Eveline Crone wins Science and Society Prize

At the tenth Evening of Science and Society, on Monday 2 November in the Ridderzaal in The Hague, Eveline Crone won the Science and Society Prize for her research into the child and adolescent brain and the way in which she makes her work accessible to society.

Brain and development
‘Surprised, happy and honoured,' is how Eveline Crone (1975), Professor of Neurocognitive Development Psychology at Leiden University, described her feelings.  Five years ago she set up the Brain and Development Lab, and with fellow researchers she now publishes reguarly on the development of the child and adolescent brain in such leading specialist journals as The Journal of Neuroscience and Child Development. Her work has also appeared in more general publications such as Science and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Image: Minister Ronald Plasterk announces the winner. The prize consists of a cheque for 25,000 euro and a bronze sculpture. (Photo: Frank van Driel)

Freshness
Robbert Dijkgraaf, President of KNAW, was chairman of the jury.  He quoted from the jury report: 'The winner...is at the start of what will undoubtedly be a glittering scientific career, but she is by no means a stranger to the world of prizes and subsidies. Our laureate is a true multi-tasker who is not only capable of conducting pioneering research that commands major international recognition, she also manages to convey the results of her research to a broad public through her articles, books and media appearances. What is remarkable is that the tone and content are always inbued with a welcome freshness. She always manages to avoid using the obvious and appealing caricatures that are so often found in this field.  In addition, our winner in the midst of a busy life also takes on heavy administrative tasks.'  And: 'Now fMRI research - literally - gives more insight into the adolescent brain, we may gain new tools for organising education and society so that they correlate better with the needs and possibilities of young people.'
Seven research groups
Crone is part of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC). She is also the initiator of LIBC-Junior, an interdisciplinary partnership between seven Leiden research groups with laboratories where researchers study the whole path of development, from baby to adult. LIBC-Junior was inaugurated this year during the opening of the 2009-2010 Academic Year. Eveline Crone has held the position of Chairman of The Young Academy, the 'youth' department of the KNAW, since 1 April 2009. 

Take a look in your brain
Besides heading up her research team, Crone devotes a great amount of her time to communicating her knowledge to a broader public. September 2009 saw the publication of Crone's popular science book 'The adolescent brain', which was published by Bert Bakker.  In September 2009. also at the opening of the Academic Year, she presented the Take a look in your brain website. This is a website specifically intended for young people.  Strangely enough, she discovered, there is a wealth of information for parents and teachers about the development of the brains of young and later adolescents - together making up the group aged between 11 and 25 years old - but very little for young people themselves. 
A page from the Take a look in your brain website.
Evening of Science and Society
The Foundation for the Evening of Science and Society was founded in 1999.  Since that time, these evenings have been organised every year, on diverse themes varying from recruiting young people for science and research jobs via the role of life scientists to knowledge valorisation. The Evening of Science and Society is supported by a broad forum of prominent Dutch professionals from the world of business, culture, the media, politics and sport. The focus of the Evening is on round table discussions between representatives of these different groups. These dicsussion evenings are supported by more than twenty prominent businesses through active participation in the evening and by providing financial support. 

The Science and Society prize will from this year onwards be known as the Huibregtsen Prize.
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(3 November 2009)


Web Editor – 05/11/2009