Overview news

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.

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.

Studenten van alle universiteiten in het Nederlandse taalgebied en van elke studierichting worden uitgenodigd om een in het Nederlands geschreven essay in te zenden van maximaal 2000 woorden.

The University of Groningen has achieved very good results in the last round of Marie Sklodowska Curie Doctoral Networks.

On 25 November, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Academy building will light up orange. This is part of the international Orange the World campaign.

LLM-Guide.com recently released its Top 10 Lists for specialty programmes for 2022, which consistently ranks Groningen as a top destination to study Energy Law and Public International Law.

The current gas crisis and rising energy prices have made us acutely aware of the role that energy plays in our lives. For some, it means that they can no longer pay their energy bills. The combination of a low income, high energy costs, and a poorly insulated house often results in ‘energy poverty’. Why is there no universal right to energy? There is good reason to ask this question; in the Netherlands alone, more than 550,000 households live in energy poverty.

The European Research council has decided to fund the MSCA Doctoral Network 2021 THERESA.

Transforming teaching spaces into learning spaces – that is what active learning classrooms are all about. Hans Beldhuis talks about them in this episode of a series of short interviews on teaching innovation.

In his wind tunnel at Zernike Campus, Eize Stamhuis discovered the smart power of sea birds. But what could he do with the patent for promising wind turbine blades? An alliance with two pioneering entrepreneurs led to the Albatrozz start-up. From looking through a pair of binoculars on Heligoland to developing a spectacular wind turbine at Zeewolde and large-scale applications.

Prof. Wim van Saarloos, member of the Supervisory Board of the UG, will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Twente.

Five UG lecturers are to receive Comenius grants. These grants provide educational professionals with the opportunity to put their teaching innovation ideas into practice.

Op 24 mei wordt voor de tweede keer de Ben Feringa Impact Award uitgereikt. De Award is in het leven geroepen om onderzoeksprojecten met aantoonbare maatschappelijke impact te onderscheiden en heeft dit jaar plaats in het Forum.

On Thursday 12 May 2022, the festive launch of the strategic agenda 2022-2024 of the Akkoord van Groningen took place in Forum Groningen.

Erin Wilson talks about the innovatieve methods of the prize winning course The End of the World as We Know It? Climate Change, End Times and Sustainable Futures

Last week, the Young Academy Groningen (YAG) celebrated its first lustrum. Established in 2016, the YAG quickly became a driving force for interdisciplinary research and engagement with people in the Northern Netherlands.

The course unit ‘Climate Change, End Times, Sustainability’ at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies has won the UG Best Practice in Teaching & Learning Award.

On 21 March 2022 NWO announced that the research proposal ‘Flexible Energy Communities: Coupling e-mobility and energy communities (FlexECs)’ was selected as one of the four projects to be funded under the call ‘Energy Transition as a Socio-Technical Challenge’.

Over the coming months, Nobel Prize winner Ben Feringa and his team will visit primary and secondary schools in Groningen and Friesland.

Former Energy and Climate Law student Stavroula Pappa received an honourable mention for her LLM thesis as part of 'NeVER Thesis Award 2021', awarded by the Dutch Energy Law Association (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Energierecht).

Partners researching the production of green hydrogen – Paolo Pescarmona is making key discoveries in a laboratory at the University of Groningen, while alumnus Jan-jaap Aué is leading a project at Hanze University of Applied Sciences to scale up this kind of knowledge into an industrially usable process. Northern knowledge institutions are collaborating on this project and others, within the University of the North. The plan is for the Northern Netherlands to evolve into a fully fledged ‘Hydrogen Valley’ (emulating the success of Silicon Valley).

Every year, the University of Groningen composes a multidisciplinary team of students who compete in the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition. iGEM is an international competition in biotechnology aimed at finding new solutions to current global and local societal issues. This year for the first time the team consists of students of the UG’s Faculty of Science and Engineering and students of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences. The team aims to develop a solution to help lowering ammonia emissions.

Groningen is building up to Climate Adaptation Week, an online, interactive festival revolving around the consequences of, and solutions to, climate change. It is a theme that is close to the heart of business expert Björn Mitzinneck. ‘Many of the really tricky problems we face involve people making not particularly smart choices. I’m really interested in how you organize people for the collective good.’

The University of Groningen’s Green Office's goal is to make the University of Groningen a greener university, as it aims to make sustainability an integral part of the University.

Is there a future for green hydrogen activities in the Northern Netherlands? According to Business Studies alumnus Robert van Tuinen, manager of Business Development & Strategy at Seaports in Eemshaven, this is a no-brainer.

Making energy systems more efficient and sustainable has driven the career of Prof. P.V. Aravind. As a student, it led him to come to Europe to study for an MSc at the University of Oldenburg (Germany) and a PhD at Delft University of Technology, where he subsequently started his own research group. In September 2019, he moved to the University of Groningen to work, among other projects, on reversible fuel cells that can convert fuel into electricity and vice versa. ‘My dream is to create negative emission power plants and reversible fuel cells are helpful in many ways.’

Climate change caused by carbon emissions is the leading global environmental problem today. Mitigating carbon emissions and adapting to climate change requires the integration of different types of approaches to support the transformation of society towards sustainability.

Prof. Eize Stamhuis of the University of Groningen, together with industrial partners EmpowerMi and RG-projecten, has received a grant of over EUR 1 million from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. The grant is for the modification and testing of a wind turbine according to Stamhuis's Albatrozz principle. This wind turbine, located in the Noordoostpolder, will have blades with partially oscillating ends. The research and testing on an existing commercial-scale wind turbine (850 kW) will take approximately two years. With the special oscillating blades, an efficiency increase of 5 to 25% at low wind speeds is envisaged. This unique technological concept can therefore have a major impact on making energy management more sustainable.

