Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is proud of the young scientists who clearly demonstrate the impact of scientific research with their research proposals. The laureates are, in alphabetical order:
Climate lawyer Tim Bleeker receives a Veni for his research The Corporate Climate Transition Plan: Clarifying, Embedding and Enforcing Reduction Targets.
Every major company will need one, they are supposed to save the world, but hardly anyone knows what they entail: Climate Transition Plans (CTPs). Upcoming European legislation requires large companies to adopt a CTP with greenhouse gas reduction targets to align their business strategy with climate goals of the Paris Agreement. CTPs are a breakthrough for combatting climate change, but they also cause profound legal uncertainty for businesses. Bleeker aims to illuminate the legal status of CTPs, examines how reduction targets interact with a company’s rights and other duties, and explores the possible legal responses in case of non-compliance.
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Theologian Yusuf Çelik receives a Veni for his research Jews to Muslims: Digitally tracing the legacies of the Banu Quray?a in the formation of the Islamic tradition.
In 627, the adult men of the last Jewish tribe in Medina were sentenced to death for treason. From this tribe, only the women, minors, and those who had previously converted survived and were assimilated into the Islamic community. Çelik investigates with computational methods the impact of these survivors, particularly how their cultural memory of Jewish traditions influenced pre-modern Islamic thought. He hypothesizes that the Banū Qurayẓa's unique historical and cultural experiences, though overlooked in previous scholarship, have markedly shaped the interpretation of the Qur’an and Islamic legal practices in the Islamic tradition.
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Paolo D'Imporzano receives a Veni for his research Studying isotopes, elements and binders of pigments in paintings for authentication.
Lead isotope ratios reveal detailed information on lead white pigments present in paintings. This information can be used for attribution/authentication purposes but is often insufficient. D'Imporzano will solve this problem, by integrating lead isotope analysis of lead white with elemental and binder data of the same pigment. New state-of-the-art analytical techniques will be used to measure the composition of painting samples from well-documented paintings and reveal their chemical composition. The data will be combined to generate models used to obtain a better understanding of pictorial techniques over time across Europe and painting attribution/authentication.
Chemist Arno Förster receives a Veni for his research Quantum by quantum: Simulation of photochemistry with Green’s function embedding methods.
A major problem in chemistry and biology is to understand how large molecules react to light. Theoretical simulations can help unravelling the underlying mechanisms. The currently known simulation techniques are either cheap but limited in their accuracy, or accurate but costly. Here Förster suggests a partitioning of the problem in which the costly method is only applied to a small subproblem for which high accuracy is required, but the major part of the calculation is performed with the cheaper method where limited accuracy suffices. This technique will simplify studying the excitations of complex molecules with high accuracy.
Econometrician Marina Friedrich receives a Veni for her research Climetrics: Bringing together econometrics and climate sciences.
In the presence of global climate change, there is an urgent need to understand developments of and relationships between climate data. Econometrics can help improve this understanding by providing data analysis tools. However, climate researchers trying to use these tools will face two challenges. First, not all tools will be directly applicable to climate data. Second, the tools need to be more widely accessible. Friedrich aims to address these two challenges by developing a new method for the analysis of relationships that are subject to structural change and by making existing methods available through open-source and user-friendly software.
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Helga Haberfehlner of Amsterdam UMC receives a Veni for her research Multimodal learning for automated assessment and monitoring of dystonia in childhood.
Dystonia is a brain disorder with involuntary movements and postures. In childhood, dystonia occurs due to congenital and acquired brain disorders. Assessment and monitoring of dystonia is challenging as symptoms vary during the day and exacerbate with stress, emotions or pain. To capture variation of dystonia and interaction with physiological changes, measurements with videos and wearable sensors will be performed. Advanced analysing techniques based on artificial intelligence will be applied to develop an easily applicable method for automated and frequent dystonia monitoring in the home situation. This methodology has a high potential to contribute to optimal treatment of dystonia.
Mathematician Pol van Hoften receives a Veni for his research New cases of zeta functions of Shimura varieties.
Hasse–Weil zeta functions are generalizations of the famous Riemann zeta function, and play a central role in modern algebraic number theory. Van Hoften suggests new strategies to compute the Hasse–Weil zeta functions of Shimura varieties. These are products of local zeta functions, one for each prime number. Local zeta functions of Shimura varieties are well understood at all but finitely many primes, and his proposal concerns the computation of the local zeta functions at the remaining primes (the so-called “very bad” primes).
Assistant professor in EU law Dion Kramer receives a Veni for his research Whom to Shelter? (Re)Bordering Homelessness Support in the European Union.
