Newsletter June 2024

The Heads of Mission to the Netherlands visited Utrecht Science Park

On Friday 7 June, over 50 Heads of Mission visited the Utrecht Science Park for a special working visit. The visit was part of a trip to the Utrecht region. They also visited the redeveloped Central Station, TivoliVredenburg and the Centraal Museum. In groups, the ambassadors went to various organisations at the Utrecht Science Park that showcased their groundbreaking work in life sciences and health.

On Tuesday 1 October, the 'Dag van de Duurzaamheid' (Sustainability Day) will be organised by HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht as part of Utrecht Science Week. This year's theme is: a social and fair sustainability transition. A great programme has been created, with plenary parts, workshops, a Green Market and a festive closing on the sustainability square.

The DRIVE-RM consortium, led by Professor of Experimental Nephrology Marianne Verhaar from UMC Utrecht, has been awarded €37.5 million under the prestigious NWO SUMMIT program.

The DRIVE-RM collaboration involves UMC Utrecht, Utrecht University, Eindhoven University of Technology, Maastricht University, and the Hubrecht Institute, focusing on smart materials that assist the body in healing.

Thursday 30 May was the BCF Career Event; the biggest Life Sciences career event in Europe. The Utrecht Science Park Foundation was present at the event as exhibitor, together with International Welcome Centre Utrecht Region, to welcome visitors and inform interested parties about the various (job) opportunities to be found in the Utrecht region and at the Utrecht Science Park.

The Cambridgelaan car park is undergoing major maintenance to preserve its lifespan and ensure optimal use in the future. Therefore, work is planned between 15 July and 1 September and the car park will be closed for several weeks.

For more information on the car park closure and alternatives, view the schedule.

On the occasion of Genmab's 25th anniversary and the recognition of founder and CEO, Jan van de Winkel, Genmab has set up a fund to provide scholarships.

The fund embraces Jan's close ties with Utrecht University since 1988 and his contributions to the Utrecht Science Park ecosystem, as well as his role as professor of immunotherapy at the university since 1996 and his numerous other contributions to science.

On Friday 27 September, the Betweter Festival is at Tivoli Vredenburg. The Betweter Festival is a mix of art and science. You will enjoy various talks, interviews, film, music and live scientific research. For the younger audience, the 'Weekend van de Wetenschap' is on 5 and 6 October. Eight organisations from the Utrecht Science Park have designed exciting activities to introduce the visitors to science.

Since Tuesday 4 June, the new 6-episode TV series 'Het Kinderziekenhuis' has been showing brave young patients from the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital and their loving families and the dedicated care teams. The RTL 4 series offers a wonderful opportunity to introduce the Dutch public to all the great work that healthcare professionals at the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital do in the fields of care, education and research.

At the Utrecht Science Park, the construction of Plus Ultra Utrecht is in full swing. The building will have 23,000 m2 of future-proof laboratory and office facilities for innovative life sciences & health start-ups and scale-ups. Wednesday 22 May saw the official celebration of 'topping out'. Reaching the highest point of the building was festively celebrated together with partners and stakeholders.

DJ Martin Garrix has become the new ambassador of the Princess Máxima Center. On 27 May, the world-famous DJ visited the Princess Máxima Center and gave a DJ clinic for the children and their families. He also visited some of the children in their rooms, as they were unable to attend the DJ clinic.

Imagine something happens and you need an ambulance. You have an allergy or are on medication, but the ambulance staff don't know that and you are unable to tell them. Then they can make wrong treatment choices. What if you could carry that kind of information with you? With that idea, students from the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht from the Open-ICT programme set to work.

The result: the Secure Medical Information Chip.

On 11 June, the Nucleate Netherlands Launch event was held in the Accelerator at the Utrecht Science Park. Nucleate is a student-led non-profit organisation that represents the largest global community of bio-innovators. As the biggest science park in the Netherlands, with leading biotech organisations and research, the Utrecht Science Park Foundation was delighted to support this event, and thus the community.

From 8 to 30 May, more than 500 students, staff and lecturers of HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht participated in the Máxima Steps Challenge. In self-formed teams, staff and students competed against each other to take the most steps and raise the most money for the Princess Máxima Center. On Thursday afternoon, 30 May, the cheque of 53,887 euros was handed over.

Can we detect breast cancer earlier in women with very dense breast tissue if they also receive a contrast mammography (CEM) or abbreviated MRI scan at the population screening? UMC Utrecht will lead a large pilot population study focusing on that question. The Health Council has advised the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport to grant UMC Utrecht a licence to start the new pilot population study as soon as possible.

The Utrecht Congress Alliance, a collaboration between public and private partners, is fully committed to attracting top international congresses in the coming years. This is good news for the Utrecht Science Park, as it focuses on a number of key themes that are also relevant here, such as Life Sciences, Health and Sustainability.