Dogterom new President of Netherlands Academy

Dogterom new President of Netherlands Academy

Marileen Dogterom, Professor of Bionanoscience at Delft University of Technology, will succeed Ineke Sluiter as President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences next year. She is currently its Vice President. Dogterom is appointed for a period of three years and will combine the presidency with her work in science.

Prof. Marileen Dogterom (53) is an internationally acclaimed researcher. She was Head of the Bionanoscience Department of the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at TU Delft for many years. She is one of the pioneers in the field of biomolecular and cellular physics. Her research focuses on the cytoskeleton: the microtubules that give living cells their shape and mechanical function. In part through a national consortium that she leads, BaSyC (Building a Synthetic Cell), Dogterom attempts to understand the processes of life by building artificial cells. For her work, she received an ERC Synergy Grant, one of the largest European research grants, and the Spinoza Prize in 2018. From the beginning of 2021, she will also be the interim Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences.

The KNAW writes: ‘She has all the qualities to be President of the KNAW, the figurehead of Dutch science. Marileen Dogterom has a warm heart for scientists of all generations and backgrounds and a keen eye for the preconditions needed for the next generation of scientists to be successful. In addition to helping to future-proof Dutch science, she plans to work on more direct ways of channelling the expertise of scientists from all disciplines towards policy on major themes such as climate and health’.

The appointment will take effect on 1 June 2022.