26 mei 2003
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has this year for the first time selected five 'Academy Professors'.
They are Prof. Maurits A. Allessie (Maastricht University), Prof. Gerard 't Hooft (Utrecht University), Prof. George K. Miley (Leiden University), Prof. Roeland J.M. Nolte (Nijmegen University) and Prof. Gün R. Semin (Amsterdam Vrije Universiteit). As Academy Professors they will be able to devote themselves full-time to innovative research and the supervision of young researchers.
Academy Professors are released by the KNAW from administrative obligations. The KNAW funds the salary and a research budget for each Academy Professor (together 200,000 euros). The university in question is required to recruit at least one young talented research leader with the funds made available. In this way, the Academy Professorship Programme helps young researchers advance into supervisory positions. The Academy Professorship is awarded for a period of five years, with the possibility of extension.
The Academy Professorship Programme was set up in 2002; each year four to five Academy Professors will be appointed. Outstanding professors aged between 55 and 60 can be nominated by the governing bodies of their universities. The nominations are evaluated by an international committee chaired by the President of the KNAW.
Maurits Allessie (1945), Professor of Physiology and attached to the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht of Maastricht University, has made an important contribution to our understanding of cardiac electrophysiology, laying the basis for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia. In particular his research has led to a better understanding of atrial fibrillation.
Gerard 't Hooft (1946), Professor of Theoretical Physics at Utrecht University, has performed pioneering research over the past 30 years which has increased our understanding of the fundamental laws of physics. Professor 't Hooft received the Nobel Prize for Physics four years ago.
George Miley (1942), Professor of Astronomy at Leiden University and scientific director of the Leiden Observatory, has performed pioneering research into the origins and development of star systems.
Roeland Nolte (1944) is Professor of Organic Chemistry at Nijmegen University. His work spans the divide between organic chemistry and nanotechnology. Professor Nolte has succeeded in creating complex macromolecular compounds with catalytic properties closely resembling those in living organisms.
Gün Semin (1944), attached to the Amsterdam Vrije Universiteit as Professor of Social Psychology, is known in particular for the application of linguistic categories in the study of social stereotypes. The 'linguistic categories model' developed by Professor Semin led his colleagues to investigate how people talk about social groups and ensured that language came to be studied as a social instrument.
The five Academy Professors will be officially installed in the autumn.
