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NOVA Lives/Utrecht Update

July 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

NOVA, the Dutch School for Research in Astronomy, has had its funding line renewed beyond 2013. The organisation announced the good news in a statement on Monday (in Dutch), with comments from Leiden professors Koen Kuijken, who’s Chair of the NOVA Board, and Ewine van Dishoeck, NOVA’s Scientific Director. The renewal is not unexpected, as NOVA last year received the highest possible rating of ‘Exemplary’ in its review. Only two research schools were awarded this grade in the Netherlands.

You’ll remember of course that Dutch astronomy was thrown into some disarray following Utrecht University’s announcement of the imminent closure of its centuries-old astronomy department. This must have made for a pretty interesting backdrop to any NOVA-related negotiations. Now that the funding renewal is official, NOVA has provided an official comment to Utrecht’s decision, calling it “extremely regrettable”. Unique expertise is in danger of disappearing and the loss of Utrecht’s Masters programme will have consequences for the entire physical sciences education at the University.

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Good Night and Good Luck, Utrecht Astronomers

June 21, 2011 By 30 Comments
Utrecht - Maliesingel 1

Sonnenborgh Observatory in Utrecht, founded in 1853 (Image: flickr user uitdragerij)

 

Like many of you I was shocked to read last week that the University of Utrecht plans to close its astronomy department by 2015. This article in Dutch gives the official story – for those of you that don’t speak the language, here’s the gist of it.

The Dean of the Science Faculty, chemistry professor Gerrit van Meer, announced last Thursday that he intends to cut 107 FTEs over the next 5 years, around 50 of which will be redundancies (as opposed to retirements). This decision was made in the face of a 20% cut in the faculty’s budget. Rather than shave small bits off every group, they decided to identify three focus areas for his department: molecular life sciences, fundamentals of natural sciences, and sustainability.

Quite astonishingly, he does not see place for astronomy in his personal vision of “fundamentals of natural sciences” research , and the department consequently faces the axe. The astronomers aren’t the only ones who will feel the bite: research groups in science & society, solar cells, biochemistry, behavioural biology, marine biology and others are facing closure or severe downsizing.

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A Nobel prize for creative physics

October 6, 2010 By

The 2010 Nobel prize for Physics has been awarded to two Russian-born scientists, Andre Geim, of the University of Manchester and Radboud University Nijmegen, and Konstantin Novoselov, also in Manchester, for their work on the monolayer carbon material graphene. Graphene is basically a flat sheet of carbon atoms connected in a honeycomb lattice, that displays some interesting properties: it’s flexible, strong and is an excellent conductor for heat and electricity.

Geim and Novoselov’s work to separate the material from bulk graphite has opened up a whole new area of research, into potential applications of graphene or simply to test our understanding of the basic physics of materials on this exciting new material.

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Want to build cool stuff for telescopes?

August 11, 2010 By

For over three years now I’ve been working here in Leiden’s instrumentation group. My time here in Leiden is coming to an end – I’m sad to leave but such is the life of a postdoc, and I’m excited about new things ahead (more about that later). I’ve written here about my own work on a few occasions, here’s a few examples:

Making my software open

MIRI crosses the pond

Future facilities: Coming quite close now actually

Today I’m in….

If my work sounds like fun to you, and you have a PhD and experience in working on instrumentation projects, why don’t you apply to join the group?

I’ve enjoyed my time in Leiden immensely, both from a personal and professional perspective. The Observatory sets a high standard to its staff and students, but is very open and inclusive with a great “can-do” attitude. So if you’re passionate about your science, it’s great place to push the limits of your skills and creativity. If you’re interested, check out the ad on the AAS register and apply!

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Global Poetry System

May 19, 2010 By

Thanks to my good friend Mary in London, I’m taking part in an arts project organised by the South Bank Centre in London called Global Poetry System. Global Poetry System, or GPS, aims “to explore and map the poetry of the world”. On the project’s website you can upload poetry, and tag the location where you found it on a world map. This month, the project launched a new initiative called Analogue Adventures. The project organisers have sent out digital cameras to all corners of the world, asking recipients to snap a picture of whatever inspires them as “poetry” – graffiti, art, signs – and pass the camera on to another volunteer within 48 hours. By the 23rd of June, the camera should make their ways back to London, where the pictures can be developed, uploaded and mapped.

So the little camera made it across the Channel to the Netherlands.

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