Read our latest magazine articles

To end the academic year and start the summer off right, we have listed all our magazine articles from January to July 2023. So you can read them again at your leisure during the holidays. In each article, a UG researcher talks about his or her field.

Trickle-down effects of the women’s quota – are there any?

The Netherlands introduced a women’s quota requirement for listed companies about 18 months ago. Zoltán Lippényi has researched the effects of this quota outside the boardroom since January of this year. What are his findings so far? Does having more women at the top lead to better career opportunities and less gender pay disparity lower down in an organization? Read more

When research turns into a business

As a researcher, you want your research to really make a difference in society. This can be done by bringing your knowledge to the market and launching a start-up. But that brings an entirely new challenge, namely the ‘business’ side of a company. This is something that researchers often need help with. In Groningen, start-ups can for instance seek help in taking those first steps from the Stichting Business Generator Groningen (SBGG) foundation. This foundation helps start-ups from all academic disciplines, including the medical start-up Protyon. Read more

Open House of Connections: a closer look at science for a sustainable future

People young and old, people of the city and region of Groningen: at the Open House of Connections, which took place last Saturday 24 June, visitors were introduced to the University’s work on a sustainable future at the new hub for learning, working, and meeting.  UG scientists carried out dazzling experiments and gave stimulating lectures to a wide audience.  Rector Magnificus Cisca Wijmenga and member of the Board of the University Hans Biemans gave out cake. Read more

Right to a healthy mouth

Globally, a shocking 550 million children are currently walking around with untreated dental cavities (caries). This is despite the fact that it is becoming increasingly clear that dental problems negatively impact our overall health. PhD student in Health Law, Dominique Mollet, recognizes how important a healthy mouth is and is pushing for the development of healthy oral habits from birth. With the support of various partners, including the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health, she is calling for legal research to draw more attention to the topic of oral health. Read more

Wholeheartedly towards a plant-based society

Rob van Haren (Hanze UAS), Bianca Harms (NHL Stenden UAS), and John Hoeks (UG) work at different institutions, but have an unmistakable passion in common. Supported by the University of the North Booster Fund, the trio wants to speed up the transition to a plant-based society. ‘Our end goal is clear, but we have to get there with small steps. We have faith in the power of health, sustainability, and ethics.’ Their project has been nominated for the election Sustainable Thirty, organized by Dagblad van het Noorden, the Leeuwarder Courant and the Friesch Dagblad. Read more

Rehabilitation through virtual reality games

Digital Health Care Technologies, also known as eHealth, could drastically change the field of healthcare. The combination of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, wearables, telehealth, telemonitoring, and Artificial Intelligence is opening new doors for personalized care, improved patient involvement, and more efficient treatments. The Jantina Tammes School supports researchers who are continuing to develop these technologies, in addition to playing an active role in the collaboration between care providers, policymakers, and industries in order to maximize advantages for patients. Read more

Groningen carbon-neutral by 2030

The Wubbo Ockels School for Energy and Climate is working in close collaboration with the municipality of Groningen, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, and the Alfa College on the ‘Groningen carbon-neutral by 2030’ action plan. This action plan falls under the EU ‘Mission on 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030’, the aim of which is to deliver at least 100 European climate-neutral, smart cities by 2030 and to ensure that these cities then perform the role of experimentation and innovation hubs to enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050. Read more

The inescapable advance of the gospel in Brazil

Brazil is currently the country with the most Catholics in the world, but it is predicted that Protestants will have outnumbered Catholics by 2035. The Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal Churches are growing in particular. These churches are specifically part of the evangelical movement within the Protestant faith. Manoela Carpenedo, a new member of the Young Academy Groningen and researcher, studies the rise of this movement and its influence on identity, culture, and politics.

CurioUs: two-way relationship between citizens and science

Digging into the soil to count worms, placing a rain gauge in your own garden, or borrowing an infrared camera to see where your home is losing heat. At CurioUs, you—a citizen—can contribute to scientific research and, at the same time, learn more about your own everyday environment. Read more

Do you have a manager from hell?

There’s a good chance that you will encounter one at some point: a manager who seems to be targeting you or one of your colleagues. Organizational psychologist Barbara Wisse is researching this behaviour, which can quite literally make you sick, and exploring what you can do about it. Read more

Language for the future

One quarter of the population speaks a language other than Dutch at home. And yet we do not see this cultural and linguistic variety reflected in our educational institutions, where Dutch is still the dominant language. What impact does this have on the multilingual population and on their role in society? And how can we make better use of our country’s linguistic and cultural diversity? The Dutch universities have initiated a project entitled Taal voor de Toekomst (Language for the Future) with the aim of exploring these questions. Read more

A geographical take on Dutch discontent

Tractors lined up outside parliament buildings, climate activists blocking the A12 motorway, a screaming man stood outside the Dutch Minister of Finance Sigrid Kaag’s home brandishing a burning torch: all apparent signs of major societal disparity. The results of the Dutch provincial elections on 15 March also reflected the nation’s discontent with the cabinet and the established parties. Such expressions of discontent appear to be most vehement in the regions outside the four big cities that make up the Randstad. Why? PhD candidate Bram van Vulpen is trying to find the answer. Read more

