Blaauw lecture

Every year, the Kapteyn Institute organizes the Blaauw lecture. Aimed at a general audience, this lecture is given by an internationally renowned astronomer. The level is such that even the interested layman can understand it. More information about the Blaauw lecture of 2025, as well as lectures of previous years, can be found in the menu on the left.

The Blaauw chair and the Blaauw lecture

The Blaauw chair and Blaauw lecture were extablished in 1997 as part of six visiting professorships in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the initiative of Prof. Dr P.C. van der Kruit who was then dean of the faculty.

Selection

The Blaauw professor is selected by the academic staff of the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute. The Blaauw professor spends two periods at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, where their main task is to interact with students, graduate students, and postdocs.

Criteria

Criteria for selection are: eminent research achievements and broad knowledge of the field, resulting in a prominent international status in astronomy and good didactic qualities.

The chair is named after Prof. A. Blaauw because of his outstanding scientific and organisational achievements and his extremely important impact on astronomy in Groningen, the Netherlands, and the world.