Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health to open on 15 March 2018

Thursday 15 March will mark the official opening of the Groningen-based Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health (AJSPH). Founded by a multidisciplinary team from the University of Groningen (UG) and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), AJSPH will become the flag-bearer of Healthy Ageing in the Northern Netherlands. Researchers, faculties and partners from various disciplines have already committed themselves to the network organization that draws together initiatives in the area of healthy ageing.

Flag-bearer

In the past decade, the UMCG, UG and their partners have put the Northern Netherlands on the map as the region that specializes in Healthy Ageing. Based on the Healthy Ageing philosophy, various institutions have contributed to and fleshed out their own approaches to academic research into healthy ageing. While it is positive that many disciplines are committed to healthy ageing, there is nevertheless a high degree of fragmentation. To further the concept, the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health will become the unifying force for all initiatives in the Northern Netherlands: an overarching service point where supply and demand for assistance meet. This also entails close cooperation with businesses and health insurance companies.

Aletta's dream

The Scientific Director of AJSPH is Dr Jochen Mierau: ‘Thinking by doing; more healthy years together! is our motto. It is our shared dream to create a healthier world by joining forces. This can be achieved through research that leads to the development of new knowledge, but also through consultancy, which allows for the practical application of the knowledge developed, and, of course, through education. We aim to train the Alettas of tomorrow who will actually be able to make a difference.’

The Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health has the ambition to generate global impact by cooperating with national and international initiatives in the field of Healthy Ageing. The School's central themes – Resilience, Sustainability, Justice, Capability and Participation – will serve as its focal areas. Mierau: ‘We will appoint “driving forces” for each of these themes, who will serve as figureheads for their specific area. This makes it very personal.’

Festive opening

Everyone who works in Public Health and Healthy Ageing is invited to attend the festive opening of the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health in the Aletta Jacobshal on the Zernike Campus in Groningen on 15 March. The afternoon is intended to link researchers, partners and interested parties and to present the school from the different perspectives . More information about the event can be found at www.rug.nl/aletta .

More information

Interview Jochen Mierau: ‘The health differences in the Northern Netherlands are bizarre’