NNV Diversity Prize 2018 awarded to Groningen

The first edition of the NNV-Diversity Prize was won by the faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen (RUG). The NNV (Netherlands Physical Society) has created the prize for the physics institution that is most successful in putting an open diversity policy into practice. The prize is a tribute and an inspiring example for other institutes and/or departments.

New President of the Netherlands Physical Society

The Nederlandse Natuurkundige Vereniging – The Netherlands Physical Society [NNV] organised its first on-line presidential elections in March 2013. All NNV members were invited to vote for the candidates. In total 360 members did so – about 10% of all members. Professor Jan van Ruitenbeek received 54% of the total votes cast and was elected as the new NNV president. He took up office during FYSICA 2013, the yearly symposium of the Netherlands Physical Society.
Jan van Ruitenbeek, former NNV treasurer, is a professor in Experimental Physics at Leiden University…

Dutch Physical Society hosts Physics and Politics discussion

A discussion session on ‘Physics and Politics’ – with a focus on the importance of physics to the European economy – was organised by the Dutch Physical Society [NNV] earlier this year. This event was part of the annual Physics@FOM conference, held in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, on 17-18 January.

The opinion of physicists is often publically sought in relation to events in which the application of physics is at stake; for example, in regards to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. On a different level, funding organisations actively…