Perspectives is a new series of talks in which a current theme is discussed. Various guests from within the UT are invited to discuss the theme from different perspectives. Members of the Executive Board also take turns in the discussion.

Albert van den Berg, UT Distinguished Professor of Biomedical and Environmental Sensor Systems (BIOS) and one of the scientific directors of UT’s MESA+ Institute, has been elected ‘corresponding member’ of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW). This organization represents the interests of technology education, research and industry at the highest level, in Switzerland.

According to the Dutch Inspectorate of Education, many primary school pupils do not learn mathematics as well as they could. In the coalition agreement, the new cabinet expresses the wish that every child should learn mathematics. At the moment, mathematics education is insufficiently attuned to the possibilities and needs of pupils. For her PhD research, Jorine Vermeulen investigated how teachers can better meet the educational needs of pupils in third grade ('groep 5'). "With the right diagnostic questions, you discover how your student thinks".

The European Research Council (ERC) awarded a ‘Starting Grant’ to three UT scientists. These ‘early career’ grants go to Nienke Bosschaart, Sander Huisman and Chris Baeumer. In this round, 379 Starting Grants were awarded, worth an amount of 619 million euro: for each individual researcher an amount of 1,5 million euro, for a period of five years.