UARC Newsletter March 2026
In March the Research Center was involved in multiple workshops! We co-organized a Wikidata workshop with Wikimedia (Ginelly Quandt), kickstarted the Aruba Open Science Community and organized a workshop on proposal writing. In collaboration with the Dutch Caribbean Digital Competence Network we continue the workshops in April! But first the Research Center will take a break in the upcoming weeks and not respond to emails between 6-10 April.
R workshop for SSPS users
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.a)!
Research Highlight: PhD defense Amber van Veghel
Please save the date for the public PhD defence of Amber van Veghel on 21 April at the University of Aruba! An official invitation will follow via the UARC LinkedIn page in the coming weeks. The 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)”, was conducted within the SISSTEM program (University of Aruba & KU Leuven). In this multidisciplinary study, life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to quantify the environmental impact of food imports to Aruba (such as vegetable imports). Through a scoping review, an overview was made of existing research on food production, supply, and consumption in the ABC islands.
PhD Vacancy: HERITOUR
The HERITOUR project has an open PhD vacancy! This PhD examines Representation and regeneration of heritage and tourism economies in small scale insular and geographically remote communities in European Oversees Countries and Territories as part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network project titled “HERITOUR - Enhancing collaborative synergies between Cultural HERItage and TOURism”. Apply before 30 April!
Past workshop: Wikidata
On 3 March we co-organized a workshop on Wikidata together with the Wikipedia on Aruba team, led by Ginelly Quandt! We had a productive workshop and have added loads of information related to the University of Aruba, and enjoyed a (vegan) pastechi!
Research Highlight: UA Conference on shaping human rights
Brechtje Huiskes and Chun Luk are organzing a one-day multidisciplinary conference on 29 May 2026 exploring the influence of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in the Caribbean. Save the date or contact echr75@ua.aw for more information!
Past Event: Open Science Community Aruba
On 11 March the UA community came together for the first time as an Open Science Community Aruba! During our kick-off meeting we discussed priorities for the current participants - which may still need to be updated as more members join. Our current priorities are:
Open Access of research articles/books
Open Data, with potentially a training or guidelines/1 pagers as a starter (the DCDC-Network is working on this!)
Open Communication that ensures research results translate to the broader Aruban community
Open Software, particularly with a focus on moving away from closed/expensive license subscriptions to openly available use such as R (instead of SPSS) or Qualcoder (instead of Nvivo)
Open Education, because not everyone at the UA is involved in research!
We will organize another meeting before the vacation period (~June). If you are interested in learning more about the Open Science Community Aruba, please contact Esther (esther.plomp@ua.aw).
Past UARC Workshop: Proposal Writing
On 25 March we organized a workshop on proposal writing (slides). This proposal was organized around the NWO Caribbean Research – PhD Scholarships 2025 call but was open for anyone interested in learning more about proposal writing. The Research Center is looking forward to supporting the candidates still in the run for this NWO call in the upcoming period!
Research Highlight: PAMEC 2026 - Diego Acevedo
SISSTEM assistant professor Dr. Diego Acevedo has been elected Vice-President of the Pan-American Marine Energy Association (PAMEC), the leading organization bringing together research on ocean energy across the Americas. The PAMEC 2026 Conference will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from April 10–15, 2026. Ocean energy research is essential to strengthening resilient and sustainable energy systems for the future of islands.
Research Highlight: fourth seminar on forensic reporting in the Caribbean - Ruth Bonnevalle and Eric Mijts
Experts from across the Caribbean recently gathered at the University of Aruba for the fourth seminar on forensic reporting in the Caribbean, focusing on the role of psychiatric and psychological assessments in accessing forensic mental health care.
Through presentations and discussions, scholars and professionals explored key themes including multilingualism (or meertaligheid) in Caribbean societies (Dr. Eric Mijts), the new criminal code of Aruba and it’s implications for the forensic field (Dr. Ruth Bonnevalle-Kok), and the importance of careful forensic reporting in judicial decision-making.
This seminar series, organized in collaboration with partners such as the University of Curaçao and University of Utrecht, continues to strengthen knowledge exchange and cooperation between the fields of law, science, and forensic care across the region!
Research Highlight: Brechtje Huiskes and Hannah Meijer
Brechtje Huiskes and Hannah Meijer wrote a book chapter titled: “The "Status Aparte" of the Aruban Advice Committee for Administrative Appeal: Solution or Problem?” While the whole chapter is only available in Dutch, summaries are also available in English, Papiamento and Spanish on our repository!
Research highlight: Francis Laclé
As part of his PhD project, Francis Laclé has worked on a software package that is now available via the UA GitHub Repository! Congratulations to Francis for publishing the UA’s first pip install package: GBDT-MO: Gradient Boosted Decision Tree for Multiple Outputs!
Research highlight: Clementia Eugene
