UTFacultiesBMSNewsFive Researchers with Veni grant start projects on the UT

Five Researchers with Veni grant start projects on the UT For Ismet Baran, Erik Horstman, Chuan Li, Saskia Kelders and Arnd Hartmanns

On 28 July 2017, five UT researchers received a Veni grant from NWO (The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research)

The recipients are: Ismet Baran, Erik Horstman, Chuan Li, Saskia Kelders and Arnd Hartmanns. Using the accompanying amount of 250,000 euros per scholar, they are developing new lines of research. A sixth Veni grant is for Liubov Amitonova, she is going to start her project at the VU.

The Veni grant is awarded annually by NWO. In total, some 1127 researchers submitted an eligible research project for financing in this Veni round. Of those, 154 were honoured.

BladeMan: Reliable Manufacturing of Wind Turbine Blades

Dr. I. (Ismet) Baran ME, Engineering Technology, Production Technology
The era of fossil fuels appears to be coming to an end, which is why we desperately need cheap renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines. This Veni project will contribute to the development of more reliable and efficient wind turbines with very large dimensions in future. 

Verification of Cyber-Physical Systems: Scalability through Uncertainty

Dr. A. (Arnd) Hartmanns MSc, Informatics
Computers manage our physical world: self-driving cars, smart power networks and assembly robots. These systems must be verified, even when they demonstrate unexpected and random behaviour. The result of this research will consist of practical mathematical verification algorithms, that primarily benefit from the randomness that makes control technology so challenging.

Mangrove-RESCUE

Dr E.M. (Erik) Horstman, Civil Engineering
Mangroves protect (sub)tropical coastal zones and are resilient, recovering from erosion and adapting to changing conditions. This study measures and simulates the processes that impact this adaptive capacity. These insights are needed to predict and protect the future development of mangroves and their contribution to coastal safety.

PersonaliZed interventions for mental health

Dr. S.M. (Saskia) Kelders, Psychology, Health and Technology
Online interventions for mental health can be effective, but not every intervention is effective for everyone. This project involves the development of a model to predict for whom an intervention is effective and a method to ensure everyone gets the intervention they need. This includes testing in both lab and field studies.

A new platform for topological quantum computers

Dr. C. (Chuan) Li, Institute for Nanotechnology
To realize the next generation computers with topological quantum bits, first the essential elements – Majorana fermions – must be demonstrated, together with the non-trivial statistics of these particles. In this Veni project, new superconducting Dirac semimetals are used to realize a new platform for the Majorana states.

For an overview of all 154 grants awarded, see the NWO press release. Further information is also available on the NWO site concerning the full Veni/Vidi/Vici programme. 

drs. J.G.M. van den Elshout (Janneke)
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