Pieterskerk full for Opening of Academic Year
The Pieterskerk will be completely full on 3 September for the opening of the new Academic Year. The speeches by Paul Schnabel, Director of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research, and Maxime Verhagen, outgoing Minister for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, have attracted a lot of interest. Both speakers will talk about innovation and the Netherlands as a knowledge economy. The ceremony can be followed live on internet.
The speakers
Professor Paul Schnabel
The keynote speech by Professor Paul Schnabel is entitled Getting to the top 5!Can the Netherlands join the elite group of the world's most competitive economies? As well as being Director of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research, Schnabel is also a professor at Utrecht University.
He will be preceded by Maxime Verhagen, Deputy Prime Minister and CDA Minister for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation in the outgoing cabinet. His talk will be on The power of connecting. Verhagen was a speaker at the opening of Leiden's Academic Year on a previous occasion, when his speech was delivered by video connection as he had to be abroad at the time on urgent government business.
Finally, President of the Executive Board and Rector Magnificus Paul van der Heijden will talk on the subject of Making choices, sharing decisions.
Music will be provided by the Leiden University Baroque Ensemble.
Prizes
After the speeches, the winners of the K.J. Cath prize for 2012 and the Gratama Science prize will be announced.
The event can be followed live via a video link, starting at 15.00 hrs.