Showing the way

The university works at the forefront of its respective fields, personified by many succesful academics. Direct use of scientific development is emphasized by collaborating with business, government and the public. This application of knowledge is a proficiency that is passed on to graduates, preparing them for responsible positions in society.

Some projects: Regional government and the University Medical Center Groningen pooled resources to establish the vast biobank 'Lifelines', increasing knowledge world-wide about the causes of several chronic diseases;
The university's IBM Blue Gene/L supercomputer translates data collected from LOFAR, an international project constructing the world's largest radio telescope, into images for astronomical, geophysical and agricultural application.

 

Famous scientists: Frederik Zernike, Nobel Prize for Physics; Jacob Cornelius Kapteyn, discoverer of evidence of galactic rotation; Johan Huizinga, author of The Waning of the Middle Ages

Famous students: Wubbo Ockels, the first Dutch astronaut; Wim Duisenberg, the first president of the European Central Bank, Aletta Jacobs, the first female student in the Netherlands.