Successful Opening Academic Year 2020-2021

Together we create positive societal impact

Not all talented children actually go on to study at university. Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb and Professor Semiha Denktas discussed together how we can address this inequality of opportunities, facilitated by presenter Wilfried de Jong.  “We want to remove barriers”, explained Denktas. “To do this it is important that we move towards the city and reach those young people who have never considered university as an option.” 

Professor Eveline Crone spoke enthusiastically about her research passion: the adolescent brain. “What interests me is what gives young people strength and how you can enable them to express this. If you are an adolescent, being brazen has a function; it’s part of going against society and your parents. At the same time, this makes it difficult to impose rules on adolescents.”

Professor Afran Ikram is conducting research in Rotterdam, leading the large-scale ERGO research study into dementia in Rotterdam-Ommoord. A long-term population study into dementia has been ongoing in this district since the 1990s. Together with a PhD student he conducted a live test on Wilfried de Jong, who was relieved to pass.

The new President of the Executive Board, Professor Ed Brinksma, also introduced himself to the EUR community. “This university is one of the best in its kind. What appeals to me is that it isn’t only about scientific excellence here, but above all about impact and resolving major societal problems.  The key design problem isn’t technical. It’s actually more about how we want to design our society.”

2020 Education Prize awarded to all EUR lecturers

Several prizes were also awarded, as is usual during the opening of the academic year, although this year there were some surprises. The Student Societal Impact Award was awarded for the first time: econometrics student Esmée Tanis won the prize for her sustainability efforts, which included chairing the Rotterdam Climate Table on Consumption. The Research Prize was awarded to no fewer than two researchers: Dr Simone Dalm (Erasmus MC) and Dr Julian Schaap (ESHCC). Nikki Speklé graduated summa cum laude in two masters in law and economics, and received the Lambers Student Excellence Award for this. The Rotterdam Thesis Award was presented to Mareen Bastiaans for her thesis ‘Labour market and health effects of an activation programme for the long-term inactive’.

Finally, the 2020 Education Prize was awarded to all EUR lecturers as a token of appreciation for all the efforts, determination and flexibility they demonstrated during the recent tumultuous months. In videos, students from across the world recorded themselves to support and inspire the lecturers for everything they did to provide good online education.