Economist Jorgo Goossens and historians Lotte Jensen and Adriaan Duiveman are in the running for the Klokhuis Science Prize. The prize will be awarded on 8 March during a special children’s afternoon at the InScience film festival in Nijmegen. Children can do all kinds of experiments there and vote on ten research projects, including Goossens’s research on pensions and Jensen and Duiveman’s research on disasters. An episode of Klokhuis will be made with the winner.
The aim of the Klokhuis Science Prize is to familiarise a broad and young audience with scientific research in the Netherlands. On 8 March, ten nominated scientists will present their research and children will be able to conduct experiments and ask all their questions. They can also vote for their favourite research project - but the polls are already open.
Pension or sweet
This year, two projects from Radboud University have been nominated for the prize. Jorgo Goossens looks at pensions and how people make certain choices and what risks they are willing to take. Goossens: ’Of course, these preferences vary greatly from person to person. We also see that the choices people make can even change from day to day, for example when there is unnerving news such as new coronavirus figures.’ For the Klokhuis Science Prize, he lets children choose between one sweet guaranteed now, or an uncertain number of sweets later (it could be seven, but it could also be zero). In the latter case, the wheel they spin determines the number of sweets. ’I’m curious to see whether children’s decision-making differs greatly from that of adults.’
And this is how you explain it to children:
How often do you think about your pension each day? Probably never, or perhaps only when your grandfather or grandmother retires and you have to attend another boring party. Jorgo still has many years of work ahead of him (about 30) before he retires, but he thinks about it every day. ’I’m especially curious to see whether people are willing to take a bit of a risk when choosing a particular type of pension.’
Here’s how it works: suppose you can choose between one guaranteed sweet now, or spinning a wheel later where you have a chance of winning seven sweets - but also zero sweets. Some children choose option 1, but others are a little more daring and take a risk by choosing option 2. ’It may be the case,’ says Jorgo, ’that you end up with zero sweets. That’s a scary choice to make.’
Now, with your pension, you won’t take a risk and maybe end up with zero euros. ’But still, some people choose very differently: some prefer to have less money now if it’s a safer choice than maybe having more money later.’ Jorgo looks at how we can distribute pensions for elderly people in such a way that everyone is happy.
What would you choose? A certain sweet now, or maybe zero sweets later (but maybe also seven)?
Disasters then and now
Lotte Jensen and Adriaan Duiveman look at how people used to deal with disasters and how they processed the events emotionally after a disaster. Duiveman: ’People get a lot out of the books and songs that are written after a disaster, such as the North Sea flood. But all kinds of solidarity actions also help. Sharing what such a disaster causes can strengthen a community.’ Jensen adds that a shared disaster can sometimes even shape a country’s identity. ’A catastrophe can create a sense of unity.’
For the Klokhuis Science Prize, children can put together their "cultural emergency kit" with Jensen and Duiveman: what would you take with you if you had to leave your home in the event of a disaster and you only had one spot left in your suitcase for, say, music or a book?
And this is how you explain it to children:
In 1953, a large area of the Netherlands was flooded. More than 1,800 people died during this flood disaster. ’That was obviously very sad for a lot of people,’ says Adriaan. He studies the days, months and years following events such as the flood disaster. ’I mainly look at how people help and support each other after a disaster. And what we can learn from that.’
1953 is a long way back, but even today, many terrible things happen in the world. Think of floods, earthquakes or plane crashes. Adriaan: ’Every day, terrible things happen. If we know how people dealt with disasters in the past, it might help us today if something terrible happens to us.’
’His colleague Lotte discovered, for example, that people benefit greatly from the stories told about disasters, for example in books or songs. ’It offers people comfort,’ Lotte explains. ’You may recognise this: if you experience something terrible at school, for example, it can be nice to write it down or talk about it with other people.’
But these stories not only offer comfort, they also warn the next generation about dangers. Even decades or even centuries after a disaster. Adriaan: ’History has taught us that we must now do everything we can to prevent disasters.’
All children can vote until 8 March at 3.30 p.m. for their favourite researcher for the Klokhuis Science Prize.