Lorentz Center ready for the future with a renovation and new wing
image: Monique Shaw
The moving boxes are unpacked, the floors are gleaming, and the workshop rooms look fresh and inviting. On Monday 16 June, the renovated Lorentz Center will be officially reopened by dean Jasper Knoester and rector Hester Bijl. Director Roeland Merks: ‘There’s a new energy running through our centre.’
Proudly, Merks gives a tour of the workshop centre, just as a new workshop week is getting underway. Existing spaces have been refurbished, with fresh paint on the walls and new carpets throughout. A wing of the old Snellius building has now been added to the Lorentz Center. There’s lots of light, glass, and greenery. ‘It really feels like home – there’s a fresh energy here.’
What is the Lorentz Center?
Founded in 1997, the Lorentz Center is a workshop centre that hosts international scientific meetings. Groups of researchers spend a week together discussing and exploring a particular topic. All scientific disciplines are welcome.
The reason for the renovation and expansion was straightforward: the original floor in the Oort building, where the Lorentz Center first began, had to be vacated. And the space available in Snellius had simply become too small for everything the team wanted to do. Now, Merks and his colleagues have room to grow – and more flexibility.
Another big plus: there’s no longer any need to shuttle between locations. ‘That’s not just good for visibility – it also benefits the people taking part in our workshops. Visitors can now see everything that’s going on here at once, and that should encourage more interaction and cross-pollination.’
Trying out new formats
In addition to the existing Lambda (λ) and Omega (ω) rooms, the new wing now features a third space: the Rho room (ρ). ‘That gives us the first three letters of our centre. Rho is also the symbol for density – In this new room, we want to experiment with new workshop formats. Sometimes short and intense, like a pressure cooker. Lambda and Omega will remain for our standard programmes.’
When Merks talks about experimenting, he mostly means exploring new ways of working together. ‘We want to apply our approach to other fields. But we also want to build stronger bridges to society – to work with partners outside academia. And that doesn’t always have to be a full week. It could be a shorter format – for instance, a two-day event or a follow-up day for groups who’ve already held a workshop here and want to build further on their results.’
Bring your ideas
One example of a new format is a day-long programme organised with the Dutch Research Agenda (Nationale Wetenschapsagenda – NWA). ‘It’s about how to make an impact. Representatives from three research consortia – all working on very different topics – are invited to assess their progress. How are things going? What challenges do they face? What can they learn from each other? We’ve seen that these sessions work really well, and we want to do more of them. We’re open to all kinds of initiatives and ideas – so do get in touch and come by for a chat!’
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An impression of the new Lorentz Center -
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