On Thursday 26 March 2026, the RIAS will host a Roosevelt Lecture by Ionica Smeets. The lecture, titled “How (Not) to Lie with Numbers,” will take place at the Town Hall in Middelburg from 16:30 to 18:00 (doors open at 16:00).
Ionica Smeets is a professor at Leiden University’s research group Science Communication and Society and chair of the board of The National Centre of Expertise on Science & Society of the Netherlands. She also writes a weekly science column for De Volkskrant and is widely known for making complex mathematics accessible to broad audiences.
In this lecture, Smeets examines how statistics shape public understanding and how they can mislead. She will discuss how data are produced, what numbers truly show (and conceal), and how we can interpret quantitative claims more critically and communicate uncertainty responsibly. After the lecture, there will be time for questions in English or Dutch.
The RIAS is also pleased to present the RIAS–UCR Sustainable Freedoms Essay Prize, including a €500 prize and certificate, to a UCR student for the best essay connecting environmental issues to human rights at the event.
For more detailed information, please read our invitation here.
To register for the event, click here.
