Sir Roger Penrose at the Faculty of Science and Engineering

The Faculty of Science and Engineering welcomes Sir Roger Penrose, emeritus Professor of Mathematics of the University of Oxford, for a two-day visit to Maastricht.

Sir Roger Penrose has done pioneering work in the domain of physics and mathematics. He won several awards for his work, among which the Wolf Prize in Physics together with Professor Stephen Hawking. However, his contribution to science spans many different disciplines and has even expanded into art, for example in the form of Penrose stairs found in the work of Dutch artist M.C. Escher.

Programme

Wednesday 23 January

14:00 - 16:00

Symposium ‘Physics and Mathematics @ Maastricht’
With special guest Sir Roger Penrose - hosted by Dr. Ronald Westra (DKE),

A bird’s-eye view of research in the domain of physics and mathematics at Maastricht University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering.

Speakers:

  • Dr. Gideon Koekoek (MSP)
  • Dr. Jacco de Vries (MSP)
  • Prof. Dr. Ralf Peeters (DKE)
  • Prof. Dr. Frank Thuijsman (DKE)

This event is by invitation only.

20:00 - 22:00

Studium Generale lecture by Sir Roger Penrose: Hawking Points?
Public lecture by Sir Roger Penrose.

Sir Roger Penrose will present powerful observational evidence of conformal cyclic cosmology (CCC). Penrose popularised this theory in his 2010 book Cycles of Time: An Extraordinary New View of the Universe.

More information

This event is open to all

Thursday 24 January

10:00 - 12:00

Interactive Q&A session with sir Roger Penrose
Hosted by Prof. Dr. Teun Dekker (UCM)

Interactive Q&A session with Sir Roger Penrose and students from various bachelor’s programmes. Together, they explore the boundaries between different disciplines: mathematics, philosophy, physics and artificial intelligence.

This event is by invitation only

Relevant links

Also read

  • Creating added value with biobased and circular materials

    On March 20, 2025, experts from the agricultural and chemical worlds gathered at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen for the Agro Meets Smart Materials meeting. The central question: how can agricultural crops and residual flows contribute to the development of sustainable, circular materials...

    photo collage of Chemelot images
  • Maastricht will host the 2026 World Conference on Computational Intelligence

    In 2026, three major conferences on computational intelligence will convene in Maastricht simultaneously. The IEEE World Conference on Computational Intelligence (IEEE WCCI) will be the world's largest technical event in computer science, focusing on applications such as artificial intelligence. 

    organisers of the 2026 IEEE WCCI world conference - photo by Jonathan Vos