these tools. The LPL mentoring program helps your team in managing your prototyping process and brings you in touch with experts from across all disciplines at the Science faculty. Our ambition is to build a community of all those creative and enthusiastic people who like to learn by doing and all those who are willing to support them. By organizing training and mentoring projects, we support students, researchers, and student teams, in their challenge-based projects. We support projects from all UU strategic areas of fundamental science, education, open science, and sustainability. …
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Research Funding Consultation by the Young Academy
If you could consult all academics in your country, what questions will you ask? …
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Joining a taskforce to consolidate the research agenda on climate change
At the request of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO), a taskforce has been set up to realise a joint agenda for integral climate research. I am asked to join the taskforce which is chaired by Heleen de Coninck (Eindhoven University of Technology/Radboud University Nijmegen) who was a Coordinating Lead Author in the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C. The other members of the taskforce are Han Dolman (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research), Jan Willem Erisman (Leiden University), Liesbeth van de Grift (Utrecht University), Marjolijn Haasnoot (Deltares), Carolien Kroeze (Wageningen University and Research), Andrea Ramirez (TU Delft), Gerard van der Steenhoven (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute), Linda Steg (University of Groningen), and Diana Suhardiman (Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies). …
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FAIR-battery is granted an Unusual Collaboration grant
The FAIR Battery project recieves an 180 kEuro grant from the Center for Unusual Collaborations (CUCo). In this project, which started as a CUCo Spark, we are envisioning a world in which access to renewable energy is democratic, governed locally, and is built upon mutual exchange of knowledge and technology without exploitative transfer of natural resources. We plan to enhance the diffusion of knowledge on energy storage by structuring a design lab that prioritizes local needs and access to developing battery systems and uses open science to educate and enable a network of experts and end-users in choosing the best route for their locally sourced energy grids. …
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Recognition for The Climate Helpdesk
The KlimaatHelpdesk has its one-year anniversary on 30 October 2021. In just one year, the platform had 121 climate questions from the general public answered by experts (and have them peer-reviewed), with the help of 40 volunteers, and an expert network of over 250 climate experts, mostly in the Netherlands. On 8th of October, the KlimaatHelpdesk received recognition for the great efforts and enthusiasm of everyone involved in the project: the platform made it to number 36 on the Trouw Sustainable 100. On 14 October, we also won the Pathways to Sustainability Award 2021. …
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Official installation as a member of De Jonge Akademie
As of today, I am officially a member of the Young Academy of the Royal Dutch Academy of Science . The Young Academy (de Jonge Akademy in Dutch or in-short DJA) is a dynamic group of active scientists and scholars in the Netherlands with outspoken views about science and scholarship and the related policy. They organise inspiring activities for various target groups focusing on interdisciplinarity, science policy, and the interface between science and society. Each year, a special committee made up of some members of the Young Academy and the Royal Academy selects ten new members who are installed by the chair of the academy for a period of five years. DJA has been one of the main sponsors of the Climate Helpdesk after its launch, before I knew that I was selected. …
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Utrecht Degrowth Symposium: From circular economy to circular society
I helped my colleagues at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development and the Dutch degrowth platform to organize the 2nd Utrecht Degrowth Symposium: From circular economy to circular society. In this symposium, we connected to stakeholders from academic and non-academic institutions to discuss the holistic societal transformations needed to address the pressing socio-ecological crisis of the 21st century on climate change and resource depletion. …
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UYA Climate Pledge
Together with Liesbeth van de Grift and Erik van Sebille, we presented the UYA Climate Action Pledge to the President of the Executive Board of Utrecht Univesity, Anton Pijpers. We appealed to the Utrecht University leadership to step up sustainability ambitions and sign a pledge. The UYA Climate Action Pledge embodies both the acknowledgement of the high risk of our current national policies and the urgency of action, as well as key suggestions for an adequate response to the climate crisis. The president stated the board’s support for our actions and adn that they will adopt the pledge and concomitant actions. …