Our ESSET programme has several interesting collaborations with partner universities. one of these is with the Ghent university of Applied Sciences in Belgium. Together with a number of ESSET students, our colleagues Samet and Marjon went to Ghent for the "Ghent-Breda exchange to work on an interesting environmental problem. Our colleague Marjon has written the... Continue Reading →
Happy green and sustainable new year!
On behalf of our staff and students, we wish everyone a welcoming, green and sustainable 2024! It is an important year for our environmental science programme, as after the Summer break we will start our new curriculum. Our current programme is strong and well developed (as shown by the awards we have received over the... Continue Reading →
The Power of Positive Thinking: how optimism can change your life.
Nowadays, there is a lot of bad news and uncertainties in the world making it hard to stay encouraged and optimistic. However, by harnessing the power of positive thinking, you can cultivate a mindset that attracts happiness and success. Positive thinking goes beyond mere optimism; it is a conscious choice to focus on the positive... Continue Reading →
Artificial Intelligence: will it cause mass unemployment?
There have been significant developments in artificial intelligence tools such as Chat GTP, which is an effective tool for finding and processing information. Some individuals fear that artificial intelligence (AI) tools like Chat GTP will replace human workers, eliminating current jobs. Especially since UN DESA data shows that our population is expected to reach 9.8... Continue Reading →
Are fungi able to control humans?
You are probably already familiar with the existence of fungi. There are millions of fungal species in the world, but what most people do not know is that some of these species can form a threat to humans. Lucky for us, evolution has given us the chance to develop an immune system that can protect us against... Continue Reading →
50.000 year old viruses revived
Pop culture takes over our minds when we hear the term "zombie virus," the first image that comes to mind is infected individuals who have turned into zombies. That is not the situation. I can offer you something even bigger. Russia's permafrost has been found to contain zombie viruses. After two years of lockdowns, this... Continue Reading →
Plastic-free island, is that possible?
Written by Widya, Karin, and Claudia In December, Widya got a chance to visit two ESSET students working on their internship regarding plastic pollution in Indonesia. This internship was made possible by collaborating with a non-profit organisation Clear Rivers and the University of Pattimura. The students, Karin and Claudia, spent approximately 4 months on the... Continue Reading →
Creating a problem to fix the problem
Nano plastics have become a recent topic of concern within society. However, there is a knowledge gap on nano plastics related to their concentration in the environment and the harmful effects they pose to ecosystems and living organisms. In addition, there is currently no way of detecting or removing nano plastics from the environment. During... Continue Reading →
We got a new name!
For as long as I can remember, the acronym ESSET always stood for Environmental Science for Sustainable Energy and Technology. But starting from the academic year 2022-2023, we have updated our name to Environmental Science for Sustainability, Ecosystems and Technology! The name change was done as the staff felt this was a better representation of... Continue Reading →
Getting to know ESSET staff – episode 2
The long-awaited new episode of "getting to know ESSET staff" is finally here. In this blog, I present to you, Arjen Boon. Arjen has been working in our programme for 2 years now. Before that, he worked as a researcher in Marine Ecology at Deltares, Delft (The Netherlands). He was (among other things) responsible for... Continue Reading →
Two Years Down, 2 more to go
Caption: Me participating in an Essence team building camping activity, organised by Essence Events Manager 2021-22. By Nisalyna Bontiff 3-minute read And just like that, the second year of the study is over. I don't know about you, but my head is in a whirlwind when I think about how quickly the time has passed.... Continue Reading →
Getting to know ESSET staff – episode 1
When I was a student, I used to question who my teachers really are. I was curious about their background and why they decided to be a teacher. Now that I am a teacher, I am often curious about what the students think about me. More generally, I am curious what the students think about... Continue Reading →