During the ECSJ, we also offer you the opportunity to explore the interesting science that the Netherlands has to offer. On 10 and 11 July, we organize an array of excursions that will include a variety of companies, research institutes and other interesting organisations:
- Naturalis Biodiversity Centre
- University Medical Centre Utrecht
- QuTech
- National Museum of Antiquities
- SpaceTour of ESTEC and SRON
- Walking tour of the scientific wall paintings in Leiden
- Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW): Ecology from soil to sky
- COVRA, nuclear waste storage
- Shell Pernis, Energy and Chemical Park Rotterdam
- Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
- Plastic clean-up canoe tour
Below you can find more elaborate descriptions of the different excursions. Keep in mind that most excursions have limited space, so if you want to join make sure you sign up before the excursion fills. At the end of June, you will receive more detailed information about the excursion you signed up for. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us!
Naturalis Biodiversity Centre
Naturalis Biodiversity Center won the European Museum of the Year Award in 2021, but it’s more than just a beautiful museum. It holds one of the largest and most digitized natural history collections on the planet, and hosts a few hundred researchers – from classical taxonomists to eDNA specialists to Big Data architects. In this excursion, you will get to know all sides of this institute.
University Medical Centre Utrecht
The University Medical Center Utrecht or UMC Utrecht is a major academic institution in the Netherlands, combining cutting-edge research with patient care and education. This excursion will bring you up to speed on a few research areas that we work on, and that will have a major role in future healthcare. (1. Regenerative Medicine Center Utrecht; 2. Image-guided therapies at UMC Utrecht; 3. Child Health Utrecht; 4. Brain Center UMC Utrecht, please indicate your topic of interest)
QuTech
The quantum race is in full swing. Companies and research institutes worldwide are working diligently on prototypes of quantum computers – devices that calculate in a fundamentally different way and that would relegate our current ‘classic’ computers to ordinary abacus. QuTech, a partnership between TU Delft and TNO, is at the forefront of that race.
Various ‘routes’ are being followed at the Delft research institute to create a truly working quantum computer. In addition, research is also being conducted into a real quantum internet. During this excursion, the participants will get an exclusive insight into this quantum lab. Researchers from QuTech will explain the latest developments in the development of the quantum computer and the quantum internet. It will be a unique opportunity to follow the quantum race from the first line.
The excursion is intended for science journalists who are already somewhat at home in quantum technology. A certain basic knowledge, for example of the meaning of the concept of a qubit, is therefore recommended.
National Museum of Antiquities
The Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (the Dutch national museum of antiquities) is known for its ancient Egyptian collections, one of the world’s top ten. The curators and conservators will welcome you in the museum for a meet and greet and speed talks about their current research projects:
- ‘The Walking Dead at Saqqara. The Making of a Cultural Geography’, where curator Lara Weiss analyzes the formation of the cultural geography of Saqqara, the necropolis of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis.
- The restoration of the longest Egyptian papyrus in the museum’s collection: the ‘’Book of the Dead’’ of the tradesman Qenna (1539-1191 BC) by curator Daniel Soliman and conservator Eliza Jacobi.
SpaceTour of ESTEC and SRON
The Netherlands is a high tech country. It is also a melting pot of European space technology, thanks to the establishment of ESTEC, the technical heart of the European Space Agency. Many European space missions would not exist without Dutch rocket technology, they are also powered by Dutch solar panels. Sensors and optical systems from the Netherlands are world renowned. Meanwhile, Dutch engineers are working on a new generation of small cooperative smart satellites. The Netherlands Space Office will offer you a tour along some highlights of space science and technology, including ESTEC and the SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research.
Walking tour of the scientific wall paintings in Leiden
Leiden has a rich history of physics discoveries. Hendrik Lorentz described the Lorentz contraction, a precursor and ingredient of Einsteins theory of relativity, Snell’s law was described by the Leiden scientist Snellius, and Christiaan Huygens formulated his pendulum formula. Physicists Sense Jan van der Molen and Ivo van Vulpen, inspired by the wonderful multilingual wall poems on more than a hundred walls of Leiden’s inner city, have selected momentous physics equations to be painted and illustrated. Eight have been finished, and a walk past them will introduce you to the grand views as well as the nooks and crannies of Leidens medieval inner city plan.
Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW): Ecology from soil to sky
Soil biodiversity is becoming more important by the year now, with European legislation on soil health in the making. At one of NIOO’s field locations, the function of soil biodiversity is studied for 25 years already. Including the impact of soil transplantation, to boost the natural ecosystem on degenerated places. This long-running study, so necessary to discover long-term effects in ecology, is even surpassed by another one in the same national nature area The Veluwe. You’ll find the subject up in the sky: songbirds, breeding in nestboxes and contributing to a 70-year database of one of the longest running series worldwide. Together with a more recent but unique experimental set-up on the effects of light pollution on nature, and a visit to the stunning sustainable research institute itself, this field trip will give you close-up insight into biodiversity and the study of the effects of climate change, shifting habitats, extreme weather and more.
NIOO is a research institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. More info: www.nioo.knaw.nl/en
COVRA, nuclear waste storage
Nuclear energy is a divisive issue in the European Union and one of the culprits is the disposal of nuclear waste. This excursion will bring you to COVRA, the Dutch organization responsible for the temporary storage of nuclear waste. On the way we can do a short visit of the Eastern Scheldt Storm Surge Barrier.
After a tour of the facilities we will have a discussion about the possibilities of the permanent disposal of nuclear waste with a representative from COVRA and with Manuel Sintuban professor of geodynamics at Leuven University. Also invited is a representative from Posiva, the organization responsible for the final disposal of nuclear waste in Finland
Shell Pernis, Energy and Chemical Park Rotterdam
Interested to find out how the largest refinery of Europe plans to transform itself into an industrial site with net zero emissions for itself and its customers? If so, feel invited to visit Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam (Shell Pernis).
Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
The Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an intergovernmental organisation that was founded as the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention. The organisation has its seat in The Hague, Netherlands, but it has 193 member states and is active worldwide. Its aim is to achieve a world free of chemical weapons and the threat of their use, in which chemistry is used for peace, progress, and prosperity. In 2013, the organisation won the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts.
Plastic clean-up canoe tour
From Styrofoam boxes, face masks, and tin cans to extraordinary finds like diaries and sex toys. You can find it in the canals of Leiden! During weekly canoe clean-ups, volunteers collect and study the floating litter. Through research, they aim to prevent litter from entering our canals and minimize plastic pollution. Their research was also featured in the New York Times, CNN, and The Guardian. Join a Plastic Spotter expedition, discover the city from the water and leave the canals cleaner than you found them.