Newsflash Faculty of Science: Scheduling problems NS, American opioid crisis, and more

At Utrecht University’s Faculty of Science, we are committed to keeping you informed about the latest developments, breakthroughs, and achievements that shape our academic landscape. In this newsflash, you will find quick, bite-sized updates on a range of topics that we wish to share with you in addition to the other, more extensive articles in our newsfeed.

Roeland Berendsen wins FMC New Investigator Award

Biologist Roeland Berendsen has been awarded an FMC New Investigator Award. The award, granted by agricultural sciences company FMC, consists of an unrestricted $50,000 research grant. FMC awards the prize to “recognize outstanding early career professors”.

Berendsen’s research explores how plants, through millions of years of co-evolution, have developed relationships with the microbes in their vicinity. These microbial communities play pivotal roles in plant health and survival. A significant aspect of Berendsen’s work focuses on how plants actively recruit and foster beneficial microbes that help them defend against the microbial agents that cause plant disease. By uncovering these processes, his research could provide insights into natural, sustainable methods of enhancing plant health and resistance to various biotic stresses.

Utrecht algorithm solves challenging scheduling problem NS

NS is developing software for scheduling trains in shunting yards, set to launch next year. It is based on the research conducted by Roel van den Broek for the AI & Mobility Lab. He presented his findings at the kick-off event of the RAIL Lab.

The NS manages a substantial fleet of train units. During non-rush hours, tasks such as parking, cleaning, inspection, and coupling must be completed before the trains are utilised again in the next rush hour. Limited space at service locations poses a challenging scheduling problem for the NS. Van den Broek developed an algorithm for the Enkhuizen station that calculates an option within seconds, efficiently planning these tasks without trains obstructing each other.

The algorithm also works for larger stations like Amsterdam and Utrecht, although it requires considerably more computation time—over ten hours.

Addiction on prescription: how the pharmaceutical industry fed the American opioid crisis

The United States is facing a massive addiction crisis: the number drug overdose deaths increased from about 17,000 in 1999 to nearly 110,000 in 2022. Opioids—potent but highly addictive painkillers—are the primary culprits, responsible for an estimated 75,000 deaths during this period.

How did it come to this? Toine Pieters, Professor of History of Pharmacy at the Freudenthal Institute, describes and analyses the history of opioid use in a recent publication in the scientific journal Psychoactives. He demonstrates that the raging opioid crisis owes its existence to the excessive prescription of potent, often synthetic opioids (such as Oxycodone) as painkillers in the American healthcare system. “This way, pharmaceutical companies created a market for these dangerous painkillers, leading to a demand among users. The underground drug circuit could also meet this demand,” he explains. “That’s how doctors and pharmacists lost their role as gatekeepers: they could no longer regulate and control their patients' drug use.”

This study is part of the NWO project The Imperative of Regulation, in which Pieters collaborates with other researchers to map the history of drug regulation.