On 30 May 2012, Dan Shechtman, the 2011 Chemistry Nobel Laureate, will give a lecture on his discovery of quasi crystals. The lecture will be held during Fysica-Chemie 2012 and is open to all those interested. Earlier the same day, Robbert Dijkgraaf will be appointed as honorary member to the Dutch Physical Society. This is a great honour, which until now has been exclusively reserved for Dutch Nobel Prize winners.
This is the first time that the Netherlands Physical Society (NNV) and the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society (KNCV) have organized a symposium together. The programme is in two parts: a day programme intended for physicists, chemists and students, and an evening programme for the wider general public.
The appointment of Robbert Dijkgraaf as honorary member to the Dutch Physical Society will be held during the day. Dijkgraaf’s appointment is in recognition of his pioneering scientific work, his work as an ambassador for the sciences in general within the Netherlands, and his efforts to popularize the exact sciences.
Two public lectures will be held in the evening. First to speak will be Metin Tolan, Professor of Experimental Physics at the TU Dortmund University, with his lecture on the 'physics of football’. During this popular lecture, he will predict the football results for the Euro 2012 Holland - Germany match on June 13.
The second lecture will be given by Dan Shechtman, who won the 2011 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with his research into quasi crystals, also known as quasi-periodic materials. Shechtman conducted his pioneering research back in 1982. For the past 26 years, he has held a professorship at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa where he was voted Best Lecturer.
For all those interested in attending the public lecture, doors open at 19.00 in the Carré building on the University of Twente campus. The lecture begins at 19.30.
