Three UG staff members to join the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW)

The Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities has appointed Harry Garretsen, Nathalie Katsonis and Iris Sommer as new members.

Harry Garretsen

Harry Garretsen is professor of International Economics & Business at the Faculty of Economics & Business. He is also director of Cente of expertise In the LEAD.

Garretsen is a specialist in macro and international economics, and an expert in the field of leadership and how organizations operate. He studied economics at the University of Groningen and was awarded a PhD by the UG in 1991. He then went to work for De Nederlandsche Bank and was professor of economics at Radboud University Nijmegen and Utrecht University.

Nathalie Katsonis

Nathalie Katsonis joined the Stratingh Institute of Chemistry of the UG in March 2020 as Professor of Active Molecular Systems and Materials. She teaches at the Faculty of Science and Engineering.

Katsonis obtained her PhD at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. For her postdoctoral research she joined the group of Ben Feringa to investigate chirality and order in supramolecular assemblies.

Iris Sommer

Iris Sommer is professor of Biological Aspects of Psychosis at the Faculty of Medical Sciences. Sommer studied medicine in Amsterdam and Public Health in Maastricht. She obtained her PhD on brain imaging in schizophrenia.

Sommer concentrates on developing new treatments to support people with cognition deficits during their recovery of medical, psychiatric of neurological disorders. She has published over 250 articles on hallucinations, language, cognition, and psychosis. Recently, she received a large grant to research the role of the gut in brain disorders.

Oldest ‘Learned Society’ in The Netherlands

The Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW: Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen) is the oldest ‘Learned Society’ in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1752 under the name Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen to promote science in the widest possible sense. Ever since its establishment, the Society has been involved in promoting science and facilitating exchange between academia and society.

It has traditionally had a two-tier structure: a college of administrators with an academic interest, i.e. the Directors, and a group of academics, i.e. the members, who are responsible for the Society’s academic activities