Utrecht Science Week 2025: Sustainability Day 30 September – Connecting with Nature
From Friday 26th September to Sunday 5th October 2025, the Utrecht Science Week is happening. One of the highlights of the week is the Sustainability Day (Dag van de Duurzaamheid), taking place on Tuesday 30th September. This year, the Day of Sustainability is a collaboration between HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht and Utrecht University, and the theme is: Connecting with Nature.
- What can we learn from nature’s principles?
- How can we give nature a voice in decision-making, education, and research?
- What does it mean to truly partner with nature?
- And how can we be positively impacted by the nature around us (think Amelisweerd)?
The event promises a fantastic programme, with keynote speakers including Jessica den Outer, Director of Rights for Nature, and Matthijs Schouten, an ecologist and philosopher. The day will be hosted by Aniek Moonen.
Programme
- Plenary session: 11:00 – 12:30
- Green Market: 12:00 – 16:00
- Workshops: 13:30 – 15:00
The event will be held at Padualaan 101 (HU), where everyone can dive into a day of sustainability and connection with the natural world.
More info on registration is coming soon – so keep an eye on the website for all the latest updates!
New Year’s promotion: all-in sports with a generous discount at Sportcentrum Olympos
Employees of Utrecht University, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences (HU), UMCU, Hubrecht Institute and Westerdijk Institute can temporarily enjoy an extra 20% discount on all-in sports at Olympos!
Running courses at Sportcentrum Olympos for various distances
Want to be well prepared for your distance in the Utrecht Marathon on 31 May 2026? The Olympos Sports Centre at Utrecht Science Park offers 10-week running training programmes for different levels and distances.
Karin Gerritsen receives grant for kidney-on-a-chip
Nephrologist Karin Gerritsen of UMC Utrecht receives a grant of 1.8 million euros for the research NanoKid from NWO. In this research she is working on an innovative kidney-on-a-chip: a miniature model in which the most important kidney functions are imitated. The ultimate goal is to use this kidney-on-a-chip as a fundamental building block for a bioartificial kidney and improving kidney replacement therapies.
Wennink plan: Life Sciences and biotechnology are important growth drivers for the earning capacity of the Netherlands
The Dutch Life Sciences and biotechnology sector can make a much larger contribution to the Netherlands’ economic strength. This is shown in a new growth strategy presented today as part of Peter Wennink’s advisory report. The report also highlights Utrecht Science Park as one of the key innovation locations and sources of progress and growth.