Outreach
Noorderlab
Ondanks de vele initiatieven voor kennisbenutting (zoals Studium Generale, het Weekend van de Wetenschap en de Kenniscafe's) vond ik dat er weinig kennisoverdracht tussen de wetenschappers van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen en de inwoners van de Stad plaatsvond. Daarom heb ik samen met Sience LinX en het Koninklijk Natuurkundig Genootschap Noorderlab opgezet. Noorderlab is een outreach programma waarin elk jaar een wetenschappelijk instituut van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen een reeks lezingen en podcasts organiseert. Het eerste jaar (2022) is mijn eigen instituut aan de beurt: het Stratingh Institute for Chemistry. Kijk op www.rug.nl/noorderlab voor meer informatie, of luister de podcasts hier.
Media
Een filmpje over (onder andere) mijn publicatie in Nature Catalysis
Filmpje over wat we doen (ongeveer) proberen te doen in het lab
Explanation (in English) about the self-replication mechanism of our fibers
English version of an artists representation of what we're doing in the lab
Presentations & Events
Woudschoten Chemie Conferentie 2019
After I hosted a masterclass in 2018 (see below), I was invited as a plenary speaker in 2019. We discussed the origin of life and the way in which we attempt to synthesize life de novo. Photo by: Freudenthal instituut
Noorderzon
In August 2018 I gave a short lecture at a locally organized festival about our quest to create synthetic life, and why that shouldn't scare you as much as it probably does.
Science AMA (Ask Me Anything) series on Reddit
Click the image above to view the archived copy of our Science AMA on Reddit (archived by The Winnower).
Weekend van de Wetenschap
Engaging people with science is not always an easy task, especially when it relates to theoretical chemistry. Together with one of my colleagues, we performed a few experiments that are not just educational, but also a lot of fun!
The Woudschoten Chemie Conferentie (2018) is a conference aimed at chemistry high-school teachers. Here, they meet each other, discuss subject content and follow a plethora of lectures and masterclasses. I gave a masterclass about systems chemistry and self-replication.
The Rijksuniversiteit Groningen organizes continued education programmes for chemistry high-school teachers. This helps them keep their knowledge updated and allows new research and results to be used in lessons.
Getting involved with science should start at a young age. I gave a few guest lectures at an elementary school (de Borgmanschool) about bacteria, where we performed experiments with agar plates.
I designed this setup that was used in the "Nobel Science" exposition in the University museum, which shows how we can simulate "death" in self-replicating systems.
Planned activities and social media
Teaching material
Universal Indicator.docxShaking a color in solution.docxCollegecarrousel 2019.pdfCollege Carrousel 2018.docxIf you like these experiments or tutorials, don't hesitate to contact me. I have a lot more, that I would be more than happy to share with you. Please contact me here.