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Honorary doctorates
Prof. Corinne Le Quéré (University of East Anglia, UK) — on the picture above — and Prof. Sonia Seneviratne (ETHZ Zurich, Switzerland) received honorary doctorates during the University’s anniversary celebrations (the Anniversary Day, on 26 March). Both have been nominated by the Pathways to Sustainability strategic research theme. Le Quéré specialises in atmospheric and oceanographic research and has made important contributions to the IPCC. Seneviratne is a climate scientist and mainly focuses on human involvement in climate impacts such as heat and droughts. She is also active in the IPCC.
TerInfo project wins Brouwer Award
At the start of this year, the Royal Holland Society of Humanities and Sciences (KHMW) named Utrecht University History Professor Beatrice de Graaf’s TerInfo project winner of the Brouwer Award, to the amount of €100,000. The Brouwer Award is given to civil society initiatives that reinforce the sense of mutual trust in Dutch society. The TerInfo project aims to help schools address the issues of terrorism and political violence and contribute to students’ resilience. TerInfo teaching materials are available free of charge to all teachers in primary, secondary and vocational education. The jury was impressed by the quality of the teaching materials and their relevance to current events.
Researching the history of slavery
The Executive Board has established a steering committee to shed light on the University’s historical involvement in slavery. Several faculties are already conducting research in this area; the steering committee will be coordinating these activities and has been awarded a budget of 75,000 euros for the year.