Agenda

On Tuesday 20 October VU University Amsterdam celebrates its 129th anniversary (Dies Natalis). This year’s theme is Web & Science. The main speakers are the Rector, Lex Bouter, and Frank van Harmelen, Professor of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning at the Faculty of Science. In the course of the ceremony an honorary doctorate will be conferred on Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, founder of the World Wide Web.

The World Wide Web and Social Development Seminar will take place prior to the Dies Natalis.

Program:

14.15	Reception in the foyer
15.00	Opening by prof. L.M. Bouter, Rector
15.05	Meditation by G.H. van der Bom, University Pastor
15.15	Dies Natalis lecture by F.A.H. van Harmelen, professor in Knowledge Representation & Reasoning in the Artificial Intelligence department (Faculty of Science)
15.45	Interlude
16.00	Ceremony Societal Impact Awards
16.10	Honorary Sir prof. T. Berners-Lee
16.25	Final word by the Rector
16.30	Reception

The programme is in Dutch. An English-speaking interpreter will be present so that international guests will be able to follow the proceedings. Headsets are available at the entrance to the Aula.

Please register here for attending the Dies Natalis 2009.

Program details:

	Reflection Are computers capable of faith? Computers can do a lot. They can get straight to the heart of every game. The world chess champion was beaten by a computer in one match. And a serious thesis has already been published on sex with computers. The possibilities seem boundless. Some scholars even believe that computers are capable of faith. Can the greatest mystery of humanity be unravelled? Or do such things belong only in the realm of science fiction
	Web & Science: moving on to Science 2.0 Modern science has always been characterized by close and intensive collaboration within a web of scientists, all the more so since the advent of the World Wide Web. The WWW has certainly proven itself an efficient ‘expeditor’ in the exchange of scientific publications and results. However, the WWW can offer science a lot more besides better communication. The way science is practised and applied is also changing under the influence of the Web. Our hypotheses, observations and conclusions are no longer hidden away in academic journals, but are posted electronically on the Web for all to see and re-use. The days of the academic article as the recognized currency are well and truly numbered.
	Interlude After graduating cum laude under Edith Grosz Lateiner at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, Rian de Waal participated in master classes by Leon Fleisher and Rudolf Serkin and met other great piano virtuosos of that generation, including Jorge Bolet and Earl Wild. The path to an international career opened when he was awarded a prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 1983. Since then, he has performed on most of the best-known concert stages of Europe, North America and the Middle East. He gives solo recitals, performs with orchestras and plays in chamber ensembles. Rian de Waal can be heard regularly on radio and television. He has made many recordings of works by Chopin, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Godowsky, Liszt and other renowned composers.
	Societal Impact Awards 2009 As part of its efforts to highlight research that impacts on society, VU University Amsterdam has created two awards: the Junior Societal Impact Award (SIA-junior) and the Senior Societal Impact Award (SIA-senior). The Junior Societal Impact Award is intended for a PhD graduate from the VU who has defended a thesis with a deep societal impact in the past year. The Senior Societal Impact Award is intended for an outstanding VU researcher, who has a long track record and a strong reputation for conducting research with deep societal impacts.
	Honorary Doctorate, Sir Timothy Berners-Lee VU University Amsterdam is bestowing an honorary doctorate on Sir Timothy Berners-Lee in recognition of his vital contribution to the development, introduction and growth of the World Wide Web, which has such a far-reaching influence on social, economic, cultural and public life. The honorary doctorate reflects the admiration of VU University Amsterdam for the personal commitment displayed by Berners-Lee in making this worldwide information network universally accessible. The honorary promoter is Professor A.T. Schreiber from the Faculty of Science.
	Unveiling bust Willem Hovy and book launch Willem Hovy Belief in science We all know that VU University Amsterdam was founded by Abraham Kuyper. But how many of us have heard of Willem Hovy? How many of us know that without the help of Willem Hovy the VU might never have existed? During the Dies Natalis Hovy will get long overdue credit and acclaim with the unveiling of a bust and the launch of a book entitled, Geloof in de brouwerij (Belief in the brewery). The idea for the bust came from Professor Henk Woldring. It was realized thanks to the efforts of Professor George Harinck and the Historical Documentation Centre for Dutch Protestantism. At the same time, the Trustees of the brewery De Gekroonde Valk commissioned historian and researcher Rolf van der Woude at the documentation centre to write a book on the famous Van Vollenhoven dynasty of beer brewers, the brewery and Hovy. Willem Hovy was born in 1840 into an impoverished line of Amsterdam patricians. It was in 1867, when his uncle Willem Cornelis van Vollenhoven put him in charge of the brewery, De Gekroonde Valk, that he met Abraham Kuyper. Kuyper became his friend and mentor. Soul-mates and idealists, they campaigned together for the revival of Calvinism and an end to liberalism and free-thinking. However, Hovy’s idealism was combined with a keen sense of business. Under his management, De Gekroonde Valk became the largest brewery in the Netherlands. He was also a public-spirited figure, who invested energy and money in many worthy causes – not least VU University Amsterdam. Hovy donated Fl. 25,000 – a quarter of the initial capital – paid the professors’ stipends, and, in his capacity as director, looked after the business affairs. This is how VU University Amsterdam – albeit with humble beginnings – was founded in 1880. Without Hovy, it is unlikely that our university would ever have existed. The book by Rolf van der Woude, Geloof in de brouwerij. Opkomst en ondergang van de bierbrouwerij De Gekroonde Valk (Belief in the Brewery: the rise and fall of the brewery De Gekroonde Valk) is published by Bas Lubberhuizen and will be on sale at the Dies Natalis and, at a later date, in the bookshop (€ 29.95).

Information about Dies Natalis 2009 in Dutch
Information about the Dies symposium in English