Weekend of Science 2026

During the first weekend of October, the Netherlands is all about science. Young and old alike can take a look behind the scenes and take part in all sorts of science related activities. Nikhef is organising a Science Day at the Nikhef building in Amsterdam, as part of Amsterdam Science Park’s Science Day. There is also plenty to do at the various Nikhef partner universities.

See below for an overview:

• The Nikhef building is taking part in Amsterdam Science Park’s Science Day on 3 October. There will be talks, demonstrations, guided tours, a treasure hunt, an escape room and much more. The various research programmes will be represented. View the Nikhef programme for the Science Day.
• At Maastricht University, there will be several activities on 3 October, including a ‘Big to Small Show’, a ‘Mission Universe: particles and the mega mystery of waves’, a demonstration on ‘The crazy secret of light’ and a visit to ETpathfinder.
• A number of colleagues from the University of Groningen will be taking part in the Eureka! Science Festival a week earlier (on 25 September), both with a presentation entitled ‘The molecular treasure chest: unlocking the secrets of the universe through precision measurements’ and with demonstrations on levitation.
• Utrecht University has a varied programme on Sunday 4 October.
• On 3 October, the Huygens Building at Radboud University in Nijmegen will host a varied programme featuring experiments, workshops and short talks.
• On 3 October, the Vrije Universiteit is organising ‘From Molecules to Machines’ at the O|2 Lab building, De Boelelaan 1108, Amsterdam.
• The Faculty of Science at the University of Amsterdam is taking part in the Amsterdam Science Park’s Science Day on Saturday 3 October; all activities relating to (astro)particle physics will take place in the Nikhef building.