NWO Open Competition grants for two projects with Leiden researchers
Two research projects with researchers from Leiden University have been awarded a Dutch Research Council (NWO) Open Competition Domain Science-M programme grant. These grants fund curiosity-driven, fundamental research in the Science domain.
Twenty-one projects have received an NWO grant. Below a summary of the approved projects with Leiden researchers.
Plan B-modes: cosmology and astrophysics from new galaxy shape patterns
Elisa Chisari (Utrecht University) & Henk Hoekstra (Leiden Observatory)
The researchers plan to investigate the physical mechanisms that give rise to specific whirlpool patterns in the shapes of galaxies in the sky. They will use data from the next generation of surveys to measure them and compare them to their models.
Rethinking networks
Diego Garlaschelli & Subodh Patil (Leiden Institute of Physics)
Many systems in our world — like social networks, biological systems, or the internet — can be understood as networks. In these networks, it's not just the individual parts that matter, but how those parts are connected. Scientists use network theory to study these relations and how they lead to patterns and behaviour across the whole system.
This upcoming research project will explore whether there are simple ways to understand the overall behaviour of very large and complex networks. Can we identify common patterns that show up in all kinds of networks, no matter the details? Which details are essential to how a network behaves, and which can be safely ignored?
To answer these questions, the researchers will draw on ideas from physics, particularly a method called Renormalisation Group Theory. The researchers will adapt and rethink these methods so they can be used to study complex networks in other fields of research, to help resolve some of the most pressing problems in society.