The Good Scientist

Freedom to work on crazy ideas without having to justify them

Winning big grants, supervising students, appearing in media… what is the secret to being a successful academic? In this series, UT researchers reflect on the various ways of being a good scientist and contributing to the world. The second episode introduces Rebecca Saive, Professor of Applied Physics. 'I don’t think that all scientific research should be driven by societal problems.'
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Spotlight

‘I never felt returning to research was a step back’

Professor Hans Hilgenkamp first arrived at the University of Twente in 1985 to study Applied Physics. Now, a few decades later, the alumnus is still here, after making it through all the ‘levels’ of an academic career. From a PhD researcher, all the way to full professor and dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology, and back to full-time scientist again. ‘The university has given me a lot of possibilities to grow.’
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Spotlight

‘Mijn terugkeer naar de wetenschap was geen stap achteruit’

Hoogleraar Hans Hilgenkamp kwam in 1985 naar de UT om toegepaste natuurkunde te studeren. Nu, enkele decennia later en na het doorlopen van alle ‘stadia’ van een academische carrière, is de alumnus nog steeds op de UT te vinden. In zijn loopbaan ging hij van promoverend onderzoeker en hoogleraar tot decaan van de faculteit Technische Natuurwetenschappen en weer terug naar fulltime onderzoeker. ‘De universiteit heeft me talloze groeimogelijkheden geboden.’
Science
Slim photonic crystals imprison light waves in 3D

Catching light

Willem Vos, Professor of Applied Physics at the UT, together with colleagues from Twente and Japan, have managed to design a thin, so-called, photonic crystal to trap and even manipulate light. The scientists found that their new slim design functions as well as traditional thick 3-D crystals. The thin size increases their application potential tremendously, for example, in the telecom industry and in solar panels.
Science

Water Bottle Flipping Physics

Have you ever tried to flip a water bottle and make it land upright? If you have, you know it’s not as easy as it looks. Five UT bachelor students of Applied Physics decided to find out why. They wrote a paper, describing how to optimize the chances of a successful bottle landing, and it got accepted for publication in the American Journal of Physics.
News

Studenten waarderen topopleidingen

Het zijn de studenten die hun waardering uitspreken voor de topmasters electrical engineering, applied physics en geo-information science & earth observation. Daarom ontvingen de masters het predicaat ‘topopleiding’ van de Keuzegids 2016. Waarin zit die waardering vooral?
News

Keuzegids Masters: 3 topopleidingen, 4 onvoldoendes

De masters applied physics, electrical engineering en geo-information science & earth observation mogen zich dit jaar topopleiding noemen. Ze krijgen dat predicaat van de Keuzegids 2016, die ook 4 onvoldoendes uitdeelde aan de UT.

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