Open Competition ENW-M grants for Tuncay Baubec, Pieter Belmans and Hanneke Vlaming

In the latest round of the NWO Open Competition ENW-M programme, twenty research projects were awarded funding nationwide. Three of these grants were given to researchers from Utrecht University’s Faculty of Science. With this support, Hanneke Vlaming, Tuncay Baubec and Pieter Belmans can develop new methods and further develop their research lines.

Prof. Tuncay Baubec

Decoding gene control specificity through inducible synthetic transcription factors

Although all cells in an organism carry the same DNA, they differ widely in function and behaviour. This diversity arises because different sets of genes are active in different cell types. Transcription factors and cofactors play a role in this process, but how they work together to regulate individual genes is still unclear.

In this project, Tuncay Baubec will investigate how the context of a gene, such as its location in the genome, influences the functioning of cofactors. These insights contribute to a better understanding of cell identity and may eventually be relevant for the treatment of diseases such as cancer, in which gene regulation is disrupted.

With this grant we can now explore large number of synthetic transcription factors and learn how nature regulates gene activity

Dr. Pieter Belmans & dr. Andreas Krug (Leibniz Universität Hannover)

The shape of a classification

Mathematicians love to organise objects, whether they are shapes, geometric figures, or highly abstract structures, into well-defined families. When an object depends on many continuously varying parameters, we describe its whole family with a moduli space. Think of a moduli space as a map: each point on the map corresponds to a single object, and the overall geometry of the map reveals how those objects relate to one another.

In this project, mathematicians Pieter Belmans from Utrecht University and Andreas Krug from Leibniz Universität Hannover will enlarge the existing moduli spaces by introducing two novel objects: quantum surfaces, which mirror phenomena from quantum physics, and curves with additional symmetries, which are one-dimensional objects that possess extra regular patterns beyond the usual geometric symmetries. They will study these new families with modern tools from category theory and representation theory, which provide powerful, systematic ways to dissect and understand intricate mathematical structures.

The goal is a richer classification scheme that captures a broader variety of mathematical objects. Such a framework not only advances pure mathematics but also fuels applications across science and technology.

I’m thrilled that this project brings together algebraic geometry, representation theory, and category theory to tackle fundamental questions about the shape of moduli spaces

Dr. Hanneke Vlaming

Transcription at a crossroads: How proteins regulate early termination

Every cell needs to produce exactly the right amount of RNA to function properly. Yet transcription, the process by which RNA is made, often stops earlier than necessary. Why this happens, and which proteins control this process, is still poorly understood. Hanneke Vlaming investigates the proteins that determine whether transcription is prematurely terminated, and how they influence gene regulation.

In her project, she systematically compares the effects of thousands of proteins on RNA production at sites where transcription ends early and where it normally continues. This approach aims to uncover new regulatory factors and explain how they work at the molecular level. The findings will improve our understanding of how cells maintain their identity and what goes wrong when gene regulation breaks down in disease.

I'm happy we can now systematically investigate which proteins regulate early transcription termination. This will be key to understanding this important but understudied step in gene regulation