The Research Center kicked the new Academic year off with a workshop on Ethics and an Open Science Community Aruba meeting on Open Communication! We also have a busy October for you in the working, including another PhD defense this year: Jeltzlin Semerel!

Invitation: Defense Jeltzlin Semerel, 27 October

Please join us for the public PhD defense of Jeltzlin Semerel's thesis titled: “Valorization of Aloe vera processing waste”.

Aloe vera is a well-known medicinal plant due to the gel component that is widely used in the cosmetics and medicinal industry. However, less is known about the processing waste generated during gel extraction. This research focuses on finding chemical methods to valorize two types of Aloe vera processing waste, namely the latex (yellow bitter sap) and the leaf skin.

The defense consists of a public-friendly presentation of 40 minutes, followed by questions from the examination committee and the audience. Afterward, the examination committee deliberates about the outcome of the defense.

Jeltzlin Semerel started her PhD thesis in the SISSTEM program in 2021 and has been a lecturer in the SISSTEM program since 2021. You can learn more about her on the repository.

✅ Register here

• 📅 October 27, 2026 (Tuesday)

• 📅 12:00 PM AST sharp! (doors open 11:30 AM)

• 📅 Duration: at least 2 hours, followed by a short reception

• 📍University of Aruba – LSB Aula

• 📍Online attendance possible

UARC Workshop: Writing up your research (not) using GenAI

During these sessions, prof. dr. Lieve De Wachter will go into the practicalities of research writing using GenAI (or not!).

• When: 26 and 29 October 2026, 12-1:30 PM

• Where: University of Aruba, Room 2

• Who: UA staff and Research Associates

Registration is required - please fill out the short registration form.

Past UARC Events

UARC Research Ethics Workshop

On 1 September the UA community gathered to learn more about Research Ethics! Francis Laclé and Bart van Donselaar presented on their experiences with research projects and a research ethics course. Pauline Veenendaal took us through the UA Research Ethics Application process. Slides of the session are available - and any questions can always be sent to [email protected].

Open Science Community Aruba

The Open Science Community Aruba gathered on 14 September to learn more from the Center for Lifelong Learning’s Stephanie Buckley about how to communicate more openly. The group discussed how to promote research on social media and touched upon how to make research presentations more accessible. This topic will likely be explored in more depth in the next meeting! Interested in joining this community? Anyone based in Aruba interested in Open Science is welcome to join: Send an email to Esther ([email protected]) to get involved!

Call for Abstracts - Symposium Sustainable Island Futures IX

The Sustainable Island Futures IX takes place online on November 30, 2026. Graduate students, PhD candidates, and post-doctoral researchers are invited to submit abstracts on research design, contextualization of methodologies, theoretical frameworks or research outcomes on resource circularity, island metabolism, industrial ecology, sociometabolic research, islandness or on threats and opportunities that hinder or further sustainable development and resilience of small island states.

Please submit abstracts of max 250 words for 15 min presentations to [email protected] or via this form before 16 October.

Research Highlight: Dr. R.A. Bonnevalle-Kok

In the Dutch article ‘Modernisering van het strafproces in Aruba: tussen juridische concordantie en bestuurlijke realiteit’, Dr. R.A. Bonnevalle-Kok examines the differences between Aruban and Dutch criminal procedural law in light of the principle of concordance. A summary of the article in Dutch, English, Papiamento and Spanish is available on our Open Knowledge Repository!

You can also read her recent publications on ‘Het Wetboek van Strafvordering van Aruba 2024; een fair balance tussen rechtszekerheid en toekomstbestendigheid’ and ‘De voorlopige hechtenis in het nieuwe Arubaanse WvSv: efficiëntie versus EVRM-conformiteit’, or view a full list of publications on her ORCID.

Research highlight: Faculty of Law

After the great success of the Conference "Shaping Rights across Oceans" in May, the Faculty of Law will organize another event to bring human rights in Aruba into the spotlight! Join this Zoom link to join online (onsite registration is at capacity)!

Research highlight: Francis Lacle

Our very own Francis Laclé published a handy tool (Beamer-PDF-Presenter) for anyone that wants to use PDFs as a presentation in the classroom. Check it out yourself, and contributions/feedback are welcome!

Research Highlight: Dr. Salys Sultan & Dr. Eric Mijts

Dr. Salys Sultan and Dr. Eric Mijts joined the kick-off meeting of the JUST ART project in Groningen, the Netherlands (16-17 September 2026). Dr. Salys Sultan participated in a panel on what art can do for Climate Justice:

Research Highlight: Dr. Luc Alofs

Please join the presentation of a new CKN Report: Chinese Presence and Geopolitical Resilience in the Caribbean Parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, on 6 October, 9:30-11:00 AM. Dr. Luc Alofs is one of the speakers! Register for online or in-person attendance in the Netherlands.

Research Highlight: Liesje Proveyer

Liesje Proveyer spoke at the UNESCO Forum for Youth in the Era of AI, of which you can watch the recording (Liesje starting at 15 min):

External events: Code Anxiety Club

Code Anxiety Club events organized by the UK Data Service take place online from place from 08:30 – 09:00 AM.

• Connecting a GitHub repository to an IDE - Join the livestream on 6 October 2026

• An Introduction to APIs - join the livestream on 20 October 2026

• Introduction to the Command Line - join the livestream on 3 November 2026

• Package It Up: Installing Software and Libraries - join the livestream on 17 November 2026

• Getting started with Git: Version Control Basics - join the livestream on 1 December 2026