Second Groningen Science Quiz at Forum Groningen

On Tuesday 24 May, the second Groningen Science Quiz took place at Forum Groningen. This edition was organized by Studium Generale Groningen, the Ben Feringa Fund of the University of Groningen, and Forum Groningen. In a game show full of facts and trivia, three teams of researchers went head-to-head for the coveted Ben Feringa Cup. Ben Feringa himself appears as an all-knowing jury member, joined by Rector Magnificus Cisca Wijmenga and journalist Maaike Borst from regional newspaper Dagblad van het Noorden.

The teams comprised Jim Ottelé (Chemistry) and Audrey Rousse-Malpat (Linguistics), Aranka Ballering (Medical Sciences) and Hisham Hamad (Middle Eastern Studies), and finally Bram van Vulpen (Sociology) and Nathalie Brusgaard (Archaeology). They answered questions such as ‘What do bananas and cucumbers have in common?’ and ‘What held back urbanization in the 19th century?’, as well as racking their brains on why sweat sometimes smells while other times it does not. The public was also able to participate, both in the room and from home. The public participants competed for three prizes, each comprising a year-long free access pass to the University Museum including the option to bring a guest, two cinema tickets, and two tickets for the new Marvel Comics exhibition at Forum Groningen. The fourth, fifth, and sixth runners-up each won a book voucher worth €50, provided by Studium Generale.

Nathalie Brusgaard and Bram van Vulpen were able to answer most of the questions well and won the Cup: a glass nanocar made by Aad van der Weel.

At the end of the quiz, the winners of the Ben Feringa Impact Awards were also announced. This year, the Awards were presented to Michelle Bruijn for her project ‘The Administrative War on Drugs’ and, in the student category, to Joren Arkes, Roos Gielen, Stefan Ivanov, and Ydwer Hoekstra for their project ‘Cultural Engagement of Young Adults in Het Hogeland’.