The ARC CBBC Summer school of 2025

This year, the weather forecast looks promising, and we are excited about our upcoming three-day summer school. These three days are dedicated to interesting lectures, workshops, and plenty of opportunities to connect and get to know one another.

As part of our commitment to a sustainable industry, we invite our partners to host a day during this event. This year, we were honored to visit AkzoNobel in Sassenheim.

The ARC CBBC education program plays a crucial role in our consortium’s strategy to equip the next generations of scientists and employees. Our goal is to foster collaborative skills, soft skills, and expertise exchange, complemented by active industry involvement, all while they undergo four years of intensive scientific development.

At AkzoNobel, Jitte Flapper, André van Linden, and Niels Elders organized a dynamic and inspiring program for our group. Highlights included insightful lectures, such as one by our alumnus George Hermens, who has been working at AkzoNobel since completing his PhD. The visit also featured an engaging tour of several specialized labs, including the Resin Lab, Paint Lab, Analytical Lab, and Color Lab.

Community Building
Starting our second day we took the time to get to know each other better. Enjoying coffee we did a session entitled science speed dating. We told each other about our research and expertise and of course also introduced ourselves personally.

During the day, we attended various lectures. One of the speakers was Sophie van Vreeswijk, an alumna of ARC CBBC, who gave a talk titled "Journey Through Zeolites, Project Management, and Polymers." She shared her personal story, starting with her PhD journey. After completing her doctorate, she began working at Avantium as a project leader. Her key piece of advice was to pursue opportunities that sound interesting, even if they're outside your initial plan. However, she eventually realized she missed academic research and decided to return to the academic world.

Elise Meerburg from Capture introduced us to their online educational program. During her presentation, everyone was invited to scan a QR code and log in on their phones. Elise demonstrated how the learning tool works and guided us through the first steps.

After that, we attended a lecture by Marc Koper titled “How to Make Green Hydrogen.” This was followed by a talk from Joost Reek, who explained how to “Build Bridges Between Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysis.”

Another perspective was offered by the Rathenau Institute, which focuses on research and debate about the impact of science, technology, and innovation on our lives. Allerd Nanninga gave a talk titled “Governing Hydrogen: High Ambitions, Societal Issues, and Limited Debate,” where he highlighted the challenges of managing hydrogen development in the context of public policy and societal concerns.

We then had the time to enjoy the great weather during a guided boat trip through the beautiful city of Leiden.

On our last day, Evgeny Pidko gave a lecture titled “Computational Spectroscopy” and took us along on his journey of “Searching the Chemistry Space for a Supercat!” In the afternoon, we participated in an engaging and interactive workshop on Systems Thinking led by Mindpact.

Thank you so much AkzoNobel for your hospitality! Special thanks to Jitte Flapper, Andre van Linden and Niels Elders. Thanks also to Marc Koper, Joost Reek and Evgeny Pidko for your insightful scientific lectures. Thank you, Allerd Nanninga for giving us a look into the work of the Rathenau Institute. Thank you, Sophie van Vreeswijk for sharing your story of moving from academia to industry and back to the academic world. Thank you, Elise Meerburg from Capture, for your interesting presentation about the learning tools.

Thank you, Bram Heijnen and your team from MINDPACT, for your inspiring workshop on systems thinking.
And thanks to Andries Jensma and Ryno van Niekerk for moderating the lectures.