Lectures KNAW Grant week 2024 - Location: Tinbergenzaal
Lectures KNAW Grant week 2024 - Location: Tinbergenzaal
Doing Research that Matters
Timothy Stacey, Utrecht University
We all want to contribute something to society. And yet somehow, when we start trying to measure and honour that contribution, people get turned off. In this interactive session, we collectively explore the future we are trying to bring about, and how to use the language of impact as an ally in our struggle.
Timothy Stacey is a Researcher at the Urban Futures Studio, Utrecht University, and a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, University of Victoria, Canada. He uses concepts from the study of religion (myth, ritual, magic, tradition, and play) to explore what inspires people to take ethical, political and ecological action. He is also co-founder of AltVisions, a burgeoning international, interdisciplinary network aiming to promote alternative visions of a shared political future that challenge both the established order and reactionary populism.
Behind the scenes: how to get a grant
MakeBelief and Dreamscape, how a life scientist and humanities scholar acquired (ERC) funding
Francesca Siclari, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience – KNAW
and Ernst van den Hemel, Meertens Institute – KNAW
During this lecture, Francesca and Ernst will share their insights, tips and tricks on how to get a proposal funded. They will reflect on their career paths and what have been key decisive moments, enabling them to create impact as an academic. Both recently obtained grants: the ERC Starting grant Dreamscape “The Electrophysiological Landscape of Dreams” and the ERC Consolidator grant MakeBelief “The Religious Politics of Theme Parks in the 21st century: Imagineering Religion, Heritage and National Sentiments”.
Be inspired by how your peers handled the grant application jungle.
Francesca Siclari is group leader of the ‘Sleep and Dreams’ group at the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience and aims to understand how the brain generates sleep-related conscious experiences in both physiological and pathological conditions (sleep disorders).
Ernst van den Hemel is senior researcher at the NL-Lab and Meertens Institute of the KNAW Humanities Cluster. He studies (national) identity and religion, with a special focus on the role of emotions and the use of media.
Sciences, Humanities, and the "Generative Turn" in AI
Max van Duijn, Leiden University
Since the "generative turn" in Artificial Intelligence, there has been much debate about the capabilities of systems such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. Are they merely reproducing superficial language structures ("parroting"), or do the underlying models achieve actual forms of understanding, reasoning, and creativity? Through examples from recent research conducted in my lab, I will address this question. Subsequently, I will reflect, in interaction with the audience, on the implications of recent developments in generative AI for the practice of doing academic research in different disciplines across the sciences and humanities.
Dr Max Johannes van Duijn works as a researcher and lecturer at Leiden University's Institute of Computer Science and AI. He co-founded the Creative Intelligence Lab, an interdisciplinary space where AI researchers, linguists, cognitive scientists, and artists meet. As a lecturer, he is involved in the Bachelor's program in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence and the Master's program in Creative Intelligence & Technology. With his research group he regularly contributes to international scientific journals and conferences, as well as to Dutch media and public events. Since 2023, he has been a member of the Young Academy of the KNAW, where he co-chairs the Science & Society track.