Six scientists will receive the highest awards in Dutch science this year: four will receive a Spinoza Prize and two a Stevin Prize. The laureates will each receive 2.5 million euros.
The Spinoza Prize emphasizes scientific work and fundamental issues, while the Stevin Prize primarily honors the social impact. The annual prizes are named after historically important Dutch scientists, Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) and Simon Stevin (1548-1620).
NRC spoke to all six scientists.
BAS BLOEM (Stevin Prize) ‘It will be a kind of Pokémon Go for the elderly’
Bas Bloem (1967), professor of neurological movement disorders at Radboudumc in Nijmegen, is the worldwide expert in the field of Parkinson’s disease.
“My first reaction was disbelief, and of course I was extremely grateful. And then I remembered that I once played volleyball in the Dutch Juniors. I was at the heart of the team, but I left because I chose a career in healthcare, innovation and science. My team continued under the guidance of coach Joop Alberda and eventually won gold at the Olympics. The Stevin Prize is now my gold!
“I want to use the money to research whether it is possible to prevent Parkinson’s. We also want to encourage people at risk of Parkinson’s to take up sports via an app on their smartphone, a kind of Pokémon Go for the elderly. Just like that hunt for digital monsters got a lot of inert teenagers moving. We can remotely register their movements, and monitor tremor or slowness. We are going to do the trial in the Netherlands, the US and England, but if it works I would like to roll it out worldwide. In less fortunate countries, people have almost nothing, but usually have a smartphone.
“I see this personal prize as a team prize. I get him as a figurehead. But just as Lionel Messi has been named Footballer of the Year several times, it was always his Barcelona team that made him great. I hope that the Stevin and Spinoza Prizes will eventually become team prizes.”
Sander Voormolen
IGNAS FAST (Spinoza Prize) ‘When I received the premium, I also felt a bit guilty’
Ignas Snellen (1970) is professor of observational astrophysics at Leiden University. He received a Spinoza Prize for his research on planets orbiting a star other than the Sun. Those are exoplanets.
“It suits me very well. For the past six years, my research has been funded by the European Research Council, but it’s almost coming to an end. After the call from the committee I was in shock. I didn’t even know I was nominated. For the first half hour afterwards, my mind went through, was that phone call real? But then the congratulations from the dean and colleagues followed and the news started to land. What an incredible honour.
“The next few years will be exciting. The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in Chile will be completed in about five years. That telescope is going to give me better observations of exoplanets than I’ve had until now. I will spend the money to use the ELT and my own methods to study an exoplanet orbiting neighboring star Proxima Centauri about 4.3 light-years away. That exoplanet, named Proxima b, is special because it may resemble our Earth. It receives the same amount of heat and is about the same size. I want to see if there is also water flowing, if there is an atmosphere and what that atmosphere consists of.
“This research is a step towards a bigger question: is there life there? Whether we will actually find life with our immediate neighbor, I do not know. It is not yet known how rare life is. We may not find it until a few stars away.
“I do feel a bit guilty. I would have loved to share the fame with all the people I’ve worked with over the past fifteen years. I will use the money to help young people by letting them participate in research.”
Laura Bergshoef
CORNE PIETERSE (Spinoza Prize) ‘A wonderful symbiosis between plants and micro-organisms’
Corné Pieterse (1964) is professor of plant-microbe interactions at Utrecht University. He investigates how plants strengthen their defenses against pathogens through collaboration with micro-organisms around their roots.
“I was sitting on a bench at home, about to have lunch with my daughter, when I got a call. I was in disbelief! I was totally unaware that I was nominated. But soon the dean also called me to congratulate me. And yes, after that I just went to lunch with my daughter.
“I want to use the money to continue my line of research. Plants can strengthen their defenses in collaboration with micro-organisms around their root system. This allows them to better protect themselves against pathogens. My predecessor, Bob Schippers, discovered this in 1991. Over the past decades, we have further unraveled that mechanism. A plant excretes sugars and all kinds of other substances, thus regulating which micro-organisms live around its roots. The micro-organisms in turn produce substances that, among other things, strengthen the plant’s defenses.
