Ten large-scale projects with Utrecht researchers receive multi-million euro investment from NWO-GWI grant

Ten projects involving researchers from Utrecht University and UMC Utrecht will receive multi-million euro investments from the National Roadmap for Large-Scale Scientific Infrastructure. The funding enables researchers to establish and enhance large-scale scientific infrastructures over the next ten years.

Utrecht-based researchers play a prominent role in several new national research infrastructures for which NWO today announced a total investment of 197 million euros under the National Roadmap for Large-Scale Scientific Infrastructure (GWI).

With this investment, consortia from a wide range of scientific disciplines will be able to build or upgrade large-scale facilities that are essential for groundbreaking research.

Utrecht University is the main applicant for the EMPower project, which is awarded a 33 million euro budget to unravel the secrets of life at the molecular level using advanced electron microscopy. UMC Utrecht is the main applicant for the BioMotive project, focused on developing an MRI system capable of scanning the body upright and in motion. In addition, Utrecht researchers are co-applicants in several other initiatives.

AMICE: The Dutch Infrastructure of Advanced Multimodal Imaging Centers

Imaging inside living beings is important to understand how life develops, how healthy bodies work, and how diseases begin and progress. This demands specialized equipment and knowledge. AMICE will develop such techniques and bring them into a nationwide preclinical infrastructure. This will help researchers acquire more information. In addition, AMICE will promote re-use of images to increase efficiency in science. Through this AMICE will help Dutch life scientists revolutionize their research with unique and innovative imaging techniques and to stay at the top of the international science community. 
Co-applicant: UMC Utrecht

BioMotive: Imaging the biomechanics of the internal human body in motion

Medical imaging only captures the human body in a static, horizontal view, which doesn’t reflect the forces and function that occur during everyday activities like standing or exercise. BioMotive aims to revolutionize this with an advanced MRI infrastructure that can scan the body upright and during movement. This will allow us to see how muscles, bones, and even the heart behave under real-life conditions, such as during exercise. By applying advanced MRI techniques, BioMotive enables real-time visualization of internal forces and physiological processes, providing deeper insights into conditions of the muscles, digestion and blood circulation influenced by posture and movement. 
Main applicant: UMC Utrecht

BioBeyond_NL: Molecular Complexity Beyond the Genetic Code

The understanding of cellular biological processes, which lie at the basis of human health and disease, but also animal, microbial, and plant biology, requires the realization of a research infrastructure that allows the in-depth investigation of this complex biology beyond the genome. BioBeyond_NL is an accessible, large-scale national infrastructure that provides combined access to cutting-edge mass spectrometry, spatial biology, and glycoscience to enable researchers to unravel biological information beyond the genetic code. Through its solid foundation and future-proof innovation, BioBeyond_NL aims to be a sustainable, (inter)national research infrastructure enabling continuous scientific breakthroughs in biomedicine. 
Co-applicant: Utrecht University

DXCP: Dutch X-ray Characterisation Platform. Shining light on materials for sustainability

The enormous challenge to move our society to a sustainable future depends on functional materials such as batteries, solar cells, catalysts, polymers, and functional coatings. Breakthroughs in developing these materials will hinge on understanding their functioning. A national centre is proposed that provides the Netherlands with highly advanced laboratory-based X-ray characterisation methods. The “all eyes and ears approach” will lead to atomic-scale pictures and movies of materials in action and drive the rational design of novel materials and processes, which meet today’s societal challenges, i.e. those related to renewable energy and a circular economy. 
Co-applicant: Utrecht University

EBRAINS-Neurotech: Assembly Line for Brain Reading and Writing

The neurotechnological revolution: smart devices to read out and modulate brain activity. In 2023 UNESCO declared that we are at the threshold of a new revolution: neurotechnology. This emerging field develops devices that interact with neural systems to read out brain signals and/or alter brain activity. Neurotechnology offers novel means to better understand the brain, but also unlocks innovations to treat brain disorders. Dutch neurotechnology has made important steps, but is in need of far-reaching integration. EBRAINS-Neurotech will create a cohesive infrastructure for users developing smart materials for brain-machine interfaces, testing brain implants and designing computer models to better understand how these interfaces influence brain activity. 
Co-applicant: UMC Utrecht

EMPower: Een nationale infrastructuur om de geheimen van het leven op moleculair niveau te ontrafelen

A national infrastructure to resolve life's secrets at the molecular level. Understanding and designing molecular structure is core to science and technology. Electron microscopy (EM) enables high-resolution imaging of biological samples to see molecules at the atomic level and visualize them in 3D in cells and organs. To keep the Netherlands at the forefront of this revolutionary field, a national infrastructure is created, integrating the latest innovations in cryo-EM and volume EM. The infrastructure will offer users tools for cutting-edge sample preparation, data acquisition and analysis, train and expand the EM community in the Netherlands, and pave the way for new discoveries and scientific advances in medicine and technology. 
Main applicant: Utrecht University

FASTTRACK: Ultra-fast imaging of particle collisions at the LHC

Ultra‐fast imaging of particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. The more we measure, the more we know. To solve fundamental physics mysteries, we need to know more about how the smallest particles, through fundamental interactions, form our universe. This is possible by studying collisions between such particles at the European particle accelerator LHC at CERN. With the LHC about to drastically increase its collision rates, we will develop new technologies that enable detectors to take much faster images and record many nearly-simultaneous collisions. We will do so in a coherent way, developing new technologies and integrating them in the analysis of collisions, to pave the way to new discoveries. 
Co-applicant: Utrecht University

The Macroscope

This project aims to create the world’s first “Macroscope”, a powerful tool for investigating complex societal issues at scale. Building on existing Dutch infrastructures such as ODISSEI (for the Social Sciences) and CLARIAH (for the Humanities), the Macroscope will enable researchers to securely access and analyse large amounts of sensitive, interconnected data. It will include advanced data collection systems, AI tools, and a platform for collaboration. This innovative facility, expected to be completed in 2030, will enable groundbreaking research in the Social Sciences and Humanities, making it easier to investigate complex social dynamics and answer critical societal questions. 
Co-applicant: Utrecht University

The Netherlands Cohorts Consortium

The Netherlands Cohorts Consortium (NCC) brings together health data from almost half a million Dutch people. These data will be used to conduct ground-breaking research to better understand the causes of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia and depression, and reasons why these are occurring at increasingly younger ages. NCC will build a state-of-the-art infrastructure, also for future data collection, with excellent IT facilities for joint data analysis, while guaranteeing the privacy and safety of the data. By combining the data, we will gain valuable insights into how to prevent these diseases and promote longer and healthier lives. 
Co-applicant: UMC Utrecht

UTOPYS: Understanding Large and Complex Power Systems

Modern power systems, driven by renewable energy, exhibit complex, emergent phenomena that existing scientific methods cannot address. This proposal aims to create the largest academic, real-time electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulator to provide a virtual power system for experiments. The research focuses on developing new analytical frameworks, investigating complex dynamics and control, and exploring decentralised markets, and adaptive regulatory frameworks. The infrastructure, accessible to consortium partners and international researchers, supports detailed modelling, system dynamics understanding, and designing essential tools and processes for future power systems. This multidisciplinary approach promises scientific breakthroughs to generate new theories for future power systems. 
Co-applicant: Utrecht University