Since early October, Nikhef theorists Marieke Postma and Wouter Waalewijn have been appointed the new program management for theoretical physics at the national institute.
Postma is a staff member at Nikhef and professor at Radboud University in Nijmegen, specializing in cosmology. Waalewijn works on quantum chromodynamics (quark physics) and is a research assistant at the physics faculty of the University of Amsterdam and Nikhef.
Nikhef’s theory group, located on the third floor of the building in Amsterdam, has approximately 35 staff members, postdocs, PhD students, and students.
Close-knit group
Postma has been working there since her post-doc days. “What people from outside often notice is how close-knit the group is and how little hierarchy there is here. Students and staff sit together at lunch and talk freely over coffee. About work, and also other things in life. That group culture is a great asset and we will certainly hold on to it.”
Program director Postma and Waalewijn, formally her deputy, are jointly succeeding theorist Robert Fleischer, who led the Nikhef theory program for seven years. Fleischer, a professor at VU University Amsterdam, will remain staff member with the theory group of the national institute, which is thanking him with a dinner this evening.
Connecting point
The group, says Marieke Postma, has traditionally been a connecting point in Dutch theoretical physics in the field of particle physics. The group is closely linked to the institute’s experiments at CERN and elsewhere, with a focus on what is known as phenomenology: testing theory on the basis of measurements and experiments.
Broad and flexible
The agenda, says Waalewijn, is and remains broad and flexible. “It’s about specialists being able to find each other, within or outside formal research projects. Discussion, whether remotely or in front of the blackboard, is an important tool for us.”
Postma and Waalewijn assure us that this is not likely to change any time soon. But at the same time, says Postma, it can’t hurt to review familiar practices when there is a change of guard.
Worth the effort
Postma: “Some meetings may become less effective over time, or overlap with other meetings. Everyone is busy, so we have to try to be efficient and worthwhile. By reviewing the agendas, and perhaps also by trying out new formats here and there.”
Together with Waalewijn, she is currently visiting the affiliated theory groups at Nikhef partners throughout the country. With an emphasis on listening, says Waalewijn. “We don’t have a blueprint, but we want to facilitate what is desirable and necessary for strong Dutch theoretical particle physics.”
