Four ERC grants for Leiden researchers
Four Leiden researchers have each been awarded a consolidator grant of up to 2 million euros by the European Research Council (ERC). They carry out research on a diverse range of subjects, from gender stereotyping in the field of science to making sugar molecules.
Judi Mesman: sex inequality in education
In Europe – and particularly in the Netherlands – women are strongly underrepresented in technical and science studies and professions. As there is little or no difference in the performance of men and women in science subjects, a lot of female talent in this sector is being lost. In this research, Mesman, Professor of Diversity in Upbringing and Development, is working on a video feedback intervention that aims to reduce sex inequality in the way school pupils are taught and encouraged.
Jeroen Codée: making sugar molecules
Codée is a synthetic organic chemist at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC). His research focuses on making sugar molecules for chemical biological and immunological research. Although scientists are already making these molecules, there are still a lot of uncertainties about how the process actually works. Codée hopes to shed more light on the synthesis process in the coming years so that better and faster synthetic antigens for vaccines can be produced or molecules made that can be used for studying the enzymes involved in biomass conversion.
Leendert Trouw: more focused approach to rheumatoid arthritis
Immunologist Trouw (LUMC) studies how the immune system of rehumatism patients attacks the body's own cells. This research will hopefully generate new and more focused ways of treating rheumatism. He will use the subsidy to see whether it is possible to strengthen the resistance to cancer and infectious diseases.
Susana Chuva de Sousa Lopes: artificial ovary
Women who have survived childhood cancer are often infertile as a result of the damage to their ovaries from chemotherapy. Associate Professor Chuva de Sousa Lopes (LUMC) wants to have human egg cells ripen in an artificial ovary outside the body. If this works successfully, women who are infertile may be able to producw children using their own egg cells.