Erasmus University Rotterdam is proud to host the 23rd International Conference on Cultural Economics organized by the Association of Cultural Economics International (ACEI). The conference brings together a diverse range of scholars and practitioners from around the world that share an interest in research into the economic aspects of the arts and culture.

The conference will be held in person, starting on Tuesday, June 24th and ending on Friday, June 27th. Paper abstracts can be submitted by February 1st, 2025. Find out more about the event here.

Over the next five years, Professor Bert Weckhuysen from Utrecht University will investigate how colorants in plastic bottles can be recycled more effectively. During the recycling process, colorants in plastics are often lost — a missed opportunity, according to Weckhuysen. "Colorants and other additives are precisely what give plastic bottles their value. We aim to find a way to recover and reuse these substances."

For this research, Weckhuysen has been awarded a grant from the Circular Plastics NL initiative, funded by the Dutch National Growth Fund. Learn more about this project.

Artificial intelligence allows researchers to better understand and model the complex climate system in ways that were not possible before. In a new article, researchers including Henk Dijkstra, Professor of Dynamical Oceanography at Utrecht University, show that artificial intelligence can help to fill in gaps in climate data, making datasets larger, more complete, and globally consistent.

Read more about the article here.