The Boards of the NWO domains Science and Social Science and Humanities have approved a project proposal, coordinated by professor of Energy Law Martha Roggenkamp, in the PhD@sea programme.

Waverijn and Nieuwenhout's contribution is the first to show how both the European Court of Justice and the EU legislature at times fail to properly navigate the complex matter of EU law applicability at sea.

UG 8th on world list of 780 sustainable universities

After two years of hard work, the Groningen Top Dutch Solar Racing team has arrived in Australia. The team consists of students of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, University of Groningen, and secondary vocational education (MBO) and is currently preparing for the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia: a 3,000-kilometer journey across Australia in a solar-powered car.

Xuejun Zhao’s essay delves specifically into SDG 13: Climate Action, where the current trend of climate litigation is analyzed. Her essay explores the feasibility of climate litigation, and considers the existing domestic cases, as well as the possibility of turning to the international realm

Students of Hanze University of Applied Sciences (UAS), University of Groningen and Noorderpoort will be competing in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia for the first time, with their own uniquely built and designed solar car called ‘Top Dutch Solar Racing’. In the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, student teams race 3,000 kilometres across Australia in solar cars.

Do you cycle or take the train instead of going by car, or do you recycle much? If so, this means that you are being environmentally friendly, and it should be emphasized more. This was pointed out by Linda Steg, environmental psychologist at the UG. Steg studies people’s motivations for displaying sustainable behaviour. ‘If you give people the sense that their behaviour is sustainable, it becomes part of their identity and they will become more sustainable in other areas, too.’

On Friday 26 April, four University of Groningen nominees received a Royal Decoration. Prof. J.M.A. Scherpen, Prof. E.M. Steg, Prof. M.M. Roggenkamp and Prof. O.P. Kuipers have been appointed Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

De voorgenomen CO2-taks voor bedrijven gaat grotendeels voorbij aan het feit dat er al een systeem voor CO2-beprijzing is: het Europese emissiehandelssysteem.

Schadelijke uitstoot beprijzen is prima om emissies te beperken. Maar een Nederlandse heffing ondergraaft het Europese systeem, stelt expert Edwin Woerdman in een interview in de NRC.

Een nationale CO2-heffing bovenop het Europese emissiehandelssysteem maakt het realiseren van uitstootreducties voor de samenleving onnodig duur. Het kunstmatig verhogen van de CO2-prijs negeert bovendien de razendsnel dalende kosten van CO2-vrije energietechnologie.

The sustainability policies of OECD countries have a small but significant impact on the interest that they are paying on international financial markets. The higher their sustainability level, the lower their ‘spread’: that is, the premium that countries pay in addition to so-called ‘risk-free interest’. If the sustainability score of a country increases by 1%, the spread of 10-year government bonds decreases by 0.15%. These are the conclusions of an international team of academics that includes Bert Scholtens, Professor of Sustainable Banking and Finance at the University of Groningen.

Changes in the structure of international trade have had little effect on the growth in global CO2 emissions. That is the conclusion of Professor Erik Dietzenbacher, based on data from the World Input-Output Database (WIOD) for the period 1995-2008.

Die fortgesetzte Braunkohleförderung fügt den Ökosystemen beträchtlichen Schaden zu. Es gibt aber einen Ausweg: Das Bundesberggesetz muss von Juristen umweltfreundlicher interpretiert werden, außerdem sollte Klimaschutz darin Einzug halten.

After the earthquake in Zeerijp, the Minister of Economic Affairs announced a number of new measures.

An interactive debate at a climate regulation conference in Wroclaw was concluded with some policy advice for the international climate negotiators (COP24) who will gather in Katowice in December 2018.

The strong warming of the Arctic has many consequences. One example is the increase of precipitation in the area, which will mainly be falling in the form of rain, rather than snow. The question is whether this increased rainfall is simply caused by the fact that there is more precipitation, or by the heating of the atmosphere, or a combination of both. University of Groningen and KNMI researcher Prof. Richard Bintaja answers this question in his article ‘The impact of Arctic warming on increased rainfall’, which was published in Scientific Report on Tuesday 30 October 2018.

An interactive debate at a climate regulation conference in Wroclaw was concluded with some policy advice for the international climate negotiators (COP24) who will gather in Katowice in December 2018.

The Smart Energy Region Emmen-Haren (SEREH) project is initiated by the Municipality of Emmen (in the Netherlands) and the city of Haren (in Germany), and aims to create the preconditions for the realization of a decentralized, cross-border and sustainable energy market.

PhD researcher Jaap Waverijn won the People’s choice award in the Three Minute Thesis Competition. Here's a new video about his research on how to reduce the costs of renewable energy projects.

In an interview on the Dutch national radio ('BNR Nieuwsradio', 29 May 2018) Prof. dr. Edwin Woerdman explains on the basis of supply and demand why the price of CO2 emission rights is increasing. He also commented upon the possibility for private individuals to use emission rights as an investment tool.

Agnes Schiphof is the Coordinator of the University Green Office, making the UG more sustainable.

News IAEE Energy conference: dual plenary session on Long-term Energy Scenarios and Consumer Behaviour. Read more about these plenary session and the speakers .

The opening plenary session of the 41^st IAEE International Energy Conference will discuss the challenges emerging and developing countries face of securing energy supply with rapidly growing demand, new ambitious environmental targets, and limited access to international capital markets. Read more about this plenary session and the speakers .

The Dutch UN Climate Ambassador Marcel Beukeboom will visit Groningen this week. He will talk with UG students about climate change in a roundtable conversation organized by the Green Office.

On 19-20 March 2018 students of the LLM Energy and Climate Law visited Brussels under the supervision of Dr. Ruven Fleming. The two-day trip was part of the course Energy Investment and Trade Law within the LLM Energy and Climate Law.

