SCIENCE HOOPS

An interactive theatre performance on research culture for the research community at AmsterdamUMC and Vrije Universiteit.

NOTE: This event is ONLY for researchers, research staff, early career researchers, and students at Vrije Universiteit and Amsterdam UMC.

How can we create a positive research culture - together? That’s the central question explored in the interactive theatre dialogue SCIENCE HOOPS. How do we navigate the many demands and expectations tied to academic careers? Where does the pressure in the system really come from? What influence do researchers actually have? And what do we need from one another to move forward?

SCIENCE HOOPS invites you to step into these questions—literally. This is not your typical theatre performance. It’s an engaging mix of storytelling, reflection, and experimentation. Actors bring to life real, often confronting, situations from the academic world—scenes that will challenge you to think about what truly matters in science.

And then, the real work begins. Your thoughts, questions, and concerns take centre stage. Together, we explore the dilemmas and possibilities of academic life. You don’t just watch -you participate. The audience helps shape the direction of the story. Through dialogue, shared experiences, and scenario play, we imagine new ways forward.

Our next plays will be on:

• 24th November 2025, 15:00 - 17:00 Theatre 2
• 8th December 2025, 15:00 - 17:00 Theatre 5

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SCIENCE HOOPS is created by theatremakers Mens in de Maak and the department of Ethics, Law and Medical Humanities AUMC; this performance is made possible with the support of RIOS (Centre for Research Integrity and Open Science at the VU Amsterdam) and the VU-department Institutional Affairs .