biology

Kees Weijer

Kees Weijer is a biology 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 Kees Weijer rather than just read about it. In short: Kees Weijer is a professor of Developmental Physiology and the Head of Systems Biology at the School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee. Education Weijer acquired all of his degrees from Utrecht University (Netherlands): from 1970 to 1985 a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), a Master of Science (M.Sc.), and a PhD in Biology.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Kees Weijer is a professor of Developmental Physiology and the Head of Systems Biology at the School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee.

Education Weijer acquired all of his degrees from Utrecht University (Netherlands): from 1970 to 1985 a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), a Master of Science (M.Sc.), and a PhD in Biology. In 1991, Weijer received his ‘’Habilitation’’.

Career Weijer worked as an assistant in the Zoological Institute of LMU Munich in Germany during 1982 and 1996. During this time, he was promoted from assistant to lecturer, then to senior lecturer. He has worked at the University of Dundee since 1996 and was initially appointed as senior lecturer in the previous Department of Anatomy and Physiology. In 2008, he was promoted to a principal lecturer.

Research Weijer’s main research is focused on understanding cell-to-cell signalling and its relationship with cell behaviour (i.e., differentiation, division, shape change and movement). Most of his research that is based around cell movement is conducted using the model organisms of the chick embryo and the amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. He has helped to develop an enhanced microscopy technique to make it possible to visualise individual cells of the primitive streak in embryonic development. He was also one of the developers of the Active Vertex Model (AVM), a computerised model to visualise how collective behaviour emerges in tissue cells.

Honours Wolfson Research Medal, the Royal Society, 2002 Elected Fellow, Royal Society of Edinburgh, 2004 Elected Member, European Molecular Biology Organization, 2023

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kees Weijer

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kees Weijer claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, 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 Kees Weijer 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 Kees Weijer 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 Kees Weijer

In research: Kees Weijer appears in biology 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 Kees Weijer 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: Kees Weijer is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Academic staff of LMU Munich, Academics of the University of Dundee, Cell biologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kees Weijer 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 Kees Weijer in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kees Weijer 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 Kees Weijer out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kees Weijer in simple terms?

Kees Weijer is a professor of Developmental Physiology and the Head of Systems Biology at the School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee. Education Weijer acquired all of his degrees from Utrecht University (Netherlands): from 1970 to 1985 a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), a Master of Science (M.Sc…

Why does Kees Weijer matter?

Because it connects several biology 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 Kees Weijer?

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 Kees Weijer.