His Excellency
Robbert Dijkgraaf
Dijkgraaf in 2022
Minister of Education, Culture and Science
Assumed office
10 January 2022
Prime MinisterMark Rutte
Preceded byIngrid van Engelshoven
Personal details
Born
Robertus Henricus Dijkgraaf

(1960-01-24) 24 January 1960
Ridderkerk, Netherlands
CitizenshipDutch
Political partyDemocrats 66
WebsiteMinister of Education, Culture and Science
Alma materUtrecht University
Known forString theory
AwardsSpinoza Prize (2003)
Scientific career
FieldsTheoretical physics, mathematical physics
InstitutionsInstitute for Advanced Study
University of Amsterdam
ThesisA geometrical approach to two-dimensional Conformal Field Theory (1989)
Doctoral advisorGerard 't Hooft
Notable studentsLotte Hollands

Robertus Henricus "Robbert" Dijkgraaf FRSE (Dutch: [ˈrɔbərtⓘ ˈdɛikɣraːfⓘ]; born 24 January 1960) is a Dutch theoretical physicist, mathematician and string theorist, and the current Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands.[1] From July 2012 until his inauguration as minister in January 2022, he had been the director and Leon Levy professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey,[2][3] and a tenured professor at the University of Amsterdam.

Early life and education

Robertus Henricus Dijkgraaf was born on 24 January 1960 in Ridderkerk, Netherlands.[4] Dijkgraaf attended the Erasmiaans Gymnasium in Rotterdam, Netherlands.[4]

He started his education in physics at Utrecht University in 1978. After completing his candidate's degree (equivalent to BSc degree) in 1982, he briefly turned away from physics to pursue a painting education at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie.[5] In 1984, he returned to Utrecht University and obtained an MSc degree in theoretical physics in 1986. He then went on to performing doctoral research under supervision of future Nobel laureate Gerard 't Hooft.[4] He studied together with the twins Erik and Herman Verlinde.[4] The original arrangement was that only one of the trio would work on string theory, but all three ended up writing their thesis on this subject. Dijkgraaf obtained his PhD degree cum laude in 1989. His thesis was titled A Geometrical Approach to Two Dimensional Conformal Field Theory.[6]

For a few years he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study, working alongside Edward Witten.[4]

Work

In 1992, he was appointed professor of mathematical physics at the University of Amsterdam,[4] a chair he held until 2004, when he was appointed distinguished professor at the same university.[7]

From 2008 to 2012 he was president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was elected as one of the two co-chairs of the InterAcademy Council for the period 2009 to 2013.

Starting 2012, Dijkgraaf became the director of the Institute for Advanced Study, an independent academic institution located in the town of Princeton, New Jersey.[8] On that date, he stepped down from his position as president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He has served on numerous boards including at the Teylers Museum and the NEMO Science Museum.[4]

He regularly appears on Dutch television and has a monthly column in the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad.

Political career

Since 10 January 2022, Dijkgraaf has been serving as the Minister of Education in the Dutch government.

Other activities

Awards and honors

In 1998 Dijkgraaf was an Invited Speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Berlin.[11]

In 2003, Dijkgraaf was awarded the Spinoza Prize.[12] In doing so he became the first recipient of the award whose advisor also was a recipient (Gerard 't Hooft received the first Spinoza Prize in 1995). He used part of his Spinoza Prize grant to set up a website targeted at children and promoting science: Proefjes.nl.

Dijkgraaf is an elected Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2003[13][14] and of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities.

On 30 May 2012, he was elected an Honorary Member of both the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society and the Netherlands' Physical Society.[15] On 5 June 2012, Dijkgraaf was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.[16] In 2012, he became a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society.[17]

He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2013.[18] That same year, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.[19]

He received honorary doctorates from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Leiden University in 2019.[20] In 2019, Dijkgraaf was awarded the inaugural Iris Medal for Excellent Science Communication, presented at the Evening of Science & Society in the Ridderzaal in The Hague, by Ingrid van Engelshoven, Minister of Education, Culture, and Science, in the presence of King Willem-Alexander.[21]

Research

Dijkgraaf's research focuses on string theory and the interface of mathematics and physics in general.[2] He is best known for his work on topological string theory and matrix models, and his name has been given to the Dijkgraaf-Witten invariants and the Witten-Dijkgraaf-Verlinde-Verlinde formula.

