UCG helping to make the Netherlands climate-proof

Jacqueline Cramer, the Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, has asked the Dutch Cabinet to set aside €50 million for research designed to make the Netherlands climate-proof. Over the next five years, the Ministries of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (Dutch acronym: VROM) and Education, Culture and Science (OC&W) will work together with the Ministries of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV), Transport, Public Works and Water Management (V&W) and Economic Affairs (EZ) and five academic knowledge institutes, led by Utrecht University and Wageningen University and Research Centre, to develop ground-breaking new science. The objective of this "Knowledge for Climate" research project is to develop proper adaptation strategies in close cooperation with all the stakeholders.

The relevant research proposals for Utrecht University have been formulated by UCG theme leaders and scientists. And the awarding of the grant represents a fair reward for their efforts.
For further information, see the PDF of the press release (in Dutch).

Plans Continuation Collaboration UCG

The Utrecht Centre of Geosciences (UCG) was established in 2003 for a five-year period. It is funded by the University Board and the participating parties (i.e. the Science and Geoscience faculties and TNO Built Environment and Geosciences). This five-year period is soon to expire. The UCG Steering Committee would like to continue this collaboration for another five years. UCG is working on a proposal to broaden its scope in the future because the University Board intends to give priority to projects that reflect the university's policy of Focus and Mass. This means linking the ‘Sustainable Earth' focus area, which covers Geosciences and Sciences, to a possibly broader-based continuation of UCG under a new name.

Professor Hans Oerlemans benoemd tot KNAW Akademiehoogleraar

Belangrijke bijdrage aan de klimaatwetenschap
De Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW) heeft prof.dr. Hans Oerlemans, hoogleraar Meteorologie aan de Universiteit Utrecht, benoemd tot Akademiehoogleraar. Professor Oerlemans is benoemd vanwege zijn baanbrekende bijdragen aan de klimaatwetenschap, met name op het gebied van de wisselwerking tussen ijs en het klimaat. De KNAW heeft dit jaar in totaal vijf nieuwe Akademiehoogleraren benoemd. Zij kunnen zich als Akademiehoogleraar geheel wijden aan innovatief onderzoek en de begeleiding van jonge onderzoekers. Op maandag 8 oktober a.s. zullen de Akademiehoogleraren 2007 in het Trippenhuis, het gebouw van de Akademie, worden geïnstalleerd.

Juryrapport
"Professor Hans Oerlemans heeft zich met zijn onderzoek onderscheiden door zijn unieke benadering waarin hij gletsjermodellen koppelde aan gegevens uit glacio-meteorologische experimenten om de complexe processen van de massa- en energie-uitwisseling tussen gletsjer en atmosfeer nauwkeuriger te kunnen beschrijven”, aldus het juryrapport van de KNAW.

Prof.dr. Hans Oerlemans
Prof.dr. Hans Oerlemans (1950) is hoogleraar Meteorologie aan de Universiteit Utrecht. Oerlemans heeft laten zien hoe de reactie van gletsjers op de klimaatverandering kan worden gebruikt om via inverse modellering een mondiaal temperatuursignaal af te leiden uit gletsjerlengtemetingen. Op dit internationaal steeds belangrijkere vakgebied heeft hij de status van het Nederlandse onderzoek aanzienlijk verhoogd. Met zijn energieke begeleiding van promovendi heeft hij ook de toekomst van het vakgebied een belangrijke dienst bewezen: een aantal van zijn promovendi werd al vrij snel zelf hoogleraar. In 2001 verwierf hij de NWO/SPINOZA-premie.

Programma Akademiehoogleraren
Het Programma Akademiehoogleraren is in 2002 ingesteld. Excellente hoogleraren tussen 55 en 60 jaar worden voorgedragen door de Colleges van Bestuur van hun universiteit. De voordrachten worden beoordeeld door een internationaal samengestelde commissie onder voorzitterschap van de president van de KNAW, Frits van Oostrom. In voorgaande jaren zijn de volgende Utrechtse hoogleraren benoemd tot KNAW Akademiehoogleraar: prof.dr. Gerard ’t Hooft, prof.dr. Hans Duistermaat en prof.dr. Henk Lekkerkerker.

Potential European grants from 1 January 2007: KP7

The 7th framework programme covers four specific programmes, corresponding to four major objectives of European research policy. These programmes are: cooperation (theme-oriented research), ideas (investigator-driven frontier research), people (training and career development for researchers) and capacities (research infrastructures).

On 13 Februari 2007, EG-Liaison will be hosting the KP7 conference. As well as general information on KP7, the conference will also cover very specific topics such as policy, funding, cooperation etc. For more information, see www.kp7congres.nl

SmartMix grant application round

The first SmartMix grant application round was launched this year. SmartMix is an initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and is administered by SenterNovem and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Several UCG theme leaders have been closely involved in a number of applications. A total of 150 pre-proposals have been submitted, of which 16 have subsequently been invited to submit a detailed proposal.

Three UCG theme leaders are closely involved in the Smart Mix proposals that made it through the pre-application round. In response to the invitation, the following proposals are now being worked out in detail:

SURE-NL (Subsurface Resources and Sustainability in the Netherlands Delta System: Maximising the opportunities while minimising the risks). This application was submitted by the Netherlands Research Centre for Integrated Solid Earth Sciences (ISES), a National Top Research School. Chris Spiers is the person primarily responsible for coordination, while Rinus Wortel is also closely involved.
DIRCES (Dutch Innovation and Research Consortium on Emerging Substances), in which the Faculty of Geosciences is participating. The Utrecht contribution has been prepared by UCG theme leader Majid Hassanizadeh.

Utrecht University is involved in seven of the detailed applications submitted on 1 December. The programmes to benefit from the earmarked EUR 100 million will be announced by 1 April 2007.

Darwin Days 2007

The Darwin Center for Biogeology will be organising the Darwin Days twice a year, the first occasion being on 26 and 27 April 2007. This will be in the form of an international Biogeology conference, where the Darwin Center will report on its own progress and results. However, there will also be time to discuss other global developments. A ‘Darwin speaker’ and an internationally renowned keynote speaker will be invited for each Darwin sub-theme (see www.darwincenter.nl). We will obviously keep you informed of developments over the coming months.