VICI grants for five Leiden researchers
Research organisation NWO has awarded a VICI grant to five Leiden researchers. In total, 32 leading researchers in the Netherlands have been awarded a VICI grant.
Approved research projects
Waste as a framework for historic research
Prof. K.J (Kasia) Cwiertka - LIAS
What we throw away and how we dispose of our waste tells us a lot about the society we live in. This research project considers recent changes in China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea from this perspective.
Unravelling proteins by 'feel'
Dr T.H. (Tjerk) Oosterkamp - Physics
In order to understand how proteins work, you have to focus on details, especially when different proteins coalesce. Oosterkamp and his research team developed a microscope which ‘feels’ the MRI signals, and in this way is able to distinguish individual atoms.
See also:
Ultrasound and MRI at nanoscale
Brain networks and early stages of dementia
Prof. S.A.R.B. (Serge) Rombouts - Radiology and Psychology
There is at present no early diagnosis for dementia. In this project the researchers use innovative brain scanning techniques to try and expose changes in brain networks that occur in the early stages of dementia and that have so far remained invisible.
See also: Brain researcher Serge Rombouts awarded VICI grant (in Dutch)
Applied String Theory: Explaining Quantum Matter with Black Holes
Dr K.E. (Koenraad) Schalm - Physics
The most striking example of this is high-temperature super conductivity. With the revolutionary discovery that the mathematics of String Theory and Black Holes also describes strongly interacting quantum systems, this project aims to explain the mysteries of quantum matter.
Reversing cardio-vascular disease
Dr M. (Miranda) van Eck - Biopharmaceutics
Cardiovascular disease, an important cause of death in the Netherlands, is caused by narrowing of the blood vessels. The researchers are planning to systematically study how the development of such dangerous narrowing can be reversed. By specifically guiding new drugs to the blood vessels, Van Eck and her colleagues want to reverse this narrowing.
About the VICI grants
The VICI grant is one of the largest individual scientific grants awarded in the Netherlands. It comes from the NWO Innovation Incenetive, together with the VENI grant (for recent PhD graduates) and the VIDI grant (for experienced postdocs). The VICI grant is a grant for senior researchers.
VICI offers researchers the opportunity to build their own research group and to carry out research for five years. This means VICI not only provides an incentive for the researchers who applied the grant, but in this way NWO also creates opportunities for a larger number of young researchers.