April is full of announcements:

• The UA now has a Data Privacy Officer: our very own Pauline Veenendaal!

• We have a Research Ethics Committee!

• We have the PhD defence of Amber van Veghel taking place at the UA!

See below for more information:

Data Privacy Officer: Pauline Veenendaal

Pauline Veenendaal is now the UA’s Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E), becoming the UA’s first Data Privacy Officer! Currently Pauline is on holidays, but when she is back (May 4) she is ready to answer all your data privacy related questions!

Research Ethics Committee

The University of Aruba Research Ethics Committee (REC) has been installed!

This committee assesses research proposals by UA researchers (staff and students) for which an ethics clearance is requested, for example, by the research funder or a journal/publisher.

UA researchers can find out more about the procedure via the StOnE page (“Research Ethics Application”), or join the information session on May 4, 1-2 pm in the MC Chapel. Anyone can find out more about the Ethics Guidelines and the Ethics protocol on our repository!

If you already have questions or seek advice, please contact ethics@ua.aw.

Research Highlight: PhD defence Amber van Veghel

We are happy to invite you to the public PhD defence of Amber van Veghel's thesis titled: “The environmental impact and research characteristics of food systems in small island contexts: Case studies on food imports and a scoping review in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao (Dutch Caribbean)”.

Amber van Veghel started her PhD thesis in the SISSTEM program in 2020 and was a lecturer in the SISSTEM program from 2020 - 2024. She moved back to Curacao in 2024 and is visiting the University of Aruba to celebrate this special milestone together.

Register here

• April 21, 2026 (Tuesday)

• 09:00 AM AST SHARP! (doors open 08:30 AM)

• University of Aruba – LSB Aula / Online attendance possible

In this multidisciplinary work, Amber van Veghel used life cycle assessment to quantify the environmental impact of food imports (such as vegetables) and made detailed calculations on sea and air transport. Read a popular summary (Dutch and English) here.

Research Highlight: Amber van Veghel & Salys Sultan

A summary in Dutch, English, Papiamento and Spanish is now available for the study by Amber van Veghel and Dr. Salys Sultan on our repository!

This study examines the carbon footprint (from farm until
arrival at the supermarket in Aruba) of five commonly imported vegetables: potatoes, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and green beans.

Reminder: R workshop for SSPS users - waiting list sign up

Note that we are currently working with a waiting list for this workshop! This means that we can’t guarantee a spot, but by registering you may still have a chance to attend and you’ll be notified about future events!

The Dutch Caribbean Digital Competence Network (DCDC-Network) will organize a beginner workshop on R (a programming language) particularly for those who are currently using SPSS for their work. 

This is a hands-on workshop that builds on what you already know from SPSS to get you productive in R. No programming experience required. By the end, you will be running analyses, creating publication-quality visualizations, and working in a fully reproducible workflow.

For more detailed information about the schedule and content of the workshop, please see the DCDC website.

Places for this workshop are limited, so please sign up for 1 or 2 days via the registration form! 

• When: 22 + 24 April (9:00 - 16:00)

• Where: University of Aruba, MC Chapel

• Who: UA staff, IPA, students or anyone not from the University that would be interested to attend!

If you would like to know more about the DCDC Network but are unable to attend this workshop, you can always reach out to Esther (esther.plomp@ua.aw) or Rendell (rendell.dekort@ua.aw)!

Online Workshop and Training events

• The Digital Research Academy is organizing a free online workshop on 21 April, 8:00-9:30 AM: Scholarly Publishing 101: Hands-on Publishing Fundamentals Workshop.

• the eScienceCenter is organizing a free online training on Building Better Research Software. Get up early (3:30 - 7 AM) to improve the sustainability of your software in four sessions!

• Sage is organizing a webinar on Creating Engaging Poster Presentations on 29 April, 12 PM.

• On 30 April DANS is organizing a workshop on data sharing, from 5-6 AM.

Event: Labor security for the Aruban youth

Later today we will hear from Rynall Kock about youth labor security in Aruba, focusing on income protection, voice representation, and labor market security. We hope to see you at the UA from 6:30-8:00 PM!

Event: Fifteen years Stichting Ranco

Stichting Rancho is hosting a full-day symposium, Roots, Pathways & Future, on 20 April at the University of Aruba. This event brings together historians, legal scholars, heritage specialists, educators, and community voices for a day of reflection, dialogue, and forward-thinking action on Afro-Aruban heritage. Registration is needed to attend.