x = independently organized TED event
Ideas Begin. Ideas End.
Ideas Return. Enter the Cycle:
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The
Cycle
TEDxVU
Amsterdam 2026
April 23
19.00
This year’s theme, The Cycle, explores the patterns and rhythms that shape our lives, from personal habits to global systems, and how meaningful change often happens gradually and repeatedly before we recognize it.
Join us for a night of live TEDx talks, new perspectives, and engaging conversations.
Speaker Lineup
Nehir Kirkgoz
Pi and the Cycles of Life​
Student Speaker
Nehir Kirkgoz is a second-year Computer Science Honours student at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Originally from Istanbul, she has lived in Amsterdam for the past nine years.
She is deeply fascinated by mathematics and the many ways it connects with everyday life. Nehir enjoys both learning and sharing knowledge, and believes that accessible education and sustained curiosity are essential drivers of innovation and long-term change.​
In her talk, Nehir explores π not only as a mathematical constant, but as a symbol of the cycles that shape our lives. Pi originates from one of the most fundamental forms in nature: the circle. It describes the ratio between a circle’s circumference and its diameter. No matter the circle’s size, this ratio remains constant, reflecting how different experiences and scales in life often share the same underlying patterns.
Circular motion surrounds us everywhere: wheels turning, clocks ticking, planets orbiting, even the rhythm of our breathing. These recurring patterns illustrate how humans move through time and experience the world in cycles. Through this perspective, π becomes more than a number. It represents continuity within change and invites reflection on renewal, growth, and the repeating patterns that shape individuals, communities, and humanity as a whole.
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Marie-Lou
The Human Cycle AI Is Revealing
Facilitator in Emotional & Relational Intelligence
Marie-Lou explores how we live fully and together in a complex world. Her work draws from psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and communication. She facilitates emotional and relational intelligence for leaders and teams, strengthening the human capacities that drive how teams think, decide, and collaborate.
She believes our high-tech world requires high-humanity, and that emotional and relational literacy is essential for the systems we’re building.​
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In her talk, Marie-Lou explores how artificial intelligence is not only transforming technology, but also revealing deeply human relational and emotional patterns that have long shaped our lives. What begins in the personal sphere does not stay there. These patterns become families, cultures, and systems, and AI is now amplifying them at scale.
She examines what happens when powerful technologies are built on underdeveloped relational foundations. As AI expands into how we work, decide, and even process emotions, the real question becomes not only what these systems can do, but what in us they are meeting and magnifying.
Marie-Lou argues that breaking this cycle requires more than information or innovation alone. It requires stronger human capacities: self-awareness, emotional literacy, better conversations, and the ability to relate with more maturity, responsibility, and depth. In this way, her talk is a call to invest not only in artificial intelligence, but just as seriously in human intelligence.
More speakers will be announced soon...
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More Than a Theme
The Cycle explores the rhythms, patterns, and evolving loops that shape our world, from the systems we build to the habits we fall into. In an era defined by rapid innovation and global uncertainty, The Cycle invites us to pause and examine how change truly happens: gradually, repeatedly, and often in ways we only recognize in hindsight.
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Why the Cycle ?
Some cycles break. Others evolve. Throughout The Cycle, we’re asked to observe, rethink, and rediscover the rhythms we’ve lost in the noise of acceleration. Progress isn’t linear; it bends, circles, and finds its own beginning. When we attune ourselves to these forgotten patterns, we find a deeper clarity and a more grounded path toward renewal.
What to
expect?
From AI reshaping our decision-making to biotech rediscovering the wisdom of natural ecosystems, from personal life transitions to global environmental feedback loops, this theme spans disciplines and invites storytellers, researchers, artists, activists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and dreamers to explore how cycles operate and how we might reimagine them.
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Join our networking drink afterwards and connect with the speakers and guests​​ ​
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Get inspired by talented individuals from diverse backgrounds
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Receive TEDxVU Amsterdam themed surprises
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Showcase your ideas and originality to a jury by delivering a 5 minute speech on a personally chosen topic of interest
Read more about what TEDx is and our TEDxVU Amsterdam collaboration here.
Follow us for more!
We’re excited to share a recap of the TEDxVU Amsterdam Student Pitch Night, where students took the stage to showcase their ideas and compete for the chance to earn a speaking spot at the main TEDxVU Amsterdam event in April.
Student Pitch Night 2026
recap is out.
Join Us as
Student
We’re excited to share a recap of the TEDxVU Amsterdam Student Pitch Night, where students took the stage to showcase their ideas and compete for the chance to earn a speaking spot at the main TEDxVU Amsterdam event in April.
Professional
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We are always eager to collaborate with experts from various backgrounds. Are you interested in sharing your ideas on the big stage and speaking at our next TEDxVU annual event? Contact us!
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​​​We are also always looking for collaborations with firms and organizations that would be interested in direct involvement with people from the TEDx VU Amsterdam community and local non-academic spectators. Our current sponsors can be found here.
The contact form can be found here.