2025

Hearing, tasting, seeing, smelling, touching... our senses help us to experience the world around us, but also our inner world. Paying more attention to our senses has a positive effect on our mental and physical wellbeing, according to the duo who made Come to your senses! Pianist Ketevan Sharumashvili plays classical music in a way that will make you experience a wide range of emotions. Prof. dr. ir. Jaap Seidell (VU) will let you taste some food and provide a scientific explanation of the link between your senses and your emotions and consciousness. Seidell is a food scientist whose research focuses on lifestyle and prevention strategies for a healthier society.

In cooperation with Well-being Weeks, Apollo, Ockham, Sports & Culture, Student Well-being Improvement Program

thursday 27 november 2025

When the sky is really dark, you can see the Milky Way: an impressive collection of stars in which our tiny Earth is orbiting the Sun. How and when did this giant Milky Way came into existence? Amina Helmi, Professor of Dynamics, Structure and Formation of the Milky Way (RUG), wrote a groundbreaking PhD thesis shedding new light on the formation of the Milky Way. She discovered the first indications that it had merged with smaller galaxies. Helmi is searching for these separate galaxies (‘fossils’) like a sort of astro-archaeologist. One of these fossil rotating star systems is named after her: the Helmi-stream. In recent years she uncovered the last big merger the Milky Way experienced with an object she named Gaia-Enceladus. 

In cooperation with Ockham, Space Society Twente, Arago

Moderator: ir Peter Timmerman (Studium Generale)

wednesday 26 november 2025

From time to time we have to deal with setbacks. A motivation dip, stress or gloomy thoughts. But there is hope! The fitter you keep your brain, the better you can handle life's bumps. Neuropsychologist Prof. dr. Erik Scherder (VU) takes us on a journey through our brain. How do brain cells work and - above all - how do you keep them fit? Scherder will explain that a fit brain is crucial for a resilient mindset.

In cooperation with Student Well-being Improvement Program, Dimensie, Ockham, Well-Being Weeks

Moderator: dr. Ed de Bruin, psychologist and assistant professor at the UT

tuesday 25 november 2025

Sweaty armpits in your shirt: nervous? Taking up too much space while expressing your opinion: dominant? High-red cheeks: angry or shy? Sometimes your body betrays what you are thinking or feeling. Your movement, posture, breathing, gaze or facial expression, they are all forms of non-verbal communication. And that body language often achieves more effect than what you say. You can learn to influence those bodily messages. Just as you can train your voice, because the way you speak also sends a signal. Debby Mureau gives useful tips and exercises. She is owner of Twentify, singer and author of Fifty Shades of Hoarse. Convincing and influencing with your voice. She has been a regular voice trainer for RTL and NOS since 2010. 

In collaboration with Apollo, Sports & Culture, Student Well-being Improvement Program, Well-being Weeks

Moderator: Drs. Bart Peeters Weem, theatermaker

monday 24 november 2025

The North Sea may look grey, but under water it is beautiful: rich in fish, algae and even basking sharks. This wonderful world is portrayed in the award-winning film De Wilde Noordzee (The Wild North Sea), a TV series and a book of photographs. Initiator Klaudie Bartelink tells about the reason for this project and how the production went; from finding money to the difficulties of diving and filming in the busiest sea in the world. An underwater world threatened by oil drilling, pollution and climate change. Bartelink studied Educational Sciences (UT) and is an enthusiastic diver, underwater filmmaker and co-owner of Dutch Maritime Productions.

In cooperation with Piranha, UT Climate Centre, Sports & Culture