astronomy

Gijs Kuenen

Gijs Kuenen is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Gijs Kuenen rather than just read about it. In short: Johannes Gijsbrecht Kuenen (born 9 December 1940, Heemstede) is a Dutch microbiologist who is professor emeritus at the Delft University of Technology and a visiting scientist at the University of Southern California. His research is influenced by, and a contribution to, the scientific tradition of the Delft School of Microbiology.

Key takeaways

Gijs Kuenen belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Gijs Kuenen to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gijs Kuenen from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Johannes Gijsbrecht Kuenen (born 9 December 1940, Heemstede) is a Dutch microbiologist who is professor emeritus at the Delft University of Technology and a visiting scientist at the University of Southern California. His research is influenced by, and a contribution to, the scientific tradition of the Delft School of Microbiology. Kuenen studied at the University of Groningen, where he received both his Doctorandus degree and in 1972 his Doctorate (PhD) under the supervision of Professor Dr. Hans Veldkamp. The title of his thesis was ‘‘Colourless sulphur bacteria from Dutch tidal mudflats’’. After a short post-doc at the University of California in Los Angeles (USA), he returned as a senior lecturer to Groningen. In 1980, he moved to Delft to become the 4th Professor of Microbiology (succeeding M.W. Beijerinck and A.J. Kluyver) at Delft University of Technology. Kuenen's initial research interests were (the application of) bacteria involved in the natural sulfur cycle and yeast physiology and metabolism. His later interest in the (eco)physiology of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria has led a.o. to the discovery of the bacteria within the phylum Planctomycetota that perform the Anammox process. In addition, his research has been focussed on (halo) alkaliphilic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria from soda lakes. Gijs Kuenen retired in 2005 but remains active in science.

Awards In 2004 Gijs Kuenen became a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, In 2005 he was elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. In 2006 he received the Jim Tiedje Award for his outstanding contribution to microbial ecology at the 11th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology in Vienna and in 2007 he was awarded the Procter & Gamble Award in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. For his contribution to the founding of the education Life Science and Technology (Delft University of Technology and Leiden University) in 2005 he received an honorary membership of Study Association LIFE.

Named after Kuenen One of the five known anammox genera, with the single member Kuenenia stuttgartiensis, has been named after Kuenen. The Kuenen lab had named the first discovered species Brocadia anammoxidans, after the company Gist-Brocades (now DSM Gist), for which Kuenen did consulting work and in which wastewater the bacteria was discovered.

References van Caulil G. (2006) Anammox, the cleaning creature that could not exist; Beijerinck, Kluyver, Kuenen - A goodbye to a remarkable microbiologist, Delft Outlook 2006.1 The anammox online resource: www.anammox.com la Rivière JWM. (2004) The Delft School of Microbiology in historical perspective. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 71:3-13 Kuenen JG. (2008) Anammox bacteria: from discovery to application. Nature Reviews Microbiology 6:320-326 Sorokin DY. & Kuenen JG. (2005) "Chemolithotrophic haloalkaliphiles from soda lakes". FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 52:287-295 van de Graaf AA., Mulder A., de Bruijn P., Jetten MS., Robertson LA., Kuenen JG. (1995) Anaerobic oxidation of ammonium is a biologically mediated process. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 61:1246-1251

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gijs Kuenen

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gijs Kuenen claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Gijs Kuenen before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Gijs Kuenen ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Gijs Kuenen

In research: Gijs Kuenen appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Gijs Kuenen in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Gijs Kuenen is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1940 births, Academic staff of the Delft University of Technology, Academic staff of the University of Groningen, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gijs Kuenen outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Gijs Kuenen in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gijs Kuenen means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Gijs Kuenen out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gijs Kuenen in simple terms?

Why does Gijs Kuenen matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Gijs Kuenen?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Gijs Kuenen.