Nardi Steverink helps older people get more grip on life

Healthy and happy ageing is not simply a question of good genes, but also of taking control of your life, as is apparent from the research of sociologist Nardi Steverink. To help people in this process, she developed the GRIP en GLANS (Grip and Glow) course. Course participant Zwanet van Dijken (76) is enthusiastic as she reflects back on the course. ‘I would highly recommend it to anyone.’ Read more

Marc Hertogh: ‘Educational innovation is a question of experimenting’

Inviting students to offer advice in an ongoing legislative procedure for the House of Representatives; that is what Professor of Sociology of Law Marc Hertogh proposed doing. The students surprised Hertogh with the quality of their work, in spite of the unpredictable and erratic nature of the procedure and shifting deadlines. Members of the House of Representatives were impressed by the students’ recommendations. Hertogh’s students nominated the course unit for the 2023 Best Practice in Teaching & Learning Award. To his great surprise, Hertogh won the award for his Policy Analysis seminar, in which active learning, legal practice, and the students’ practice-oriented skills form the main spearheads. Read more

Studying zebrafish pancreases to understand diabetes

Noura Faraj’s family experience encouraged her to pursue a PhD to learn more about type 1 diabetes (T1D). By using zebrafish as a model organism to study the function of the pancreas, she intends to find a cause of this condition and help some people to avoid developing T1D in the future. Read more

A leap of faith: from research to enterprise

Having ideas, experimenting and trying things out, wanting to change society. For many researchers, all of this is day-to-day business. But what if you want to take your idea to market? This is a step that often does not come naturally to researchers, and that is why there are a number of organizations at the UG that can help with this, such as VentureLab. This is how SlimStampen was created, a program that is now being used by students in five countries. Read more

Clearing court backlogs through plea bargaining

The Dutch court system is severely backed up. The number of cases is increasing and court proceedings are dragging on. For nearly two decades now, Laura Peters, lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen, has studied — and advocated — the introduction of plea bargaining in the Netherlands to serve as a bypass. ‘Other countries have used plea bargaining for years. The Netherlands is running behind.’ Read more

'Consolation is being able to give meaning to loss'

Consolation is being able to give meaning to loss. Christoph Jedan, Professor of Ethics and Comparative Philosophy of Religion, examined the consolation literature of theologians and of philosophers from classical antiquity. He developed a consolation model with five elements, one being ‘resilience’. Read more

Equality – Also between the sheets

We often find it difficult to talk about sex and sexuality. It is considered taboo, private, and maybe even a bit dirty. This is not surprising, but it is nevertheless problematic, according to researcher Charmaine Borg, because this stops us from changing the old-fashioned views we have on sex. And women in particular are the ones who suffer as a result. About time to pay attention to this, around International Women’s Day. Read more

Women in the spotlight in new Greek myths

Greek myths: exciting, mysterious, and sometimes bizarre tales from the Antiquity. They often address ethical issues and abrasive conflicts— including disagreements between men and women. Classic mythological stories have been written in a certain Zeitgeist and from a specific, often male, perspective. But how would these stories sound if we looked at them through a current lens, and from a female perspective? Read more

How a troll army is disseminating the Kremlin’s war rhetoric

Dr. Lisa Gaufman, Assistant Professor in Russian Discourse and Politics, investigates the rhetoric of the Kremlin on social media. A story about online cartoons and polarizing troll accounts masquerading as concerned citizens. Read more

Lift to the inclusive workplace

There is plenty of work, and yet people with a disability are still often sidelined. One plus one is two, or so you’d think: this is the perfect time to help this group of workers find a job. The intention is there, also within the University, but implementation seems to stall at times. Plenty of work there, says Charlotte Venema, Project Manager for the Job Agreement Act at the UG. Read more

Watch out for invisible influencing!

Whether you talk to someone in the street, read the newspaper, or scroll through Instagram, you are constantly being influenced. These influences affect our opinions and behaviour even when we are blissfully unaware. So why are we so easily influenced? And how can we guard against it? Bob Fennis, Professor of Consumer Behaviour in the Faculty of Economics and Business, has been pondering these questions for years. Read more

From paper industry waste to sustainable kerosene

Erik Heeres is no ordinary scientist. Born in Pekela, the researcher evolved from teenager dabbling with a chemistry set to successful project leader of large Dutch and European research consortia. To this day, the Professor of Chemical Engineering is still passionately committed to building a sustainable and innovative future for the Northern Netherlands. Read more

Dialogue with people, dialogue with nature

He has a PhD in logic, with a focus on computing science, and studied and taught at Stanford University. He is now in Groningen, exploring how dialogue can bridge the gap in society: Marc Pauly, researcher in the Faculty of Philosophy, did not take the direct route. His mission is crystal clear: to generate a greater understanding between people, and between people and nature.

The quest for the perfect paint

Walls, furniture, spectacle lenses…. almost everything around you is painted or coated. Water-based paint is increasingly becoming the norm, but even this paint is not entirely free from components made of oil. Hanneke Siebe is working on a fully sustainable paint based on gum arabic. Read more

‘Only lowering the emissions cap will force an energy transition’

If you trade in your petrol-fuelled car for an electric one and put solar panels on your roof, you will be helping to limit CO2 emissions. Won’t you? Yes and no. ‘An electric car does help, but solar panels don’t’, says Professor of Energy Economics Machiel Mulder. To clarify how this works, he wrote the book Energietransitie: Eerst snappen, dan doen [‘Energy Transition: First understand, then act’]. Read more