Five UM alumni members of the KNAW Academy Honours Programme
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has selected five UM alumni for participation in the Academy Honours Programma for Young Artists and Scientists. At the invitation of prof. Rianne Letschert, alumni Lin Rouvroye, Matthijs Korevaar, Linnea Semmerling en Noreen van der Linden could get acquainted during an informal meeting on 18 October 2016 (Hannah Kei Brodersen – the fifth participant – was unfortunately unable to attend). They had the opportunity to talk to Eva van Ooij, one of the two UM alumni who participated in the programme this year.
The group of alumni reflects the interdisciplinary nature that is central to UM: alumna Lin Rouvroye (University College Maastricht), alumnus Matthijs Korevaar (School of Business and Economics), alumna Linnea Semmerling (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences), alumna Noreen van der Linden (Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences) and alumna Hannah Kei Brodersen (faculty of Law) belong to a group of nineteen young artists and scientists that will gather at the Trippenhuis four times next year. In addition to their scientific schooling, they each also have a background in or an affinity with art. At the Trippenhuis, they will get acquainted with each other's world and experiences, discuss possible collaborations and meet the members of the Academies.
Inspiring debates
The different backgrounds of the young artists and scientists will allow them to have interesting and inspiring debates on themes that are relevant to both art and science. The UM alumni were able to get a first taste during the informal meeting in October. Noreen van der Linden is looking forward to the meetings: “I am surrounded by people who have a similar background to mine, who 'speak the same language.' This provides us with a certain degree of efficiency, but the drawback to that is that I sometimes feel like I've lost touch with people from other disciplines. This is also not very conducive to thinking out-of-the-box and gaining new insights. Additionally, I believe that some challenges and problems are universal, and that entering into a dialogue will allow us to learn from each other and obtain new insights.”
Advice
Rianne Letschert, who served as president of the Young Academy before she became Rector at UM, advised the new members to engage with special themes at the interface of art and science. “Find a theme you would really like to get involved in. It will give you energy! Do it together, and reach out to the KNAW-members and the members of the Young Academy at UM. United, you'll stand stronger!”