‘Science students from Anton de Kom University can come and study in the Faculty of Science for one or two semesters’, explains Emeritus Professor of Mathematics Jan van Mill. The Aïda Paalman-de Miranda Fund was set up in memory of ‘Ietje’ Paalman-de Miranda. She was one of the first two female professors of Mathematics in the Netherlands and died in 2020.  

‘Science students from Anton de Kom University can come and study in the Faculty of Science for one or two semesters’, explains Emeritus Professor of Mathematics Jan van Mill. The Aïda Paalman-de Miranda Fund was set up in memory of ‘Ietje’ Paalman-de Miranda. She was one of the first two female professors of Mathematics in the Netherlands and died in 2020.  

At the age of 17, Aïda Paalman-de Miranda travelled alone by boat from Suriname to the Netherlands to study mathematics. At the time, she was the only woman in the UvA Mathematics Institute – where she later became the first female professor. Paalman-de Miranda had a passion for education and inspired many students. Jan van Mill, who, like Paalman-de Miranda, specialises in topology, knew her well. ‘We collaborated many times, and supervised four PhD candidates together. She was extremely good at her subject, but very modest.’ After her death, it wasn’t long before a call arose in mathematics circles to organise something to honour her memory. It started with a one-day conference, and gradually the idea emerged for a biography and a portrait. In collaboration with Eric Opdam (another former colleague of Aïda Paalman-de Miranda), Marieke Kranenburg (then-manager of the Mathematics Institute) and Martine de Wit of the UvA, Van Mill took responsibility for organising these projects. 

Inspiring success story 

As Van Mill explains, after a while Chris Zaal (Director of the College of Sciences) and Drona Kandhai (professor by special appointment of Applied Informatics in the Faculty of Science and Head of Quantative Analytics at ING Bank) also came on board. ‘Drona is from Suriname too, and had had the idea for a while of setting up a Named Endowment Fund to provide opportunities for Surinamese students to come and study in the Netherlands for short periods, but didn’t have the funds to do it himself. Then he proposed setting up a fund in Ietje’s name, and we were instantly extremely enthusiastic. Connecting her name to a Named Endowment Fund like this immediately provides an inspiring success story to present to the outside world!’  

Reaching out to the business sector  

Eric Kuisch (also of Surinamese origin), who obtained his doctorate from the UvA Faculty of Science, is now Chief Operating Officer at Eurofiber and has also become involved with the Fund. ‘Kandhai and Kuisch have helped us reach out to the business sector, where we’ve been looking for sponsors for the scholarships. We’ve just had our first party from the Dutch business community express an interest, and we’re now in discussions with them.’  

The first two students will arrive at the UvA in September 2023: Mathematics student Hamzah Nojosemito, who wants to spend his time at the UvA learning more about modern mathematics, and Physics student Shofar Sno, who, during the Physics Cup competition in Estonia, managed to win third place out of 1,000 participants.

Would you like to support talented students?  

Contribute to the development of young talent and donate to the Aïda Paalman de Miranda Fund! Get in touch with Juliëtte Nieuwland at j.m.m.nieuwland@uva.nl or 06-28311768. Or donate easily through this link.