In our Sunday newsletter, we, as editors, reflect on the past seven days. We do this on the initiative of our cartoonist Albert Jan Rasker. He chooses a subject, draws a picture, and we take it from there.
This week, Albert Jan devoted his cartoon to Eveline van Zeeland’s latest column. In it, she writes about Professor Freek Vonk’s colleague she recently attended. He prefers to call it a “show” – and the event did not occur in a lecture hall but a concert hall. The topic? Bioluminescence – animals and other organisms that give off light in the dark.
Van Zeeland argues that students’ chances of meeting a professor like Freek Vonk are minimal. More and more educational institutions are skipping lectures because they are not interactive enough. Nonsense, thinks our columnist. “The problem is not the lecture but the uninspiring lecturer. Lectures are boring when they are given by lecturers who stand reading slides prepared by someone else, when they are based on whatever is already in a book, and when the goal is to be able to regurgitate as much knowledge as possible.”
As I type, I am sitting on the train. The three fellow passengers sitting opposite and next to me in a four-seat are students. Their conversations are about study points, club forms, and beer. I ask them what they prefer: lectures or seminars. “Lectures anyway, with working groups, you have to do so much,” my opposite neighbor answers without hesitation. Suddenly, I miss my college days.
Here’s what else struck us this week:
- Dutch renewable energy production surges, reaching new highs
- Highly sensitive measurement technique could greatly improve solar cell of the future
- Cooperation is key in preparation for a local energy hub on business park De Hurk
- Largest investment in Dutch quantum company to date
- Northvolt raises $5 billion to enable expansion of first circular gigafactory in the western world
- TenneT borrows €25 billion for better power grid. And there are more promising developments in the Netherlands
- Eindhoven-based Taylor gets eight million investment for solar panel optimisation
Have a great, innovative week. And stay strong when it comes to your New Year’s resolutions!
Aafke Eppinga
editor-in-chief Innovation Origins
In case you didn’t read it yet: here is the latest edition of our magazine IO Next. Don’t forget to subscribe.
