Two UG researchers join The Young Academy

In 2022, UG researchers Dr Else Starkenburg and Prof. Lisa Herzog will join the Young Academy (De Jonge Akademie, DJA) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, KNAW). Every year, the DJA selects 10 talented academics from various disciplines, who obtained their PhDs less than 10 years ago, to join its ranks. The DJA organizes activities in the field of science and society, interdisciplinarity, and scientific policy.

Brain researcher Dr Marie-José van Tol, Assistant Professor in neurosciences at the UG/UMCG, joined The Young Academy (TYA) in 2019. She has now been appointed as the new chair of the national management of TYA. Her term begins in April 2022.

Dr Else Starkenburg

Else Starkenburg completed her PhD at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute of the UG. From 2012 to 2014, she worked as a postdoc at the University of Victoria in Canada. Hereafter, she moved to the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics in Germany, where she established her own independent research group. Since September 2020, she has returned as a tenure track staff member to the Kapteyn Institute, where she works together with a PhD student and other members of the Institute. Her interests lie in the early history of the Milky Way and its surrounding galaxies. A number of Starkenburg’s projects are focused on the first generations of stars in these galaxies, which contain valuable information on the early years of our Milky Way and on the circumstances of the early universe in general.

Prof. Lisa Herzog

Lisa Herzog works at the interface of political philosophy and economic theory. Between 2016 and 2019, she was Professor of Political Philosophy and Theory at the Technical University of Munich. Since 2019, she has been working at the Faculty of Philosophy and the Centre for Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the UG. Herzog has published on the philosophical dimensions of markets (both historical and systemic), liberalism and social justice, ethics in organizations, and the future of work. The current focus in her work lies on democracy in the workplace, professional ethics, and the role of knowledge in democracies. Other topics close to her heart include diversity and interdisciplinarity. Herzog is also a member of the Young Academy Groningen.

Five years

The Young Academy comprises early-career researchers who are at the top of their field internationally. They share a broad interest in science, scientific policy, and the importance of communicating science. The new members will be officially installed in 2022 and their membership will last for five years. The DJA member pool currently comprises a total of 10 UG researchers.