Nineteen Utrecht researchers receive NWO award for groundbreaking fundamental research

18 December 2024

21 research consortia get the chance to make a breakthrough thanks to funding from the Open Competition ENW-XL. Utrecht scientists are involved in 11 of the research consortia. In two of these projects, UU researchers are the main investigators: Riccardo Levato will conduct research into how 'stem cell islets' can contribute to the cure of diabetes and Kaisa Kajala into how the roots of cereals contribute to their resistance to drought.

A total of nearly 64 million euros has been awarded in the NWO Open Competition ENW-XL. The program funds consortia for curiosity-driven, untied fundamental research in the research areas of the NWO's Exact and Natural Sciences (ENW) domain.

Making stronger crops

Biologist Kaisa Kajala has been awarded 3 million Euro funding to start and lead the BarrierFates project. This research focuses on how maize roots build protective barriers to survive tough conditions like drought, compacted soil, and parasitic plant infections. Maize, an important food crop, relies on these root barriers to stay healthy and grow well, especially as climate change makes farming more challenging.

The BarrierFates project will use advanced tools like single-cell RNA sequencing and plant imaging to study how these barriers form and function. The team aims to understand how maize roots control the development of these barriers and how they help plants absorb water and nutrients while resisting stress. The results will be used to create models that predict how plants respond to harsh environments, which can help develop stronger, more resilient crops. Additionally, the project will help improve maize and other cereal crops, supporting farmers and ensuring food production stays strong as the climate changes.

Biologist Dorota Kawa was a co-applicant for the project, which brings together experts from Utrecht University, Radboud University, and the Leibniz Institute for Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research. “I’m so thrilled that our consortium was awarded the grant”, says Kajala. “This is an enormous boost to the root barrier research community in the Netherlands. We are excited to combine our forces to unlock new insights into breeding stress-resilient root systems.”

A blueprint to regenerate the endocrine pancreas

For Associate Professor Riccardo Levato of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the NWO award is also crucial for his research. He will coordinate the PanCreaTE consortium from May 2025. The consortium will receive 3 million euros from the ENW-XL Open Competition for its research “A blueprint to regenerate the endocrine pancreas. Levato: “We will develop new 3D bioprinting technologies to unravel how pancreatic islets are formed, and use this information to build regenerative therapeutic implants for diabetes.”

Pancreatic islets from the lab

Production of pancreatic islets from stem cells has the potential to cure diabetes. However, scalable laboratory production of islets that properly mimic their natural counterparts remains a challenge. Using genome analysis, we will reveal how islets arise during human development. With this information as a reference, we will use new microfluidic technology to enable production of large quantities of better quality islets. The islets will be thinly coated to prevent rejection by the body. Finally, a 3D bioprinter will glue the protected islets into a transplantable, artificial pancreas that can cure diabetes.

Enabling Einstein Telescope to listen to the full Universe

Penman: Stefan Hild (Maastricht University), Utrecht co-applicants: Chris van den Broeck en Anuradha Samajdar

The Einstein Telescope will be Europe’s Gravitational Wave observatory guaranteeing unprecedent observing capacity for most of the the 21st century, being able to listen for instance to colliding black holes from the whole Universe. In this project we will develop technologies essential to enable the mindboggling sensitivity of the Einstein Telescope. A special focus will be set on the low-frequency end of the observation band, where improvement factors of up to a million are needed compared to current LIGO/Virgo detectors.

Joining Forces for Human-Made Molecular Machines

Penman: Iddo Heller (Vrije Universiteit), Utrecht co-applicant: Jan Lipfert

In all forms of life, molecular motors are indispensable for transporting molecular building blocks inside cells, for maintaining DNA, and for generating (muscle-based) motion. Only recently, mankind has developed the ability to build synthetic molecular motors and machines and to control these with light. In this project, researchers from various disciplines will join forces to unravel the design-principles of synthetic nanomachines, to design motorized nanoscale building blocks and to demonstrate the first light-controlled artificial muscles and conveyor belts. These discoveries enable mankind to pursue new applications such as in nanomedicine and in the design of adaptive, mobile, and self-healing materials.

The Magnetic Universe

Utrecht co-applicant: Elisa Chisari en Tom Prokopec

How developing embryos use noisy clocks to tell time with high precision

Utrecht co-applicant: Alexander van den Oudenaarden, Rik Korswagen en Jacques Bothma

Understanding the role of myeloid cells in cancer immunotherapy failure or success

Utrecht co-applicant: Linde Meyaard

SUPerGLue: How SUbcellular ComPartments in AstroGLia control cognitive processing

Utrecht co-applicant: Harold Mac Gillavry

Symmetry on the interface of topology and higher algebra

Utrecht co-applicant: Gijs Heuts

Viruses like it sweet; virus-glycan interactions as determinants of host range and pathogenesis

Utrecht co-applicant: Robert de Vries, Geert-Jan Boons en Karli Reiding

Climate feedbacks and methane cycling in Arctic lakes: enzymes to atmosphere (CLIMET)

Utrecht co-applicant: Friederike Wagner-Cremer