De Waag (the Weigh House) at Nieuwmarkt: known for its function as anatomical theater and meaning for the development of medical scientific research. AYA member Matthijs Brouwer, neurologist at Amsterdam UMC, explains how medical research is regulated today, why these formal procedures take too long in the event of an acute outbreak of a virus like Covid-19, and how the coronavirus crisis has brought researchers and review committees together – to prove that much more is possible than initially thought.
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De Waag
What scientific stories are hidden behind the Amsterdam facades? Amsterdam Young Academy (AYA) presents the AYA Science <+> Society Tour, visiting eight locations in Amsterdam. Matthijs Brouwer (Amsterdam UMC) takes you to De Waag.
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De Wallen and Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder
What scientific stories are hidden behind the Amsterdam facades? Amsterdam Young Academy (AYA) presents the AYA Science <+> Society Tour, visiting eight locations in Amsterdam. Miram Wijkman (VU) and Silke Muylaert (VU) share their perspective on Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder and De Wallen.
The Red Light District: nowadays one of the symbolic icons that portray Amsterdam globally as utmost tolerant: towards prostitution, drugs, beliefs, sexual orientation, religion, cultures, race... Miriam Wijkman (Faculty of Law VU), Law, guides us around the Red Light District and the development of the legal status of prostitution and the ongoing debate. And Silke Muylaert, historian at the Faculty of Religion and Theology at VU University, explains how Catholics celebrated their – not publicly tolerated – religion privately in the hidden attic church Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder.
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Central Station
What scientific stories are hidden behind the Amsterdam facades? Amsterdam Young Academy (AYA) presents the AYA Science <+> Society Tour, visiting eight locations in Amsterdam. Linda Douw (Amsterdam UMC) and Antske Fokkens (VU) show you what's behind Amsterdam Central Station.
Linda Douw, from the department of Anatomy and Neurosciences at Amsterdam UMC, shows how central stations are comparable with hubs in the network of our brain and even help us understand Alzheimer’s disease better. And, the station can function as a great decor for taking on a bit of spontaneous field research. Antske Fokkens (VU Faculty of Humanities) explores the prejudices we all have – like all the people we encounter on the train or in a station – and how stereotyping influences the way we communicate and relate to each other.
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Fast-food chains on Damrak
What scientific stories are hidden behind the Amsterdam facades? Amsterdam Young Academy (AYA) presents the AYA Science <+> Society Tour, visiting eight locations in Amsterdam. Marci Cottingham (UvA) and Ghizlane Aarab (ACTA) will change your perspective on the fast-food chains on the Damrak.
One location in the tour is an establishment of the popular fast-food chain McDonald’s at the Damrak. The very fact we encounter these and other fast-food restaurants everywhere on the globe tells us something about globalisation. Marci Cottingham (Department of Sociology at UvA) tells how McDonald’s and other international companies service and shape our emotions. And Ghizlane Aarab, from the section Orofacial pain and dysfunction at the Academic Centre for Dentistry, will explain the consequences fast-food chains have on the health of society, in particular by the rising growth of obesity.
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Vrankrijk
What scientific stories are hidden behind the Amsterdam facades? Amsterdam Young Academy (AYA) presents the AYA Science <+> Society Tour, visiting eight locations in Amsterdam. Shaul Shalvi (UvA) takes you to Vrankrijk.
The façade of the self-managed social centre Vrankrijk looks like and in fact was a typical squat. It still stands as a symbol of the widespread squatting movement Amsterdam knew in the 1980s. At the peak of the housing crisis back then many squats sprung up. Today’s housing crisis in Amsterdam often pushes up house prices astronomically. Shaul Shalvi, professor of Behavioural Ethics at UvA, explains the role of psychology in pricing houses – as well as the remarkable discovery he made on the effect of precise pricing…
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Rijksmuseum
What scientific stories are hidden behind the Amsterdam facades? Amsterdam Young Academy (AYA) presents the AYA Science <+> Society Tour, visiting eight locations in Amsterdam. Umberto Olcese (UVA) en Denise Duijster (ACTA) join you in visiting the Rijksmuseum.
The Rijksmuseum: of great value to the whole world and a treasure house for research – not only in the field of the humanities. Umberto Olcese (Department of Neuroscience of the UvA Faculty of Science) tells about the wonder of why instead of just seeing strokes of paint and coloured spots we actually can see recognisable images, or at least, that is what our brain makes us to believe. Denise Duijster, from the Academic Dental Centre Amsterdam (ACTA), will take us on a guided art tour through the historical development of dentistry. The Rijksmuseum itself has several paintings and prints in its collection that give great insight in how dental problems and pains were experienced and treated, from centuries ago up to now.
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Maagdenhuis
What scientific stories are hidden behind the Amsterdam facades? Amsterdam Young Academy (AYA) presents the AYA Science <+> Society Tour, visiting eight locations in Amsterdam. Ronald Kroeze (VU) and Rik Peels (VU) share their insights while visiting the Maagdenhuis.
The Maagdenhuis: since the early 1960’s the administrative centre of the University of Amsterdam – when youngsters, and students especially, were starting to revolt against established structures and authorities. That’s what the Maagdenhuis is best known for: its famous occupation in May 1969. Ronald Kroeze (VU Faculty of Humanities) compares the 1969 occupation with the one of 2015. Rik Peels (VU Faculty of Humanities and Faculty of Religion and Theology) looks at the last occupation from a broader perspective. Does this most recent occupation show that the university, here in the Netherlands but also worldwide, is in crisis?
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Binnengasthuis
What scientific stories are hidden behind the Amsterdam facades? Amsterdam Young Academy (AYA) presents the AYA Science <+> Society Tour, visiting eight locations in Amsterdam. Matthijs Brouwer (Amsterdam UMC) takes you to the Binnengasthuis.
One location in the tour is the Binnengasthuis. This is where the sick people of Amsterdam were cared for, from the Middle Ages until 1981, when the Binnengasthuis hospital became the Academic Medical Centre, also known as the AMC. Giving a blood or urine sample is now a familiar way of testing our health and potentially finding a diagnosis. How has the medical testing of bodily fluids developed over the years? And how do you test brain fluid, which is separate from the blood? Neurologist Matthijs Brouwer, from the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Medicine, conducts research into this.