Being the single PhD student of our faculty to pass the selection stage, the Faculty of Law is represented by Jaap Waverijn.

In June of 2018 the Zernike Advanced Processing (ZAP) facility will open the doors of an unique innovation lab at Zernike Campus. ZAP provides excellent facilities for experimental biobased research in the Northern Netherlands. Furthermore, companies can make use of the existing equipment in ZAP. General manager Rob van Linschoten is looking forward to the opening.

Dr. Ruven Fleming's blog post: Dutch Government Decides to Cease Gas Production in Groningen - A Legal Perspective

On 7 March 2018 Assistant Professor in Energy Law, Dr. Ruven Fleming, presented his latest book 'Shale Gas, the Environment and Energy Security' and his findings on the topic at the University of Aberdeen, UK.

Being the single PhD student of our faculty to pass the selection stage, the Faculty of Law is represented by Jaap Waverijn.

In een paar zinnen uitleggen wat ETS is en hoe het precies werkt is lastig. In plaats daarvan kiezen we voor wat verdieping. Vijf vragen dus, aan Hoogleraar Markten en Regulering Edwin Woerdman. Lees de antwoorden op Green Choice.

On Friday 23 February 2018, the Green Office of the University of Groningen and the Groninger Debating Society Kalliope will host the first National Sustainability Debate. The theme of this public debate in the Academy Building is ‘Limits to Limits’ and admission is free. The panel and audience will discuss people’s willingness to change their current way of life for the sake of a sustainable future.

The RUG Green Office created a map of sustainable shops, restaurants and green initiatives in Groningen. The Green Office coordinates and initiates projects related to sustainability at the University of Groningen, and to inspire sustainable living.

On 8 December 2017, the Groningen Centre of Energy Law (GCEL) organised a conference in The Hague to celebrate its 10-year anniversary.

The Marie Curie ITN project RECOMS will be funded by the European Commission, with an evaluation score of 98.6%. Dr. Alex Franklin from the Coventry University in the UK (Lead partner) and Adj. Prof. Ina Horlings of the Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen wrote the proposal. The overall budget of the project is 4 million euro.

On Friday September 29 Assistant Professor of Energy Law Law Dr Ruven Fleming has published his book titled 'Shale Gas, the Environment and Energy Security' with Edward Elgar Publishing.

Dr Edwin Woerdman organizes an interdisciplinary workshop on climate change regulation at WSB University in Wrocław, Poland.

The international knowledge centre for climate adaptation will be based in Rotterdam and Groningen. The two cities won the bid to accommodate the UN Global Centre of Excellence on Climate Adaptation (GCECA) with the most convincing offer.

As Germany is heading to the polls this week (Sunday 24 September 2017), the energy and climate law blog assesses the election manifestos of the main political parties in Germany with a view to energy and climate.

On 1 June 2017 President Donald Trump announced that the US is  withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement. According to the White House, President Trump thinks that the accord undermines US competitiveness and jobs. But is it possible to just walk away from the Paris Agreement?

On 10 May 2017 Prof. Roggenkamp and Dr. Fleming addressed an audience of international legal scholars and Spanish students during the conference `Law, Energy and Climate Change´ at the University of Almeria, Spain.

Dr Edwin Woerdman is interviewed as climate expert on the Dutch national radio to comment upon the recent vote in the European Parliament on the revision of the EU emissions trading system.

The 28^th edition of the European Energy Law Seminar, organised by the Dutch Energy Law Association (NeVER) in co-operation with the Groningen Centre of Energy Law (GCEL) and the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, took place in The Hague on 23 and 24 January.

The Autumn edition 2016 of Broerstraat 5, the Dutch alumnimagazine of the University of Groningen, has been published. The pdf is to be read on line.

Geoservice and ESRIG nominated for 2016 Dutch Data Prize

For one night, Saturday 4 June, Groningen will once again be the capital of Art and Science on during the Night of Art & Science festival. The University of Groningen is well represented at The Night, with an extensive academic programme.

On Monday April 25th 2016, the University of Groningen and Energy Academy Europe start their second edition of the Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) on the topic of energy transition. The first edition attracted over 4000 participants worldwide and had a very positive evaluation. This showed the need for a new launch of the unique free course.

Onder de kop ‘De EU is tot in haar haarvaten politiek’ opent het aprilnummer van Broerstraat 5 met Luuk van Middelaar, de recent verkozen Alumnus van het Jaar. In een interview vertelt de historicus en filosoof over macht en onmacht van de EU. Verder in het nieuwe nummer van het alumnimagazine van de RUG:

After two successful rounds, the North Sea Energy Law Programme will run again between September 2016 and 2018. This exclusive Master of Laws is organised by the universities of Groningen, Oslo, Aberdeen and Copenhagen.

PhD student Laurens Polgar has created new, recyclable rubber. By using a different method to create bonds in the rubber, Polgar has created rubber that is completely recyclable into new rubber, preserving all its qualities.

University of Groningen PhD student Charlotte van Leeuwen has developed a technique for measuring carbon dioxide (CO₂) leaks from underground storage sites. This is important for monitoring whether underground storage does in fact prevent greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere. Van Leeuwen’s PhD ceremony will be held on 27 November 2015 at the University of Groningen.

Voor de door de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen en de Energy Academy Europe georganiseerde Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) getiteld ‘Solving the Energy Puzzle: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Energy Transition’ heeft professor Roggenkamp de colleges gegeven over de juridische aspecten van energietransitie, marktliberalisering, emissiehandel, elektriciteitsopwekking en de ontwikkeling van smart grids

Ruven Fleming recently delivered a presentation at SPE Offshore Europe, one of the world's largest technical conference and exhibitions for the offshore E&P industry, that took place from 5-8 September in Aberdeen, UK.

