Young UG researchers awarded fourteen VENI grants
Young UG researchers awarded fourteen VENI grants
Door Christien Boomsma
By Christien Boomsma
Christien Boomsma
More than 1,100 researchers applied for funding from the NWO talent programme. The financier awarded 14 percent of all applications with a grant. More women had their application accepted than men (17 and 12 percent, respectively).
At the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE), Veronica Allen will study how the molecules that led to life on earth arrived here. She will track these molecules as they exist in young star systems, using radio telescopes. Nichole Barry studies the faint glow of interstellar hydrogen by combining software from the Netherlands, Australia, and the United States in order to catch a glimpse of the earliest galaxies.
Networks
Elise Marie Jerschabek Laetz studies sea slugs. They can do without food for extended periods of time, switching to photosynthesis to avoid starvation, stealing functional chloroplasts from algae. Zoe Christoff at the department of artificial intelligence looks at the impact of social networks on democracy.
Eelco Tromer, who currently works at Cambridge, will return to the UG for his project, focusing on developing new malaria therapies in Cambridge. Ivana Drienovská is starting a project in unnatural amino acids.
At the arts faculty, Jana Declerq’s research focuses on the communication concerning chronic pain.
Forecasts
The Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) did well, too. Tom Boot will study econometric models that will help with accurate forecasting in times of crisis. Christiaan van der Kwaak also studies financial crises: he wants to know if policies developed to mitigate crises can actually generate new ones.
Their FEB colleague Björn Mitzinneck looks at how municipalities, companies, and citizens can work together to help in the energy transition.
At religious sciences, Brenda Mathijssen wants to know how various cultures deal with ‘green’ death practices like natural burial.
Depression
The UMCG got three VENI grants. Claudia van Borkulo studies depression. She wants to develop an improved method to measure its symptoms. Geneticist Patrick Deelen wants to use genetic information about common diseases to predict which genes cause rare diseases. Finally, Anouk van der Hoorn wants to improve proton therapy for brain tumours to ensure it causes less damage to the surrounding healthy brain tissue.