King's Day 2018: connecting academia and society, where Knowledge is King!

On King’s Day 2018 the Young Academy Groningen hosted an exciting “Knowledge is King” science and scholarship fair in the Harmony Square. Young Academy members used their research expertise to create fun and educational activities for young scientists from Groningen and beyond.

Members of the Young Academy Groningen worked closely with each other, other University researchers, clinicians and scholars, Science LinX and the RUG Scholierenacademie to provide fun and exciting educational activities for children of all ages. Because of this collaboration, visitors were able to engage in activities that covered a range of disciplines—from arts and languages, geography, robotics, theology, to chemistry and medicine—and spanned scales from the molecule to the universe!

The day’s activities included:

• “Robotic fish” – Ming Cao & Martin Stokroos, Networks and Robotics
• “Old Dutch Dead Sea Scrolls Throwing” – Mladen Popović, Theology
• “How does your ear hear?” – Sonja Pyott, Otorhinolaryngology
• “Good organs for sick people” – Cyril Moers, Surgery
• “Sugar - what is it exactly?” – Marthe Walvoort, Chemical Biology
• “What is so special about gravity?” – Diederik Roest, Particle Physics and Gravity
• “A knack for languages” – Merel Keijzer, Applied Linguistics
• “The future of Groningen” – Mohamed Saleh, Spatial Sciences
• “Cold Molecules” – Steven Hoekstra, Partial Physics and Gravity
• “How does your tongue move?” – Martijn Wieling, Information Science
• “Royal Mindtricks” – Marie-José van Tol & Sander Martens, Neuroimaging
• “GEN.ERATE” – Science LinX
• “Science Dominoes” – Science LinX
  

This event closely aligned with the missions and identity of Young Academy Groningen. Not only were members able to enhance collaboration between different disciplines within and outside of the University, but they also explored a new approach for connecting academia and society in Groningen. By giving children the opportunity to explore various academic fields, the Young Academy Groningen hopes to have sparked the next young scholar and love of knowledge…after all, Knowledge is King!

(Photography by Magdalena Kubiak: instagram @bymagdalenna)