Het oktobernummer van Broerstraat 5 opent met een portret van een bijzondere wetenschapper die zich afvraagt waarom mensen eigenlijk gezond zijn: Cisca Wijmenga speurt naar de genetische achtergrond van chronische ziekten als glutenallergie en reuma en ontving onlangs de Spinozapremie 2015.

Using the University of Groningen’s Bernoulliborg building on the Zernike Campus as a living lab, PhD student Ilche Georgievski has devised systems to save energy and money. The results, which are generic and can be used in other buildings, will generate savings of about 35 percent on energy use in monetary terms. In the Bernoulliborg canteen, Georgievski brought down energy use for lighting by 80 percent. He will defend his thesis describing the systems behind these measures on 9 October 2015 at the University of Groningen.

Dr Edwin Woerdman has been asked to comment upon the recent proposal by the European Commission on emissions trading after 2020, in the Dutch 'Nieuwsbrief Emissiehandel' (Newslettre Emissions Trading).

The University of Groningen and the Energy Academy Europe will help strengthen Mozambique’s knowledge infrastructure in the field of energy by setting up degree programmes at Mozambican knowledge institutes and by training staff.

We will be sustainable in 2030! That may sound good, but it takes a lot to realize these ambitions. What does a village, town, city or municipality require if it has a sustainability or energy goal? Prof. Bert Scholtens is coordinating a study in which local energy initiatives play an important role.

The nuisance experienced by people living near wind turbines not only depends on the actual sound levels, but also on various psychological factors, such as the extent to which people think they have a say in decision-making process and are being taken seriously.

Niets minder dan een ramp, noemt Jan Brouwer, hoogleraar algemene rechtswetenschap aan de RUG, de gevolgen van de aardgaswinning in Groningen. Hij doelt daarmee op de omvangrijke schade aan woningen, scholen en openbare monumenten, de gezondheidsklachten van bewoners, de waardedaling van hun huizen en de door het Rijk aangekondigde noodzakelijke versterking van ruim 150.000 bouwwerken – volgens Brouwer ‘een volstrekt onhaalbare operatie’

Vandaag is een special van het Nederlands Juristenblad verschenen over de gaswinning en de daaruit voortkomende aardbevingsproblematiek in Groningen. Het blad bevat bijdragen van vijf Groningse hoogleraren van de Faculteit Rechtsgeleerdheid.

As local organizer, Dr Edwin Woerdman can look back at a successful international conference of the Society for Environmental Law and Economics (SELE) in Groningen (21-22 May 2015).

His Majesty King Willem-Alexander, Her Majesty Queen Máxima and Minister Ploumen visited the conference "LNG - full speed ahead" in Hamburg, last Friday. There, Prof. Iris Vis and Dr. Paul Buijs of the Faculty of Economics and Business informed the Queen about their research into the design of distribution networks for the new, environmentally friendly fuel LNG.

A smooth transfer to sustainable energy in Europe will require major changes to the electricity market – for example because the supply of energy through solar panels or wind turbines is less reliable or can result in significant price fluctuations. Which changes to the electricity market will prove most beneficial? Prof. Machiel Mulder, Professor by Special Appointment in Regulation of Energy Markets at the University of Groningen, has been awarded a research grant of almost EUR 200,000 from NWO, with cofunding from a number of societal partners.

What is the impact of renewable energy on the electricity market? What are the social risks and benefits of sustainable consumption? These and other topics are addressed in the first workshop organized by the new Centre for Energy Economics Research (CEER) of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of the University of Groningen (RUG).

Het vijftal hoogleraren uitte donderdagavond tijdens een massaal bezochte informatiebijeenkomst zware kritiek op de manier waarop bij de gaswinning wordt omgesprongen met de rechten en veiligheid van de inwoners van Groningen, meldt Dagblad van het Noorden.

Inwoners van Groningen kunnen de gaswinning laten stilleggen door de rechter. Dit zegt Jan Brouwer, hoogleraar Algemene Rechtswetenschap aan de Rijksuniversiteit in Groningen. Brouwer wijst erop dat overheden regelmatig zijn veroordeeld als het gaat om overlast. En dit gaat over een veel groter belang: een levensbedreigende situatie, volgens de hoogleraar op RTV Noord.

Sustainable society needs more room for local initiatives and innovative technology. Furthermore, practical scenarios linking sustainable energy generated locally to existing energy systems are needed. The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded a grant worth € 375,000 to the University of Groningen (Dr Henny van der Windt) and the University of Twente (Dr Ellen van Oost) for research into the technological and social potential of local sustainable energy systems. A number of commercial companies will also make a practical and financial contribution to the study, bringing the total investment in the project to € 500,000.

Oil can be produced from the seeds of the rubber tree, a low-grade waste product found on plantations. The oil can be converted into biodiesel or bioplastic. These conclusions were drawn by Yusuf Abduh from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Groningen, on the basis of laboratory experiments and field tests. He will defend his PhD thesis at the University of Groningen on 27 February.

Dr Edwin Woerdman is one of the three experts interviewed by NU.nl on implementation problems of the emissions trading scheme in Europe.

Duurzame energieoplossingen in gemeenten, dorpen en buurten, hoe pakken we dat goed aan? Die vraag wordt beantwoord op de workhopdag 'Lokaal Energie Maken' op 12 februari 2015 in Hooghalen (Drenthe). De dag is bedoeld voor bewonerscollectieven en lokale overheden en vormt de afsluiting van een groot onderzoek naar duurzame energiesystemen.

The University of Groningen’s Nerdalize is one of eight academic start-ups that State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science Sander Dekker today announced would received funding from the Ministry. The funding is in the form of a € 250,000 loan. The new company must develop a commercial application for its innovative scientific knowledge.