Personal life

Dijkgraaf is married to the author Pia de Jong and has three children.[22] Their daughter Charlotte was born with a rare type of Leukemia and was the subject of book written by her mother Pia de Jong, Saving Charlotte: A Mother and the Power of Intuition.[22]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Robbert Dijkgraaf
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2023 House of Representatives Democrats 66 76[lower-alpha 1] 3,247 9 Lost [23]

Bibliography

Research articles

Dijkgraaf has co-authored and published more than 70 research articles in the field of string theory and physics, with many other researchers including: Cumrun Vafa, Lotte Hollands, Erik Verlinde, Herman Verlinde, Hirosi Ooguri, Gregory Moore, Rajesh Gopakumar, Sergei Gukov, Miranda Cheng, and others. This is a select list of these works:

  • Dijkgraaf, Robbert; Vafa, Cumrun (September 2009). "Toda Theories, Matrix Models, Topological Strings, and N=2 Gauge Systems". p. 41. arXiv:0909.2453 [hep-th].
  • Dijkgraaf, Robbert; Orlando, Domenico; Reffert, Susanne (March 2009). "Quantum crystals and spin chains". Nuclear Physics B. 811 (3): 463–490. arXiv:0803.1927. Bibcode:2009NuPhB.811..463D. doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysb.2008.11.027. S2CID 8128961 – via Research Gate.
  • Dijkgraaf, Robbert; Hollands, Lotte; Sulkowski, Piotr; Vafa, Cumrun (2008). "Supersymmetric Gauge Theories, Intersecting Branes and Free Fermions". Journal of High Energy Physics. 2008 (2): 106. arXiv:0709.4446. Bibcode:2008JHEP...02..106D. doi:10.1088/1126-6708/2008/02/106. S2CID 3827567 – via Research Gate.

Books

  • Dijkgraaf, Robbert (2019). Het isgelijkteken [The Equal Sign] (in Dutch). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Publisher Prometheus BV (Uitgeverij Prometheus). ISBN 9789044640939.
  • Flexner, Abraham (2017). The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge. Vol. 17. Robbert Dijkgraaf (Commentary). Princeton University Press. pp. 5274–8. ISBN 978-0691174761. PMID 13024481. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  • Dijkgraaf, Robbert (2012). Het nut van nutteloos onderzoek [The usefulness of useless research] (in Dutch) (1 ed.). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Bert Bakker Publishing. ISBN 9789035138216.
  • Dijkgraaf, Robbert (2008). Blikwisselingen [Changes of View] (in Dutch) (1 ed.). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Bert Bakker Publishing. ISBN 978-9035133365.

Notes

  1. ↑ Dijkgraaf participated as a lijstduwer.

References

  1. ↑ "Robbert Dijkgraaf". Government of the Netherlands. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 Overbye, Dennis (19 November 2018). "Does the Universe Still Need Einstein?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  3. ↑ "Robbert Dijkgraaf". Institute for Advanced Study. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Calmthout, Door Martijn van (11 December 2007). "Dinsdagprofiel: 'troetelbèta' Robbert Dijkgraaf". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "Prof. Dr. R.H. (Robbert) Dijkgraaf - University of Amsterdam". Archived from the original on 1 May 2015.
  6. ↑ Dijkgraaf, Robertus Hendricus (27 September 1989). "A geometrical approach to two-dimensional Conformal Field Theory". University of Utrecht. hdl:1874/210872.
  7. ↑ "prof. dr. R.H. (Robbert) Dijkgraaf - University of Amsterdam". www.uva.nl. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  8. ↑ "Robbert Dijkgraaf Appointed Director of Institute for Advanced Study". Institute for Advanced Study. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  9. ↑ Robbert Dijkgraaf Joins Simons Foundation Board of Directors Simons Foundation, press release of 22 June 2021.
  10. ↑ Ambassadors Council Scholars at Risk (SAR).
  11. ↑ Dijkgraaf, Robbert (1998). "The mathematics of fivebranes". Doc. Math. (Bielefeld) Extra Vol. ICM Berlin, 1998, vol. III. pp. 133–142.
  12. ↑ "NWO Spinoza Prize 2003". Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Robbert Dijkgraaf moves from KNAW to Princeton". University of Amsterdam. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  14. ↑ Enserink, Martin (14 November 2011). "Dutch Physicist and Science Educator Robbert Dijkgraaf to Head IAS". AAAS. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  15. ↑ Robbert Dijkgraaf krijgt Erelidmaatschap NNV en KNCV op Universiteit Twente - website University of Twente
  16. ↑ 'Robbert Dijkgraaf geëerd met lintje – kritiseert onderzoekspraktijk Nederland', NRC.nl 5 juni 2012, geraadpleegd op 5 juni 2012.'Robbert Dijkgraaf geridderd', NU.nl 5 juni 2012, geraadpleegd op 5 juni 2012.
  17. ↑ List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society, retrieved 2012-11-10.
  18. ↑ "Three CLS Researchers elected Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh". School of Life Sciences. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  19. ↑ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  20. ↑ "Robbert Dijkgraaf Awarded Honorary Doctorate from Vrije Universiteit Brussel". Institute for Advanced Study. February 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  21. ↑ "Robbert Dijkgraaf Awarded Inaugural Iris Medal for Excellent Science Communication - IAS News | Institute for Advanced Study". www.ias.edu. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  22. 1 2 "We staan op dezelfde manier in het leven, Pia en ik". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  23. ↑ "Proces-verbaal van de uitslag van de verkiezing van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal 2023 d.d. 4 december 2023" [Report of the results of the election of the House of Representatives on 4 December 2023] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 4 December 2023. pp. 21–22. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
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