38 Facts About Ronald Plasterk

Ronald Plasterk has a PhD degree in biology, specialising in molecular genetics.

Ronald Plasterk was appointed professor at the University of Amsterdam in September 2018.

Ronald Plasterk then studied biology at the Leiden University and economics at the University of Amsterdam.

Ronald Plasterk obtained his propaedeutic diploma in economics in the same year.

Ronald Plasterk did genetic research into flatworms for his thesis entitled "Inversion of the G segment of bacteriophage Mu: analysis of a genetic switch".

Ronald Plasterk studied Caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode that is used as a model organism.

Ronald Plasterk combined this with a position as professor in developmental genetics at Utrecht University from May 2000.

Since 2001 Ronald Plasterk has been a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Ronald Plasterk's research was in the area of genetics and functional genomics.

Ronald Plasterk focused on the mechanism and regulation of DNA transposition, and on the mechanisms of RNA interference and microRNAs, including the functions of RNAi as a natural defense against the uncontrolled duplication of transposons.

An admirer of Prime Minister Joop den Uyl, Ronald Plasterk joined the Labour Party in 1977 as a student.

Ronald Plasterk served on the Municipal Council of Leiden from 11 October 1982 until 1 September 1984 while a doctoral researcher.

Ronald Plasterk served as an advisor of the national convention, a think tank of the Dutch government on government reform.

Ronald Plasterk helped write the Labour Party's election program for the November 2006 general election, when his party received the second-highest vote total.

Ronald Plasterk ended his scientific career, considering it impossible to leave research for several years and then hope to reintegrate.

One of the solutions Ronald Plasterk considered was cutting the allowance for students and raising the fees for universities.

Ronald Plasterk was strongly criticized by the students unions for his proposals and by his coalition partners CDA and CU and the leftwing opposition parties SP and GroenLinks.

Ronald Plasterk successfully ran for the Member of the House of Representatives in the June 2010 general election as the Labour's Party third candidate, taking office on 17 June 2010.

When Job Cohen announced he was stepping down as leader of the Labour Party and as its parliamentary leader in the House following increasing criticism on his leadership, Ronald Plasterk announced his candidacy to succeed him.

Ronald Plasterk did not succeed to merge the provinces of North Holland, Flevoland, and Utrecht and to reduce the memberships of provincial councils and executives.

Ronald Plasterk had to defend himself in front of the House of Representatives, when it was concluded the phone tapping had been performed by the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service.

Ronald Plasterk took a medical leave between 29 June and 16 September 2016 during which Minister for Housing and the Central Government Sector Stef Blok served as acting minister.

On 10 September 2016, Ronald Plasterk announced his retirement from national politics and that he would not stand for the election of 2017.

Ronald Plasterk started as a columnist in the Intermediair, a weekly magazine oriented at young professionals and academics, in 1995.

Ronald Plasterk continued these columns until 2007 when he became minister.

Ronald Plasterk opposed the constitution because he considered that it did not clearly codify the responsibilities of the European Union.

Ronald Plasterk felt that it laid too much emphasis on the free market.

Ronald Plasterk's convictions moved to the political right in columns for De Telegraaf after his retirement from politics.

Ronald Plasterk wrote that the Labour Party had lost touch with regular citizens, and he opined that the state of Dutch nature was not deteriorating during the nitrogen crisis in the Netherlands.

Ronald Plasterk first strongly criticized the belief on intellectual grounds, calling it a "poor and irritating phenomenon", but later claimed that it was a mix of atheism and nostalgia, and much more sympathetic "than the idea of a cruel God that wants this misery".

Ronald Plasterk became chief scientific officer of myTomorrows, a company that connects patients with experimental treatments.

Ronald Plasterk acknowledged that he mostly kept doing research for his own company with the exception of sporadic lectures and supervising some internships.

Ronald Plasterk called the statement "muddled" and denied having withheld details.

The NRC article noted that as Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Ronald Plasterk had successfully worked on a system to have researchers and universities share in profits resulting from their findings.

Additionally, a criminal complaint for economic offenses and falsification of documents was filed by an attorney, who argued Ronald Plasterk had wrongfully referred to his company as a microbusiness in 2022.

Ronald Plasterk withdrew himself as a candidate for prime minister on 20 May 2024, stating that the public perception of the accusations would hinder his ability to function effectively in the role.

Ronald Plasterk is a member of the Royal Christian Oratory Association "Excelsior" in Amsterdam, an evangelical choir in which he sings as a tenor.

Ronald Plasterk participates in the yearly recital of the Mattheus Passion of Johann Sebastian Bach of Excelsior.