The North Sea Energy Law Programme (NSELP) is a two-year post-academic part-time joint degree (LL.M) offered by the Universities of Groningen, Oslo, Aberdeen and Copenhagen. The advanced curriculum is designed and structured specifically for legal professionals in the energy sector and covers the field of energy law from wellhead to burner tip.

Stefan Weishaar and Arndt Hobrecker (Head of Department, State Development Corporation of Thuringia) organized a conference on the Future of Energy in Marburg, Germany (22.11.2014).

Cirsten Zwaagstra heeft de Rachel Carsonprijs gewonnen voor de beste wetenschappelijke scriptie op milieugebied in 2014. Zij deed onderzoek naar verstening van tuinen in Groningen en de gevolgen voor de waterhuishouding en het klimaat in de stad. De jury roemde de diepgang en de toegankelijkheid van haar onderzoek. Het legt een brug tussen de mondiale klimaatproblematiek en de mogelijkheid voor mensen om daar in hun eigen tuin iets aan te doen.

New videos Unifocus: harvesting energy from waves; the birth of the solar cell; a special beadle's staff

In its recent report the High Level Reflection Group of the Energy Community has advised the Community to study the possibilities to incorporate Emissions Trading into the Energy Community Treaty. In this context Stefan Weishaar was invited on 15. October 2014 by the Energy Community Secretariat in Vienna to speak before its Environmental task force and respond to ensuing questions.

Op 14 oktober j.l. heeft de PhD onderzoekster van het Groningen Centre of Energy Law Hannah Muller een lunchlezing gegeven bij het ministerie van Economische Zaken, DG Energie, Telecom en Mededinging omtrent “Een grensoverschrijdend net op zee: Juridische belemmeringen en mogelijke oplossingen”.

In an article in Het Financieele Dagblad (October 22, 2014, in Dutch) Associate Professor of Law and Economics Dr Edwin Woerdman argues that the European industry wants to have pliable emission caps. The industry lobbies in favour of so-called 'dynamic allocation' which implies more emission rights when production increases. This is inefficient and conflicts with the intended functioning of the EU emissions trading scheme.

The Groningen Centre of Energy Law (GCEL) will host the 2015 international conference of the Society for Environmental Law and Economics (SELE). Local organizer Dr Edwin Woerdman arranged for sponsoring of the event by the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM).

Hoe organiseren we het onderhoud van offshore windmolenparken op een duurzame en efficiënte manier? Hoe ontwerpen we supply chains die tegelijkertijd veerkrachtig en efficiënt zijn, gegeven onvoorspelbare omstandigheden? Hoe maken we de logistiek rond het transport van verse levensmiddelen duurzaam? Aan drie onderzoeksteams van de Faculteit Economie en Bedrijfskunde van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen is door NWO in totaal ruim 2 miljoen euro subsidie toegekend om die vragen te beantwoorden. Hun onderzoek draagt bij aan de doelstellingen van de nationale Topsector Logistiek.

On 29 July 2014, the Dutch Flemish Accreditation Organization (NVAO) has officially accredited the North Sea Energy Law Programme (NSELP). The University of Groningen in cooperation with the University of Oslo, the University of Aberdeen, and the University of Copenhagen are thus entitled to offer a joint degree on Energy Law.

New Unifocus: Efficient platic solar cells; the meaning of heroes; a hanging garden

On Tuesday 1 July, NWO awarded EUR 81 million in grants to six projects that aim to improve the academic infrastructure in the Netherlands. This investment, part of the National Roadmap for Large-Scale Research Facilities, will give an important boost to research in the Netherlands. University of Groningen researchers are involved in three of these projects.

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The pain that Theunis Piersma feels about the global decline of nature has been somewhat alleviated by NWO’s Spinoza Prize. The professor of Animal Ecology talks about this in the July 2014 issue of Broerstraat 5, the University of Groningen alumni magazine.

The University of Groningen and the PBL (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency) intend to work together more closely on innovative research. During a workshop on June 23 at the Academy Building, the Director of the PBL Maarten Hajer and Executive Chairman of the University Sibrand Poppema signed a cooperation agreement

The Your Energy of Tomorrow truck, otherwise known as the RUG Discovery, has been a household name in the teaching of natural sciences and technology in Dutch pre-university schools for almost ten years. The truck is set to stay on the road for the next three years, thanks to continued collaboration between the University of Groningen and GasTerra.

Press release - Brussels Sustainable Energy Week

Iedereen die in de periode van 1 oktober 2011 tot en met 1 september 2014 aan een Nederlandse universiteit een eindscriptie heeft geschreven over (een onderdeel van) het energierecht die is beoordeeld met een cijfer 7,5 of hoger kan meedoen.

Infrastructure planning is confronted with increasing complexities. The traditional project-oriented planning approach is struggling to deal with these complexities. This results in frequent budget and time overruns and the fact that many projects do not live up to expectations.

Ocean Grazer Open Day (project manager drs. W.A. Prins) : scale prototype of novel wave energy converter demonstrated

Register now for the Sustainable Energy Week in Brussels

A pavement garden and roof garden are to be created for the University Library. The gardens will transform the building, which is located on the Academieplein, into an example of sustainable green development in Groningen's 'concrete' centre. This is the essence of the plan with which three students won the Green Mind Award on Friday 6 June. The Green Mind Award is a biannual competition run by the University of Groningen for the best idea to make the University more sustainable. Lisette Stevens, Menno Stellingwerff and Malenthe Teunis developed their plan in a Master's Lab of the University's Honours College.

After the success of its examination training, taken by over 640 secondary school pupils across the country, the University of Groningen is offering resit training to VWO and HAVO pupils on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 June. VWO pupils can follow training in the subjects Mathematics B, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Economics (programme 2013 and 2014) and Management and Organization. HAVO pupils can follow Mathematics A, Mathematics B and Physics.

