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Robbert Dijkgraaf

The president of the Academy is an important link in the chain that unites the Academy's two Divisions. He chairs the meetings of the General Board and the Executive Board. The president is appointed for a three-year period.



Robbert Dijkgraaf (born 1960) has been "Distinguished University Professor" at the University of Amsterdam since 2005, where he has held the chair of mathematical physics since 1992. Since 2008 he is President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).

Robbert Dijkgraaf studied physics and mathematics at Utrecht University. After an interlude studying painting at Amsterdam's Gerrit Rietveld Academy, he gained his PhD cum laude in Utrecht in 1989. His supervisor was the Nobel Prize-winner Gerard 't Hooft. Robbert Dijkgraaf subsequently held positions at Princeton University and at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study.

His current focus is on string theory, quantum gravity, and the interface between mathematics and particle physics. His research was recognised in 2003 with the award of the NWO Spinoza Prize, the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. Robbert Dijkgraaf has been a visiting professor at universities including Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, and Kyoto. He is on the editorial boards of numerous scientific periodicals, and is also the scientific adviser to institutes in Cambridge, Bonn, Stanford, Dublin, and Paris. Since 2009 he is co-chair of the InterAcademy Council, a multinational organization of science academies, together with Professor Lu Yongxiang, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Many of his activities are at the interface between science and society. His column in the NRC Handelsblad newspaper is intended for a broad public and deals with science, the arts, and other matters. A collection has been published in his book Blikwisselingen (Prometheus | Bert Bakker, 2008). Robbert Dijkgraaf is dedicated to bringing about greater public awareness of science, for example through his involvement with popular TV science programmes. He also initiated (and finances) proefjes.nl, a website that allows children (aged 8 and up) to carry out simple experiments.

Robbert Dijkgraaf is also a member of the Second Innovatieplatform, chaired by the Dutch Prime Minister.

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