News type: Alumni

Pieter Muysken (1950-2021)

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Pieter Muysken, Professor of Linguistics, who passed away on 6 April 2020.

Four Fellows Receive Dutch Vidi Research Grant

Current fellows Lisa Becking (marine biology) and Anar Ahmadov (political science) are awarded a VIDI grant by the Dutch Research Council. Former fellows Michiel van Elk (neuropsychologist, 2019/20) and Tazuko van Berkel (classicist, 2011/12) are also recipients of this national grant.

Jan Strelau (1931-2020)

Jan Strelau, a NIAS Fellow twice (1983 en 1992), sadly passed away on the 3rd of August, 2020.

ERC Starting Grants for Kristine Krause and Matthew Hoye

The European Research Council (ERC) has this year awarded Starting Grants to Matthew Hoye and Kirstine Krause, who both worked on their proposals during their fellowship.

The Importance of Comparing Decolonization Wars

In 2019, NIAS hosted an international theme group that compared different decolonization wars, coming to a better understanding of why many led to extreme violence. Their findings are now published in the latest BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review, the leading academic journal for the history of the Netherlands, Belgium and their global presence. "The common denominator between all these decolonization wars is the deliberate lack of political accountability and the resulting institutionalized impunity."

Nobel Prize for Literature for Alumna Olga Tokarczuk

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2018 was awarded to Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk "for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life." Olga Tokarczuk was writer-in-residence at NIAS in 2009.

Bells for America

Diederik Oostdijk's publication "Bells for America: The Cold War, Modernism, and the Netherlands Carillon in Arlington" has just been published. It was presented in Arlington, Virginia during an official event marking the start of the restoration of the bells on 21 October. Oostdijk is Professor of English Literature at VU Amsterdam and worked on this book as a NIAS Fellow in 2014/15.

Alumni Rosalind Brown-Grant and Mario Damen Receive Grant from Arts & Humanities Research Council

Former fellows Rosalind Brown-Grant (University of Leeds) and Mario Damen (University of Amsterdam) received an AHRC Research Networking Grant for their project titled 'The joust as performance: Pas d’armes and Late Medieval chivalry'. The project aims at stimulating and expanding co-operation between researchers in different European and American universities, museums, and research institutions working on chivalric urban culture in general and on tournaments and pas d’armes in particular. The grant proposal was written at NIAS.

Alumnus Jan Papy Wins Science Communication Prize

Former fellow Jan Papy (2008/09), Professor of Latin Literature & Neo-Latin Studies from the KU Leuven, was awarded the Year Price 2018 for Science Communication. With this prize, the Royal B...

Former Fellow Karla Pollmann Appointed Dean of Arts at the University of Bristol

Professor Dr. Karla Pollmann (Individual NIAS Fellow 2003/4 and Theme-group leader 2008/09) has been offered the position of Professor of Classics and Dean of Arts at the University of Bristol, a...

In Memoriam: Henk Wesseling (1937 – 2018)

On 18 August 2018, Henk Wesseling (6 August 1937 - 18 August 2018) passed away at the age of 81. Henk Wesseling was Rector of NIAS from 1995 until 2002. Wim Blockmans, Wesseling's successor as Rector, remembers his sharp insight, tongue-in-cheek humour, didactical talent, global network and cultured bonhomie.

Book Prize for Kathryn Woolard

Kathryn Woolard, Research Professor of Anthropology at the University of California and NIAS Fellow in 2013/14, is awarded the Sapir Book Prize for the publication she wrote at NIAS. "Singular and Plural: Ideologies of Linguistic Authority in 21st Century Catalonia" offers an account of issues around language and national identity behind the current controversial Catalan independence movement.

Jaroslav Rudiš awarded Preis der Literaturhäuser

Writer-in-residence Jaroslav Rudiš is awarded the prestigious Preis der Literaturhäuser 2018 for his exceptional and multidisciplinary contribution to German literature. He will receive this prize during the Book Fair in Leipzig on 15 March.

Fellows Receive Prestigious ERC Consolidator Grants

Three NIAS fellows, Catarina Dutilh Novaes (2016/17), Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk (2017/18) and Marco Tamietto (2017/18) have been awarded highly competitive European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grants. The grant of €2 million allows scholars to build and consolidate their own research team.

Looking Back: NIAS Alumni Day

On 12 October 2017, reminiscence filled the rooms of NIAS during the Alumni Day. The event welcomed former and current fellows who participated in an afternoon lunch, followed by a guided tour of the building, a ‘speed-dating’ section, and a lecture by Professor Theo Mulder.