The RUG had a budget of 166,000 euros for all the promotion around the Nobel Prize. That money paid not just for cake, but also for a special newspaper edition, flags for the Zernike campus, and video recordings of Feringa’s appearances.
The journey to Stockholm, where the chemist was awarded the golden medal under the watchful eye of several employees, was not paid for with that budget, says RUG spokesperson Gernant Deekens. Nor was the nano car, the model that is currently located at the Broerplein for all to see. ‘That was an initiative by Marketing Groningen and they paid for it’, says Deekens.
The party may have cost a pretty penny, but there is almost no better PR a university can have. The RUG has set up a website for anyone who would like to relive the celebrations.
Selfie met Ben Feringa en familie en vrienden bij de Nobel-receptie @NobelPrize @univgroningen pic.twitter.com/g5UQjgCFLH
— Elmer Sterken (@elmersterken) December 9, 2016