Hold tight: How human and robotic touch shape our fear responseDoes holding someone’s hand really help when you are watching a scary movie? During a festival (Lowlands) last summer, Professor Jan van Erp and PhD candidate Marie-Laure Snijders from the Human Media Interaction department collaborated on an innovative study examining the relationship between social touch and physiological responses to fear and stress. Organised by the Dutch Touch Society, a collaborative research group comprising multiple Dutch universities and research institutions, the “Hold Tight” experiment provided a unique opportunity to investigate how human and robotic physical contact affects the stress levels of a large group of festival visitors.Read more
50 million euro European Quantum pilot P4Q launchedAcross a dozen European countries, a new European pilot will be started in 2026: Photonics for Quantum (P4Q). In this project, a large consortium is working on ways to make photonic chips for quantum applications more reliable and scalable. The coordinator of P4Q, Pepijn Pinkse (University of Twente, NL): "Ideas that currently remain in the lab can grow into really useful devices more quickly."Read more
Hold tight: How human and robotic touch shape our fear response
50 million euro European Quantum pilot P4Q launched
VU-UT Internal Call 2026
Peter Veltink to step in as interim Scientific Director of DSI
A new route to optimise AI hardware
How can we make AI more humane and inclusive?
NWO grant for installation of the world’s largest digital twins for energy systems
Quantum and security the focus of Europol visit to the University of Twente
UT researcher Clara Stegehuis nominated for New Scientist Science Talent 2025
AI-driven forensic investigation system nominated for Computable Awards 2025
€7 Million for multidisciplinary project on democratising AI
UT researchers awarded ICANN grant for a resilient internet
