Han Thomas Adriaenssen elected as new member of the Young Academy

The Young Academy is a platform within the Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) of top young researchers who have original ideas about scholarship and academic policy. The Academy organizes inspiring activities for various target groups in the area of science communication. Every year the Academy selects ten new members from researchers who obtained their PhD less than ten years ago. Membership is for five years.

Han Thomas Adriaenssen (1985) is one of the most talented young philosophers in the Netherlands. His work includes a book on the Mediaeval roots of the thought of René Descartes. He has also given lectures on the importance of looking not only at the great philosophers but at the less celebrated thinkers too. Adriaenssen has been voted lecturer of the year three times by the UG’s Faculty of Philosophy. Alongside philosophy, he studied Russian and Italian and is in intensive contact with secondary schools and their philosophy teachers. Adriaenssen has been a member of YAG since 2016, where his focus is on academic policy and fostering interdisciplinary research projects. He hopes also to work on these themes at the Young Academy. Cambridge University Press recently published Adriaenssen’s Representation and Scepticism from Aquinas to Descartes. Find out more about Han Thomas Adriaenssen in this research minute film.

Han Thomas Adriaenssen is also a member of the Young Academy Groningen (YAG), a platform for talented young researchers at the UG that brings together academics from different disciplines. Together they advise the University on research policy and organize activities for the public to strengthen the links between academia and society.

The official installation of the new members will take place on 26 March.