After the honorary doctorates and the wonderful parade of international professors on Friday 13 June, the RUG400 celebrations will be rounded off with a weekend of festivities that will appeal to all. The huge final party on the Grote Markt, Vismarkt and Waagplein will feature Bløf and De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, to name but two of the attractions. The party will be preceded by a procession of students and townsfolk who will jointly present their community art projects to the general public. In the afternoon there will be the Bommen Boat Races, a rowing event between Groningen and Münster in the canals of Groningen city centre, with the highpoint a race between former students of Oxford and Cambridge.

As young people advance through puberty, a number of health risks increase, according to a UMCG study that was published on 10 June 2014. The relevant organizations are already taking action by providing extra contact time for adolescents.

Theunis Piersma, professor of Global Flyway Ecology at the University of Groningen, has been awarded a Spinoza Prize. The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) announced this today.

Progressie van chronisch nierfalen kan in een veel vroeger stadium worden behandeld als een nieuwe, minder strikte definitie van de progressie van nierinsufficiëntie wordt gehanteerd. Het vaststellen van een daling van 30% in nierfunctie (de glomerulaire filtratiesnelheid ofwel GFR) van de nieren is voldoende voor het signaleren van een blijvende verslechtering van de nierfunctie. Dit blijkt uit een grote studie van het wereldwijde Chronic Kidney Disease Prognosis Consortium die vandaag in het wetenschappelijke tijdschrift JAMA is gepubliceerd en gepresenteerd op het congres van de Europese Vereniging voor Nefrologie dat in Amsterdam plaatsvindt.

The University of Groningen is starting a three-year study this week of the effectiveness of a treatment for the loved ones of missing people. During the study, help will be provided that comprises cognitive behavioural therapy and elements of mindfulness. The researchers want to establish whether the treatment can help reduce post-traumatic stress and increase the participants’ wellbeing. The study is funded by the Victim Support Fund (Fonds Slachtofferhulp).

Every country has the legal duty to tackle incipient genocide in the early stages to prevent the worst happening. However, this international agreement, which dates back to 1948, is not being upheld, mainly because there is no body with the mandate to do so. This is the conclusion drawn by lawyer Etienne Ruvebana, originally from Rwanda, in his PhD thesis at the Law Faculty of the University of Groningen. He pleads for more research on international mechanisms that, with this legal basis, can prevent genocides in the future.

Op zaterdag 7 juni zet de 400-jarige Rijksuniversiteit Groningen vliegveld Eelde op stelten. Er valt die dag van alles te beleven: demonstraties, vliegensvlugge kindercolleges, leuke proefjes en zelfs de mogelijkheid om een bezoekje te brengen aan de toren van de luchtverkeersleiding. Kinderen kunnen op de foto met een indrukwekkend pantservoertuig, met roofvogels of een grote brandweerauto. En als klap op de vuurpijl maakt iedereen kans op het winnen van een rondvlucht boven Groningen.

Student satisfaction with the University of Groningen has increased slightly over the last year. This is revealed by the results of the 2014 Dutch National Student Survey (NSE: Nationale Studenten Enquête).

De afdeling Klinische Psychologie van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen doet onderzoek naar de mogelijkheid om gebruik te maken van de kracht van verbeelding bij depressie. Het trainen van de positieve fantasie en positieve emoties is een belangrijk onderdeel van een training om terugval bij depressie te voorkomen.

On 2 June, the University of Groningen became the new owner of the building located at Boteringestraat 18, which currently houses the Groningen Public Library. The building will eventually become the new home for the Faculty of Law.

Orthodontists in the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) in collaboration with Zernike Institute of the RUG are currently testing an anti-bacterial material to see whether it is suitable for making braces and dental prostheses. The aim is to make well fitting orthodontic braces and dental prostheses from antibacterial polymer using 3D printing technology. This should prevent plaque formation and accumulation around the brace during orthodontic treatment. Plaque can cause white spots lesions and dental decay on tooth surface. It will probably be a few more years before these products come into the market.

Some six hundred primary school children from in and around the city of Groningen today travelled back in time to the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Assistant Professor of the Art History of Christianity, Dr Justin Kroesen, was their guide. In a lecture for the Children’s University, Kroesen told them about the numerous churches dotted around the province. The red bricks conceal a wealth of exciting stories: about Onno the Knight, the Van Starkenborgh family and the opulent Anna van Ewsum. Kroesen: ‘The churches of Groningen are veritable time capsules.’

Nieuwbouw Zernikeborg wordt verlengde W-vorm

Announcement VIDI grant for Jan Anton Koster

Author, poet, playwright and Poet Laureate Anne Vegter is the new Guest Writer at the University of Groningen. Starting in September 2014, she will give three public lectures on the theme ‘Violence and Love’, followed by a public discussion with Ola Mafaalani, the artistic director of the Noord Nederlands Toneel (NNT theatre company). In addition, she will organize seminars for a selected group of students on conflict and language in play scripts and about writing a poetic monologue. The public appearances will be on Monday evenings, 22 and 29 September and 6 and 13 October, in the Aula of the Academy Building (8-9.30 p.m.).

Students’ writing skills far below par

On Friday 25 April 2014, five University of Groningen nominees received a Royal Decoration. Prof. F. (Feikje) Vellinga-Schootstra has been appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau. Prof. D. (Douwe) Draaisma and Prof. A.J.J.M. (Wied) Ruijssenaars and prof. dr. R.H.A. (Robert) van der Meer have been appointed Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau and Prof. G.J. (Gillis) Dorleijn and Prof. J. (John) Nerbonne have been appointed Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

On Friday 25 April 2014, Douwe Draaisma received Royal Decoration. Draaisma has been appointed Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

On Friday 25 April 2014, Gillis Dorleijn received Royal Decoration. He has been appointed Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

On Friday 25 April 2014, John Nerbonne received Royal Decoration. Nerbonne has been appointed Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

On Friday 25 April 2014, Wied Ruijssenaars received Royal Decoration. Ruijssenaars has been appointed Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

On Friday 25 April 2014, Feikje Vellinga-Schootstra received Royal Decoration. Vellinga-Schootstra has been appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

On Friday 25 April 2014, Robert van der Meer, a University of Groningen nominee, received a Royal Decoration. He was appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. The Royal Decoration was presented in The Hague by the Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp.

