Nibs

And the three universities’ philosophy research groups are now international leaders in their field, according to an international visitation committee report commissioned by Qanu (Quality Assurance Netherlands Universities). The visitation committee assessed the philosophical research being conducted at nine Dutch universities. The assessment focused on the quality, relevance, productivity and viability of the research. The philosophy and technology sections at TU Delft and TU Eindhoven received the highest grade possible . ‘excellent’ . for all four criteria. The visitation committee’s report praised the “innovative work” being done in the philosophy of technology, “a relatively new branch of the subject in which Dutch philosophers can claim to be pre-eminent.” According to Jeroen van den Hoven, professor of ethics at TU Delft and research director of new 3TU.Centre for Ethics and Technology, the Netherlands is unique in having 30 researchers engaged in issues relating to ethics and technology. “The Netherlands is a model for ethics and technology,” Van Den Hoven said.
Casimir grants

The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded Casimir Grants to three TU Delft research proposals. Each of the three wining research proposals will receive a maximum of 100,000 euro. The three Casimir grants were awarded to Dr. Winnie Daamen for his research proposal ‘The person in the revolving door’, which will study how people use revolving doors and determine what the best type of revolving door is for a particular situation. To Dr. Joop ter Horst for his ‘High-grade medicine produced by co-crystallization’: TU Delft and Avantium will jointly research co-crystallization. The optimum form of co- crystallization results in unique properties for pharmaceutical materials and therefore in medicines that work more effectively. The researchers will devise a general selection method to serve as the optimum catalyst for the co-crystallization process. And to Bart Kraakman for ‘On the road to improved air quality’: With air quality having an increasingly negative effect on our environment, this research will use nature itself to develop new methods for improving air quality.
Fight

An argument in one of TU Delft Library’s study rooms go out of hand last week: a 21-year-old TU student from Zaandam assaulted a 32-year-old from Delft on the staircase in front of the library. The library’s porters had tried to break up the fight. The student from Zaandam delivered a vicious headbutt, which left the student from Delft bleeding and with a concussion. “In the seven years that I’ve worked here, something like this has never happened before,” said one of the library’s porters.
Boarding trains

TU Delft researchers will conduct research to determine which factors influence how train travelers board and unboard trains. The research will be conducted by TU Delft’s Transport & Planning section on 7 December at the Stevin Laboratory, where a typical train platform has been built for the approximately 60 test subjects who will simulate boarding and unboarding trains. The research aims to find ways for passengers to board and unboard more quickly, so that trains need to spend less time in stations.
Study pals

More than a quarter of Dutch university students remain friends with people they met at university, although not close friends, according to a survey in ‘Psychology Magazine’, which surveyed 424 Dutch people between the ages 18 and 65 years-old. Those surveyed said they meet most of their friends at work (39%). Friends made in high school was in second place (30 percent), followed by friends made at university and friends made ‘via my partner’, which both scored 27 percent.
Student police

The Delft police department is watching with interest a trial experiment being conducted in Groningen, where the city’s police force has assigned two police officers to student-related cases only. Kees Zandbergen, of the Delft police department, said that if the Groningen experiment is successful, he would consider something similar for Delft. “This is definitely an area that needs attention, because virtually every day there is some problem involving students, from bicycles and laptops being stolen, to drunken students causing problems in the streets.”

Excellent

The universities of technology in Delft, Eindhoven and Twente are conduction outstanding research in the field of philosophy and technology. And the three universities’ philosophy research groups are now international leaders in their field, according to an international visitation committee report commissioned by Qanu (Quality Assurance Netherlands Universities). The visitation committee assessed the philosophical research being conducted at nine Dutch universities. The assessment focused on the quality, relevance, productivity and viability of the research. The philosophy and technology sections at TU Delft and TU Eindhoven received the highest grade possible . ‘excellent’ . for all four criteria. The visitation committee’s report praised the “innovative work” being done in the philosophy of technology, “a relatively new branch of the subject in which Dutch philosophers can claim to be pre-eminent.” According to Jeroen van den Hoven, professor of ethics at TU Delft and research director of new 3TU.Centre for Ethics and Technology, the Netherlands is unique in having 30 researchers engaged in issues relating to ethics and technology. “The Netherlands is a model for ethics and technology,” Van Den Hoven said.
Casimir grants

The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded Casimir Grants to three TU Delft research proposals. Each of the three wining research proposals will receive a maximum of 100,000 euro. The three Casimir grants were awarded to Dr. Winnie Daamen for his research proposal ‘The person in the revolving door’, which will study how people use revolving doors and determine what the best type of revolving door is for a particular situation. To Dr. Joop ter Horst for his ‘High-grade medicine produced by co-crystallization’: TU Delft and Avantium will jointly research co-crystallization. The optimum form of co- crystallization results in unique properties for pharmaceutical materials and therefore in medicines that work more effectively. The researchers will devise a general selection method to serve as the optimum catalyst for the co-crystallization process. And to Bart Kraakman for ‘On the road to improved air quality’: With air quality having an increasingly negative effect on our environment, this research will use nature itself to develop new methods for improving air quality.
Fight

An argument in one of TU Delft Library’s study rooms go out of hand last week: a 21-year-old TU student from Zaandam assaulted a 32-year-old from Delft on the staircase in front of the library. The library’s porters had tried to break up the fight. The student from Zaandam delivered a vicious headbutt, which left the student from Delft bleeding and with a concussion. “In the seven years that I’ve worked here, something like this has never happened before,” said one of the library’s porters.
Boarding trains

TU Delft researchers will conduct research to determine which factors influence how train travelers board and unboard trains. The research will be conducted by TU Delft’s Transport & Planning section on 7 December at the Stevin Laboratory, where a typical train platform has been built for the approximately 60 test subjects who will simulate boarding and unboarding trains. The research aims to find ways for passengers to board and unboard more quickly, so that trains need to spend less time in stations.
Study pals

More than a quarter of Dutch university students remain friends with people they met at university, although not close friends, according to a survey in ‘Psychology Magazine’, which surveyed 424 Dutch people between the ages 18 and 65 years-old. Those surveyed said they meet most of their friends at work (39%). Friends made in high school was in second place (30 percent), followed by friends made at university and friends made ‘via my partner’, which both scored 27 percent.
Student police

The Delft police department is watching with interest a trial experiment being conducted in Groningen, where the city’s police force has assigned two police officers to student-related cases only. Kees Zandbergen, of the Delft police department, said that if the Groningen experiment is successful, he would consider something similar for Delft. “This is definitely an area that needs attention, because virtually every day there is some problem involving students, from bicycles and laptops being stolen, to drunken students causing problems in the streets.”