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It’s all about that Higgs, that Higgs, ….
When discussing about the various options concerning the future of particle physics, in particular in the context of the Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics, the Higgs boson plays...
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Is being a workaholic a condition for success in science?
Some relatives of mine have always been obsessed with the details of my work schedule. They were not really interested in the actual content of my research, but kept asking every time we met at what...
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The lepton collider battles (only one can remain?)
As I discussed in a previous post, the precision mapping of the properties of the Higgs boson should be, without the shade of a doubt, one of the main scientific drivers of any future high-energy...
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A game of colliders: is CLIC the Tyrion Lannister of the future collider wars?
Despite the title, I have never seen a single Game of Thrones episode. I read the first of the books though some time ago, and while the book was interesting and catchy, everyone there was very but...
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What is this mess about the Van Rijn commission?
Disclaimer: the following post is going to be a rather dry one about some recent controversies concerning the funding of the higher education system in The Netherlands. Moreover, it is probably going...
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Rebecca’s induction day: Some thoughts on the academic research funding model I
Let me introduce you to Rebecca (not a real name). She is an engineer, more precisely a vehicle engineer: someone, an expert, who has been trained to develop and build cars. Today is a very exciting...
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HigherEd in the anderhalvemetersamenleving era
On Wednesday the Dutch government announced a further softening of the corona-prevention measures. From secondary schools to cinemas, gym centers, cannabis cafes, and sex clubs, there is not a more or...
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Blended learning and the future of university teaching
My parents always liked to tell me about their time as university students, in the Faculty of Law in Barcelona in the 1970s. Those were interesting times, towards the end of General Franco’s...
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Should I stay or should I go (after the PhD)? Some reflections on the...
These are certainly complicated times for early career researchers (ECRs) in all domains of science. To begin with, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has slowed, when not ground to a halt, a significant...
View ArticleAt the Heart of Matter: the Inner Life of the Amazing Proton
(It had been a while since I managed to find the time to write something worth posting in the blog. Since I had to anyway write a speech for my inaugural lecture at the VU Amsterdam, let me post it...
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