The programme started with an opening address by Louise Gunning-Schepers, President of the Executive Board UvA-HvA. In her introduction, she argued that Europe is no longer a source of debate for the academic world. The number of academic publications with international co-authors continues to grow, just like the European budget for knowledge and innovation. The Horizon 2020 programme which is set to be launched will have a total budget of 80 billion euros. She said, ‘The Netherlands received 3.4 billion euros from the previous programme. In terms of percentage, this exceeded the Dutch contribution. So we are net recipients in an academic sense and we want this to continue.’

In his lecture, ‘Amsterdam in the world: International cooperation pays', Stan Bentvelsen, UvA professor of Large Hadron Collider Physics, spoke about the role of international cooperation in the particle accelerator at CERN. Mayor of Amsterdam Eberhard van der Laan spoke about the international appeal of Amsterdam.

The band The specific gravity of rock, featuring dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences Prof. Edward de Haan on rhythm guitar, provided a musical interlude.