Boudewijn Smits (biographer Loe de Jong) to appear in VPRO Boeken.

De oratie van prof.dr. Lex Hoogduin en het daaraan voorafgaande symposium zijn vandaag live te volgen via de RUG-website.

Fundamental uncertainty and complexity need to be included in contemporary thinking on the economy. Adapting theory this way will lead to a different and improved type of supervision of banks, according to Prof. Lex Hoogduin in his inaugural lecture as Professor of Complexity and Uncertainty in Financial Markets and Financial Institutions at the University of Groningen, on Tuesday 22 April.

The University of Groningen will be closed from Good Friday 18 April until and including Easter Monday 21 April. The University Library will be open on 18 April and closed on 21 April.

A self-willed man, unswayed by criticism. A man with a definite mission. This is the picture painted by the biography of historian Loe de Jong, for which Boudewijn Smits will be awarded a PhD by the University of Groningen on 24 April, to coincide with what would have been De Jong’s one hundredth birthday.

On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the University of Groningen, the 200th anniversary of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and the good relationship between both organisations DNB President Klaas Knot is to visit the university on Thursday 17 April. Knot is Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business and will give a lecture to staff and students on monetary policy. At 16.00 hrs. he will visit the exhibition ‘400 years of science’ in the Der Aa-kerk, and he will pay particular attention to the section “From Wim Duisenberg to Klaas Knot”.

The Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) has given definitive approval for the introduction of a Bachelor’s degree programme in Liberal Arts and Sciences at the new University College Groningen. This means that all the formal criteria for starting the degree programme in September 2014 have been satisfied. Prospective students can register from today for the Bachelor’s programme in Liberal Arts and Sciences via Studielink.

Employees in an organization are more likely to imitate unethical behaviour in subordinates than in managers. In addition, they also tend to copy ‘good’ behaviour from staff in higher positions. These are among the findings contained in a thesis written by Sanne Ponsioen. She also discovered that the tendency to copy immoral behaviour from other people is a question of character: ‘This is something you can measure in assessments, so it might be wise to pay more attention to this personality trait when recruiting new staff.’ Ponsioen will be awarded a PhD by the University of Groningen on 17 April.

In 2018, Leeuwarden will be the European Capital of Culture. The title of Lwd 2018 is Iepen Mienskip. Iepen is the Frisian word for ‘open’, whereas  Mienskip represents the Frisian sense of community. One of the main events of Lwd 2018 is Sense of Place. Initiator of Sense of Place is Oerol, the international theatre festival of Terschelling which attracts for over 30 years more than 50,000 visitors.

Dr Stefan Weishaar wrote a comprehensive introduction to emissions trading design published by Edward Elgar. The book focuses on practical design and implementation issues, both from a legal and economic perspective.

Subsidies for sustainable energy like wind and solar power will not reduce CO₂ emissions as long as there is an emissions trading system. This is the thrust of the inaugural lecture by economist Machiel Mulder on Tuesday 11 March 2014.

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded two research projects in the framework of the URSES-call (Uncertainty Reduction in Smart Energy Systems), in which the RUG / GCEL participates. The research focusses on smart energy systems (smart grids) and their regulation in the future.

A combination of light therapy and albumin therapy may be a promising way of preventing brain damage in cases of severe jaundice in newborn babies and adults. This is the conclusion drawn by UMCG researcher Andrea Schreuder in her thesis. Schreuder will receive her PhD-degree at the University of Groningen on 12 February 2014.

Ph.D. candidate Thijs Jong, M.Sc., participates in the 'Ownership Links and Enhanced European Union Transaction Log (EUTL) Dataset Project' of the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. This project on transactions in emission allowances is coordinated by Professor Denny Ellerman. Thijs Jong is supervised at the University of Groningen by Professor Oscar Couwenberg and Dr Edwin Woerdman.

Complex heritable traits are not only determined by changes in the DNA sequence. Scientists from the University of Groningen Bioinformatics Centre, together with their French colleagues, have shown that epigenetic marks can affect traits such as flowering time and architecture in plants. Furthermore, these marks are passed on for many generations in a stable manner. Their results were published in Science Express on Thursday, 6 February 2014. It seems that a revision of Genetics textbooks is now in order.

Although many companies are keen to latch onto major sports events (such as the forthcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi) with new advertising campaigns, these do not always generate higher sales figures. In fact, according to Maarten Gijsenberg, Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Groningen, the direct effect on sales is much lower during major sports events than at other times. His study of 206 brands in 64 supermarket categories is published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing .

New energy research projects at the University of Groningen will connect the economic, behavioural and technical dimensions of smart grids to ensure the success of these new energy systems. This research draws on the strength of the University of Groningen in interdisciplinary energy research and will yield systems that are reliable, stable, and socially robust.

Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever and alumnus of the University of Groningen, will be awarded a social honorary doctorate on 13 June 2014 during the 400th anniversary celebrations. Polman is being awarded the honorary doctorate in acknowledgement of his exceptional drive to successfully combine entrepreneurship and sustainable development.

A fish that swims with other fish in a school always moves forward more efficiently than when on its own. Charlotte Hemelrijk and her research group at the University of Groningen used a computer model to demonstrate that this applies to all kinds of configurations – diamonds or rectangles, in rows alongside or even behind each other. By factoring the viscosity of water and the influence of the wakes into the simulation model, the researchers could demonstrate that the diamond configuration is erroneously considered the most efficient for a school of fish. This was published in Fish and Fisheries on 30 January 2014.

