The Lorentz Prize is an art award awarded every three years to an employee of TNO, in addition to a work of art in glass and bronze, and consists of a sum of €100,000 to be spent freely on research.
Steve Van Buren: The world’s first professor of “missing data”
Stef van Buuren is a world-renowned authority on the analysis of datasets with missing data. Since 2015, he has been the world’s first Professor of Missing Data, also affiliated with Utrecht University. As Head of Statistics in the Healthy Living and Work Unit, Van Buuren makes continuous efforts to translate his research findings into practical applications and tools and to make them available to both professionals and healthcare providers. Therefore, the importance of his work is of particular value, on both the scientific and social levels.
The importance of applied research
In his speech, Minister Dijkgraaf also stressed the importance of applied research as an indispensable link in the entire chain of scientific research, from basic to applied and practice-oriented, in order to confront many societal challenges.
The Minister described Steve Van Buren’s work as very valuable. “He has developed a widely used algorithm to deal effectively with missing data. So, on the one hand he serves science with tools, techniques and methods that can be used very widely, but on the other hand he also makes a social contribution to human health.” “All of us and children around the world in particular. It is precisely this combination that makes this a special contribution to science and society.”
