The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded six Utrecht University researchers a €1.5-million grant, enabling them to develop their own research group in five years' time. In total, 31 leading Dutch researchers have been awarded a Vici grant, of which 19% come from Utrecht University.
Of all the Vici grants awarded during the 2002-2011 period, 17% (51 of the 293) went to Utrecht University researchers. Utrecht University has so far outperformed all other universities and institutes (in both absolute and relative terms) in being awarded the Vici grant.
Leading researchers
The NWO's Vici grant goes to researchers with extensive experience and who have developed an innovative area of research. They are at the top of their field. In addition, they have demonstrated their ability to act as coaches for young researchers.
Veni, Vidi, Vici
The Vici grant is one of three awarded as part of the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme. The others are the Veni grant (for recent PhD graduates) and the Vidi grant (for experienced PhD researchers). The Innovational Research Incentives Scheme targets researchers who aim to conduct challenging, pioneering research.
The UU Vici grant winners are:
Unravelling the complexity of ALS
Prof. Leonard van den Berg - UMC Utrecht, Neurology
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control the muscles. The DNA, environment and lifestyle of people with ALS will be compared with those of healthy people in order to determine the cause of ALS.
An extra dimension to heredity
Prof. René Ketting - Utrecht University / Hubrecht Institute
All embryos receive DNA from the father and from the mother. In addition, the new individual also receives specific information on how to use this DNA. The biochemists will research the mechanisms behind this fascinating extra dimension of heredity.
Fair share
Dr Susanne Lens - UMC Utrecht, Medical Oncology
The distribution of each unit of DNA (i.e. chromosomes) is often unbalanced in dividing cancer cells. The researchers will unravel the workings of a molecular machine which ensures a fair distribution of chromosomes in healthy cells.
Counting cells
Prof. Alexander van Oudenaarden - Utrecht University / Hubrecht Institute
Protein synthesis involves two key steps: transcription (when the mRNA copy of a strand of DNA is made) and translation (when the mRNA molecule is decoded to produce a protein). This research aims to develop new high-resolution (i.e. single molecule) technology to facilitate the precise quantification of the transcription and translation process in intact cells.
Nanoparticles in liquids and liquids in nanostructures
Dr René van Roij - Utrecht University, Institute for Theoretical Physics
When in a liquid (e.g. salt water), nanoparticles measuring between a thousandth and a millionth of a millimetre can spontaneously rearrange themselves into a three-dimensional structure, such as a crystalline structure. The researchers will study the complex interaction between nanoparticles and liquids in order to predict or explain the crystalline structures formed. Liquids in porous materials, which are of direct relevance to the generation of energy from both freshwater and salt water, will also be studied.
Fundamental material
Prof. Raimond Snellings - Utrecht University, Institute for Subatomic Physics
Approximately ten microseconds after the Big Bang, with temperatures reaching a billion degrees, the universe entered a new phase. That's when the quark-gluon plasma condensed and formed the matter which now surrounds us (i.e. protons and neutrons). This research to study this form of fundamental material and the associated transition into a new phase will be conducted at CERN, where hundreds of Big Bangs are created every second. More about Snellings' research.
Further information