Stay informed of the activities of the Academy, the Society of Arts and The Young Academy through our newsletter. Register here.
Stay informed of the activities of the Academy, the Society of Arts and The Young Academy through our newsletter. Register here.
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has selected 17 new members. Of these, 16 are ordinary members and one is a foreign member. The Academy’s approximately 600 members are leading scientists and scholars active in every discipline. Membership is for life. The new members will be installed on Monday 30 September.
Read moreEveryone experiences aging in their own way, and factors such as genetics, lifestyle and environment play a role in this process. Some individuals reach the age of 90 or even 100 in good health, without medications or brain disease. But how do these individuals maintain their health as they age?
Read moreAddress of the Presidents of National Academies of Sciences of the European Union Member States to the candidates for the 2024 European Parliament elections.
Read moreTen young researchers will be awarded an KNAW Early Career Partnership this year. They will have the opportunity to organise an interdisciplinary meeting and will receive the sum of EUR 10,000 to do so.
Read moreNurture international research talent and pursue a well-considered language policy. International research collaboration and an open science system are important for Dutch science and society and for the economy of the Netherlands. The Academy wishes to see international mobility preserved in the academic world.
Read moreA group of renowned scientists have advised European Commissioners on the use of AI in science. According to the advice, artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionise scientific discovery, accelerate research progress, boost innovation and improve researchers’ productivity.
Read moreThrough a large-scale analysis, researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have uncovered the ways in which consensual touch can benefit a person’s physical and mental wellbeing.
Read moreThe Institute for Chemical Neuroscience (iCNS) will receive 23.23 million euros from the government as part of the Gravitation programme. The money will be used for the development of a ‘brain atlas’ of psychiatric symptoms. This should pave the way to improving the diagnosis and treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, frontotemporal dementia and anxiety disorders. The research will be conducted by a national consortium of universities, UMCs and the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience.
Read moreWhat young scientist wouldn't want to meet a Nobel Prize winner? The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings are unique gatherings in Lindau, Germany, at which young and established researchers meet to find inspiration and share knowledge.
Read moreThe Academy’s Ecology Fund supports ecological fieldwork within the Netherlands and beyond, and ecological research abroad carried out by young researchers. Kat Bebbington (Lecturer in Behavioural Ecology, Wageningen University and Research) and Ronja Knippers (PhD Candidate Human-Wildlife Coexistence, Utrecht University) are two of the researchers who received a grant this year. They talked to us about how the Fund contributes to their research project.
Read moreAnthropologist of science Marianne de Laet has been appointed new director of the Meertens Institute (part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) as of 1 June 2024. De Laet is Professor of Anthropology and Science, Technology, and Society at the Harvey Mudd College (United States), where she was also Associate Dean for Academic Affairs until last summer. Before that she was affiliated with the Faculty of Society & Behaviour at the University of Amsterdam as a guest researcher. Her expertise covers the fields of anthropology of technology and culture, science and society. She succeeds Inger Leemans, who is the current interim director of the Meertens Institute.
Read moreIn an letter to the network of authorities of research institutions in Argentina (RAICyT), the International Science Council (ISC) expresses its concern regarding the future of Argentina’s science system. The ISC offers its assistance in working with local and regional communities to develop a robust science sector which contributes to Argentina’s social, environmental and economic success. As member of the ISC, the KNAW wants to share this letter urging the government of Argentina to reconsider its recent decisions.
Read moreIn collaboration with their colleagues at the Donders Institute, researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have developed a simulator that enables artificial visual observations for research into the visual prosthesis.
Read moreIn 2024, The Young Academy will again welcome ten new members. They represent the full breadth of science and scholarship, and their research covers a wide variety of topics, ranging from needle-free injection to the philosophy of technology and natural protection from the sea.
Read moreResearchers with a PhD can use an Academy Early Career Partnership grant to organise an interdisciplinary meeting at the Trippenhuis (the Academy's headquarters) or at another location of their choice. The Academy has awarded a grant to ten researchers each year since 2019. This post highlights two exceptional meetings that took place this year.
Read moreThe Academy has recently received requests from various quarters to comment on the conflict in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. We too are very concerned about the events of the past few months. The human suffering unfolding before our eyes is overwhelming and affecting us deeply. We sympathise with everyone touched by these terrible events. Based on our role, we are also keen to reflect on the profound impact of these events on the academic community in this region.
Read moreThe Young Academy invites all academics in the Netherlands to take ‘The Academy Thermometer’ survey. A series of questions about workload, motivation and social safety explore the mental health of academics.
Read moreIn the period ahead, last week's election results will be transformed into a new cabinet and new policies, including for science. Dutch science has a strong position internationally. Maintaining and reinforcing that strong position is not something to be taken for granted. For the prosperity and well-being of our country, it is vital to nurture it. That can be done by investing in the full breadth of science and safeguarding its open, inclusive, and international character. We also call upon the next Dutch government to continue to make use of the latest scientific insights to tackle the major challenges that we face today. The Academy stands ready to continue to play a connecting role in that regard.
Read morePhysicist Shlomo Havlin, world renowned as an expert on phase transitions and statistical physics, has won the 2023 Bakhuis Roozeboom Medal. He receives the medal for his ground-breaking theoretical contributions to a range of topics related to phases and phase transitions; a field dedicated to how matter can behave in different states.
Read morePetra de Jongh (Utrecht University) will receive the 2023 Gilles Holst Medal. The jury praised her interdisciplinary approach, her tireless pursuit of knowledge, and the industrial applications resulting from her research on the role of nanomaterials. These include practical, circular solutions for a sustainable energy transition and the development of a new generation of batteries.
Read moreTwelve young researchers – three from each of the Academy’s science domains – will be receiving a KNAW Early Career Award in 2024. The prize, awarded annually for outstanding achievement, consists of a sum of EUR 15,000 and a unique work of art. The KNAW Early Career Award will be presented this year for the fifth time.
Read moreDutch science has a strong position internationally. That expresses itself in a high level of prosperity and well-being. But maintaining and reinforcing that strong position for future generations is not something to be taken for granted. For that, stable investment, as deployed in recent years, remains crucial. We call on politicians to commit to a strong science system that is ready to meet the future. The countries around us invest heavily in science. The Netherlands must also continue to do so. The Royal Academy and The Young Academy therefore call on the next government to focus on a number of crucial points:
Read moreNeuroscientist Christiaan Levelt will become the new director of the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences), starting 1 January 2024. Levelt is currently a group leader at the institute, where he investigates how the brain learns and processes information. He is also a professor at VU Amsterdam. Christiaan Levelt succeeds Pieter Roelfsema, who has led the institute since 2007 and will remain associated with it as a group leader.
Read moreMunicipalities do not know enough about the monuments and statues in their public spaces, and their historical awareness is insufficient.
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