New research shows that depression and impulse control disorders (eating disorders in particular) are independently associated with diabetes diagnosis, after adjustment for presence of other mental disorders.

Christian Zuidema, Assistant Professor of Spatial Planning, has won the Jury Prize in the 2013 Lecturer of the Year Elections. He also won the Audience Award. Hans Burgerhof, lecturer in Medical Statistics, received most of the internet votes and thus won the Web Award.

The layout of the University Library needs to be improved, it must be prepared technically for a digital future and more room must be created for students. This was the challenge issued to architect Rob Hendriks (DAAD Architecten) by the University of Groningen. On 27 January 2014, the Board of the University of Groningen formally approved the ‘Masterplan UB’ [University Library Master Plan]. This plan will serve as a framework for extensive renovations to the Library building, which is going on 30 years old.

On Friday 31 January, over 5000 secondary school pupils will visit the Open Day at the University of Groningen, where they will be offered a thorough introduction to up to four degree programmes. The various degree programmes will – where possible – be presented in the buildings where they are actually taught, all across Groningen.

A fundamental study on the movement of skyrmions, very small and very stable objects that can occur in certain thin crystals, may help to build smaller and more energy efficient electronic devices, such as memory storage. University of Groningen theoretical physicist Maxim Mostovoy was part of the team that solved the riddle of the spinning skyrmion. The results were published on Sunday 26 January in Nature Materials.

Dr Edwin Woerdman agrees with the Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) not to allow the early closure of five old coal-fired power plants in the Netherlands. Woerdman briefly explains his views in an opinion article (Dutch language only).

From 13 - 20 August 2013 the Groningen Centre of Energy Law together with the RUG Honours College organized for the second time a summer school on energy law jointly with the George Washington University Law School and the Fundação Getulio Vargas ( FGV) Law School in Rio de Janeiro.The research focused on the regulation of ‘new’oil and gas exploration and production activities.

Op 18 en 19 juni 2013 organiseerde het Internationale Energieagentschap (IEA) het vijfde jaarlijkse Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Regulatory Network Meeting in Parijs. Een breed spectrum aan onderwerpen werd vervolgens gepresenteerd en bediscussieerd gedurende het tweedaagse evenement. Alhoewel vooruitgang van CCS-demonstratieprojecten in Europa langzaam en moeizaam gaat, bleek dat substantiële ontwikkeling wel degelijk plaatsvindt in Canada en de VS.

On 18 and 19 June 2013, the International Energy Agency (IEA) held its fifth annual Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Regulatory Network Meeting in Paris. Although progress of CCS demonstration projects in Europe is slow and cumbersome, the event painted the bigger picture by showing that things are moving forward in Canada and the USA.

Het programma van de opleiding Energierecht op Locatie 2013-2014 is vastgesteld en staat inmiddels online. Inschrijven is nu mogelijk.

On June 20, Dr. E. Woerdman gave a presentation on regulatory failures in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme at the Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Last Saturday, June 1st 2013, the fourth edition of the Night of Arts and Sciences took place in the city centre of Groningen. During this event arts and sciences meet in unexpected ways through many acts at twenty locations. The theme for this year was ‘energy’. Of course, the Groningen Centre of Energy Law was present at this event and organised four lectures at the University library. Each lecture was followed by a discussion, which gave visitors the opportunity to pose questions. The kick-off of the lectures was provided by Hannah Kruimer with her presentation “The myth of the liberalised market”. After that, Hannah Müller provided an overview of the complex legal aspects of offshore wind energy. Next, Marijn Holwerda addressed the liability for damages caused by Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The series was closed by Renske Giljam with a presentation on the dilemma’s that are important in the design of energy legislation.

De postacademische cursus ‘Energierecht op Locatie’ 2012-2013 is met succes verlopen.

Dr Edwin Woerdman and Dr Stefan Weishaar were invited (April 5, 2013) by the Director-General of the Dutch Ministry of the Environment, Chris Kuijpers, to advise him about climate policy and emissions trading at his official visit to the Province of Groningen in relation to sustainable energy.

The Board of the University has appointed Prof. Hans van Ees as Dean of University College Groningen, which is currently being developed. Van Ees, professor of Corporate Governance and Institutions at the Faculty of Economics and Business, will start on 1 April 2013 for the period until 1 September 2017. University College Groningen is scheduled to open its doors to its first students in September 2014. The establishment of a University College fits into the Performance Agreements that the University of Groningen has made with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

Dr Edwin Woerdman argues that the EU should not abolish its imperfect emissions trading scheme. He also says that lowering the emission caps is the best way to fix the scheme.

In the context of the new Energy & Sustainability research program within the Faculty of Law, the Groningen Centre of Energy Law (GCEL) held its semi-annual research meeting for its members in the Hayema Heerd near Oldehove on Friday, 18 January 2013.

Een consortium van negen partijen doet de komende vier jaar onderzoek naar verlaging van de kostprijs van windenergie door ontwikkeling van een innovatieve elektriciteitsinfrastructuur op de Noordzee. De Nederlandse overheid heeft vorige maand 2 miljoen euro subsidie in het kader van Topteams Kennis & Innovatie aan dit innovatieve ‘stopcontact’ project toegekend.

Dr Olivia Woolley of the Groningen Centre of Energy Law won the best paper award at the annual conference of the journal Competition and Regulation in Network Industries held in Brussels on Friday 30 November 2012.

The Danish Minister of Climate, Energy and Housing Martin Lidegaard has appointed Prof. dr. Martha M. Roggenkamp of the Groningen Centre of Energy Law as a member of a committee that will assess the regulation of the Danish electricity sector. The committee will report to the Minister in 2014.