UT researchers Arnd Hartmanns, Liliana Moreira Teixeira Leijten and Stefan Luding receive a so-called ENW-KLEIN grant from science financier NWO for their research. Hartmann focuses on the question 'who verifies the verification software?' and Luding deals with a new class of liquids (capillary suspensions).
The board of NWO Domain Science has awarded 16 applications in the Open Competition ENW-KLEIN. It concerns scholarships of about 300 thousand euros. KLEIN grants are intended for innovative, fundamental research of high quality and/or scientific urgency.
Who verifies the verifiers?
Dr. Ing. Arnd Hartmanns (faculty EEMCS)
Random hardware failures, random software crashes, random environmental effects, randomised algorithms: probabilistic effects are everywhere, and the critical systems we depend on—trains, air traffic control, electricity grids, communication infrastructure—must deal with them. Probabilistic verification software uses mathematical models to calculate the mean time to failure, expected energy consumption, or probability of recovery of such systems. Yet all software programmed by humans has bugs. In this project, we mathematically formalise probabilistic verification algorithms, use interactive theorem-proving systems to show their correctness, and automatically turn them into correct-by-construction software. Then, finally, probabilistic verification itself is verified.
Gendered chips for healthy knees and hips
Dr. Liliana Moreira Teixeira Leijten (faculty ST)
A multitude of approved drugs and treatments may have negative to no effects on the female population, mainly due to lack of representative studies on diseases impacting both genders differently. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic disease affecting millions worldwide, where gender differences are not yet understood nor considered when developing treatments. This project proposes a novel approach to understand the gendered nature of OA based on a micro-physiological (male vs. female) model of the human joints, named osteochondral-unit-on-a-chip. This model will contribute to understanding the onset and progression OA, to more effectively develop and screen drugs tailored for each gender.
CAPMAT: Next generation MATerials via controlled CAPilary suspensions
Prof. dr. Stefan Luding (faculty ET)
Capillary suspensions are a new class of fluids that enable cost-efficient and eco-friendly production of novel materials of immense value for society and environment. We will be the first to develop multiscale numerical models and experimental protocols allowing to understand, predict and control their rheological behavior.
About Open Competition ENW-KLEIN
KLEIN grants are intended for realising curiosity-driven, fundamental research of high quality and/or scientific urgency. The KLEIN grant offers researchers the possibility to elaborate creative and risky ideas and to realise scientific innovations that can form the basis for the research themes of the future.
More info on the KLEIN-grants on the NWO-website.
