2016 Autumn

Incorporating the gravitational force in theories of the sub-atomic particles is one of the greatest challenges in theoretical physics. Einstein predicted the existence of black holes, even sub-atomic ones. How do these tiny black holes and sub-atomic particles interact? Gerard ’t Hooft shows that the mathematics which describes the hydrogen atom can be applied to a black hole, since this must also be a quantum form of matter. It turns out that space and time take bizarre twists here.

Prof.dr. Gerard ’t Hooft received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1999 for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions. ’t Hooft is affiliated to the Centre for Extreme Matter and Emergent Phenomena (UU).

 Moderator: prof.dr.ir. Alexander Brinkman, professor Quantum Transport in Matter (UT).

In coproduction with Week of Inspiration.

During the American presidential election a lot of mudslinging is going on. The meanest strategies are launched to eliminate the opponent. Donald Trump appears to be a master in framing; by using smart and very bold one-liners he manages to convince his audience. Which frames will Hillary Clinton use? At this Election Day Hans de Bruijn will expose rhetorical tricks of both candidates.

Prof.mr.dr. Hans de Bruijn, professor Public Administration at the TU Delft, analyzes the language of politicians in his weekly column about framing for Trouw. He published the book Barack Obama en de kunst van de politieke toespraak.

During the break popcorn will be served. Thereafter, we will discuss the current political situation with members of the UT-community, amongst which student Frank Kwakkelaar and professor Ramses Wessel.

From the moment Google’s deep learning machine AlphaGo defeated the world champion in Go, no escape seems possible: the machine becomes smarter than the human being. In certain fields of expertise this is already the case, however a universal intelligent machine is still a long way off. Max Welling offers a view into the fascinating world of artificial intelligence: how does a machine learn and actually becomes smart? Is this cleverness programmed in advance, or does it emerge from the complexity of the system? This lecture will separate facts from (science-)fiction.

Prof.dr. Max Welling is professor Machine Learning (UvA) and co-founder of Scyfer BV, a company specialized in deep learning.

In cooperation with Inter-Actief and Ideefiks.

Descartes – Think about it!

Everybody knows Descartes’s famous I think therefore I am, but what does this actually mean and how did he arrive at this one-liner? Why is he regarded as one of the most revolutionary philosophers? Johnny Søraker will argue that it is a shame that this phrase has become a cliché, because it not only holds the key to understanding modern philosophy, it also gave rise to challenging problems in science.

Dr. Johnny Søraker is assistant professor at the department of philosophy (UT).

Monday 3 October, 12.45-13.30 hours.

Gallery/Design Lab.

 Free lunch for students!

 In cooperation with Ideefiks.

Van cold case tot cyberterreur

Ook al leven wij in een uiterst veilig land, gevaar ligt altijd op de loer. Een overstroming, aardbeving of windhoos kan zomaar toeslaan. En wat zou er gebeuren als een cyberterrorist het internet platlegt? Wist je dat hackers de signalen van je autosleutel kunnen kopiëren om zo je auto te stelen? Gelukkig wordt er ook veel gedaan om de wereld veiliger te maken; zo kan nanotechnologie de politie helpen om cold cases op te lossen.

Prof.dr.ir.ing. Frank Leferink (UT/Thales) is expert op het gebied van elektromagnetisme en ‘carhacking’.

Dr. Norman Kerle (UT) brengt grote natuurrampen in kaart met hulp van drones. (Lezing in Engels.)

Dr. Jaap Knotter (Saxion) is voormalig politieagent en spoort met nanotechnologie DNA op in geurmonsters.

 Presentatie: drs. Hiska Bakker en ir. Peter Timmerman (Studium Generale).

Vrijdag 30 september, 19.00-22.30 uur.

Enschede, in Dome-tent op Oude Markt.

 Dit Science Café is onderdeel uit van de Twente Science Night, zie: www.utwente.nl/twentesciencenight

Syria is torn apart by war and the future seems bleak. How did this conflict come into existence, which role plays the Assad-regime and what is at stake for world powers like the US, Russia and China? In the midst of all violence and destruction, civilians in Syria try to continue their daily lives. Under what conditions do they live, what kind of future awaits them and do they still have hope for peace? Three Syria-experts will give their view:

 Lex Runderkamp is travelling reporter in the Arab world for the NOS.

 Sakir Khader is a journalist for the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant and writes about refugees and the Arab world.

 Fouad Hallak is photographer. He fled Syria and lives in the Netherlands.

 Tuesday 20 September, 19.30-21.00 hours.

Vrijhof/Agora.

Magic show by Hans Kazàn

Create a banknote out of blank paper, a goldfish out of nothing? The well-known magician Hans Kazàn does it in the blink of an eye. How do your eyes fool your brain?

With this magic show Studium Generale welcomes all first-year students. We try to make you think and wonder about the world we live in, therefore we have public lectures all year round.