“It’s a wonderful symbiosis. If you know which genes are involved, you can breed agricultural crops in a targeted manner. You can also stimulate this symbiosis by, for example, hoeing less and using fewer pesticides.
“The prize is for my entire team, and for the other people in the Netherlands with whom I work.”
Marcel on the Brugh
TANJA VAN DER LIPPE (Stevin Prize) ‘Which buttons do you have to turn to utilize the talents of women?’
Tanja van der Lippe (1963) is professor of sociology at Utrecht University and conducts research into labor relations and households. Her book was published last year Where does my time go? on time pressure as a social issue.
“I was working in Madrid when I got a call from Marcel Levi, the chairman of NWO. And actually I was silent, completely overwhelmed by it. He had to tell me a few times. I see it as an incredible honour, not only for myself but also for colleagues.
“I want to use the money to investigate why there is still so much untapped labor potential among women in the Netherlands. Why do most women work paid, but some don’t, or work fewer hours?
“This topic is very relevant in the tight labor market. The research will mainly focus on less educated women, because highly educated women participate more in the labor market.
“Which buttons do you have to turn to use the talents of women? Which norms and values about men and women and the division of tasks play a role in this? What is the role of childcare? From the employer? Or about arrangements such as parental leave? I think it is important to also conduct international comparative research. How do they look across borders at issues such as work-life balance and inequality between men and women?
“Whether such a price is right for an individual? I am an absolute team player. We need each other to progress, here at sociology we don’t work from competition. I see it this way: I get the prize, but we’re all going to enjoy it.”
Annemarie Sterk
KLAAS LANDSMAN (Spinoza Prize) ‘Of course I am happy, but I am also in a bit of a difficult situation’
Klaas Landsman (1963) is professor of mathematical physics at Radboud University Nijmegen. He combines research at the interface between mathematics and physics with insights into the foundations, history and philosophy of physics.
“I didn’t know I was nominated, and I didn’t give myself much of a chance anyway. When the chair of NWO called me, all I could say was: I am speechless. Which is also a nice paradox. Mathematicians love that.
„I was home alone and bought a Bossche bol to celebrate. Nijmegen has the best confectioner in that area, which is a good reason to move there. I also shared the news with my girlfriend and the dean.
‘I want to use the money to start an interdisciplinary research group of about ten PhD students and postdocs who will study questions at the interface of mathematics, physics and philosophy. Such as: the study of black holes, research on determinism, chance and quantum mechanics. I was already busy conclave with the dean about the premium and its consequences.
“Of course I’m happy, but I’m also in a bit of a difficult position, because I criticized the one-sidedness of the stock market culture in the past, which mainly benefited ‘hard’ sciences and medical research. Fortunately, however, much has already been improved at NWO in recent years. Stacking subsidies is no longer possible.”
Sjoerd de Jong
THEA HILHORST (Spinoza Prize) ‘A society in crisis will not suddenly function very differently’
Thea Hilhorst (1961) is professor of humanitarian studies at Erasmus University. She investigates the sociology of societies in crisis, from the changes in power relations to the effect of outside help. She conducted research in Congo, Afghanistan and South Sudan.
“I thought I was being called by NWO about something bureaucratic, that a report had been submitted too late or something. It turned out to be the NWO chairman himself! Hey, why?! When he told me about the Spinoza Prize, I was stunned, I even cried for a while afterwards, it was a positive blow. And not even for the money, but because so many people have gone to so much trouble to nominate me.
“I received that premium as a driver of the field of humanitarian studies. So I’m going to spend the money on further developing the facilities for that subject, perhaps on a center or a partnership. The profession needs to be better known. Important insights emerge from this, if only that a society in crisis will not suddenly function very differently. Many people think: in a crisis everything stops! But the normal reality continues, farmers plant grain, people fall in love, and so on.
“I think the inconvenience of a personal research grant is that it is quickly just about me, a kind of Thea show. While I haven’t done anything on my own! Many hundreds of people have been involved.”
Hendrik Spiering