In many European cities, a significant part of the homeless population consists of citizens from other EU Member States. These EU citizens are often denied access to regular homeless shelters and experience rough sleeping in public spaces. Kramer investigates homelessness from the perspective of EU citizenship, a legal status that presupposes a comprehensive right to equal treatment. He analyses the rights of homeless EU citizens and explains how local governments in the Netherlands and other EU Member States reorganise their homelessness support programmes in response to the growing numbers of homeless EU citizens.
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Journalism researcher Kenza Lamot receives a Veni for her research Beyond Clicks and Metrics. Understanding the News Audience in the Digital Era.
News media nowadays use analytics that analyze user behavior in terms of clicks and attention, to navigate a more competitive digital news environment. Many believe that audience engagement could be the solution to ongoing crises in journalism such as financial instability and news avoidance. However, the present use of audience engagement as a quantified phenomenon is somewhat limiting, and risks misapprehension of what audiences truly appreciate about journalism. Lamot aims to elucidate the complexities surrounding metrics. It will move beyond metrics and develop a closer-to-the-ground understanding of the audience in the digital era, and the consequences for democratic society.
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Political scientist Alberto López Ortega receives a Veni for his research Selectively (il)liberal citizens.
Why are Western Europeans becoming more supportive of LGBT+ rights and gender equality, yet cast their votes for far-right parties that legislate against these very principles? López Ortega introduces a novel theoretical and methodological framework to explain how ethnic identities impact on citizens’ support for liberal values and their voting for far-right parties. Employing cutting-edge methods, including AI-visual experiments that replicate real-world scenarios, he uncovers the causal mechanism behind the contemporary erosion of liberal norms; and develop ready-to-implement strategies to reverse this illiberal trend. Cooperating with an international LGBT+ rights organization, this research’s findings are poised to strengthen modern democracies.
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Mathematician Raffaella Mulas receives a Veni for her research Graphs and Hypergraphs: from Combinatorics to Network Science and back.
Graphs and hypergraphs have been challenging combinatorialists since 1736 and 1931, respectively. Moreover, in the past two decades, scientists have been rapidly finding applications of graphs which has led to the emergence of network science as its own discipline, where hypergraphs are gaining increasing attention. Nevertheless, combinatorialists and network scientists often use distinct languages and methodologies. Mulas’ is to exploit her interdisciplinary profile to work on a braid where combinatorics, spectral theory and applications (to areas such as network science and machine learning) will inspire each other and will advance together in a unified manner rather than independently.
Computer scientist Yasamin Nazari receives a Veni for her research Dynamic graph algorithms: distances and clustering.
Many fundamental computational tasks are performed on a graph, which is a mathematical abstraction of interactions in a network. In many applications the input graph is dynamic, i.e. it undergoes changes over time, and the output must be efficiently adjusted after each update. Nazari focuses on developing efficient dynamic graph algorithms for: (i) Maintaining data structures that return good estimates to shortest path distances between elements in the network. (ii) Partitioning the graph into clusters such that more similar elements are clustered together, where similarity is modelled by distances between elements.
Geoarcheologist Flora Schilt receives a Veni for her research SPARKS - Unravelling the Ancient Fire Tapestry: A Study of Pyrotechnology, Archaeological Traditions, and Forager Mobility in Central Africa.
Fire was essential for ancient hunter-gatherers not only for its warmth, but also for cooking, gatherings, and cremating the dead. Traces of these activities are rarely found at archaeological sites, making it difficult to test how pyrotechnology evolved compared to other cultural traits. SPARKS focuses on rare fire residues, including Africa´s earliest pyre remnants, discovered at Malawian rockshelter sites with occupations dating to ~30,000-~2,000 years ago. This period saw a sudden reduction in hunter-gatherer networks in Central Africa. Using microscopic analysis of sedimentary residues, researchers will be able to better understand the dynamic relationship between fire technology and social connectivity.
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Movement scientist Janneke Schwaner receives a Veni for her research Mechano-sensory properties of skeletal muscles in agile locomotion.
We walk on tricky surfaces - trails or stairs - without trouble because our brain and muscles work together. However, scientists still don't completely know how this teamwork helps staying agile, highlighted by the inability to design truly agile robots. In my research, Schwaner will combine two experimental approaches with new computer models to elucidate how our muscles and senses work together to maintain agility on natural terrain. Results will give a better understanding of how muscles and senses maintain agility, contributes to improved (human) musculoskeletal models, as well as it inspires development of devices that assist with movement and rehabilitation.
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Assistant Professor of Public Administration Kristina Weißmüller receives a Veni for her research Effective Anti-Corruption Strategies for Public Organizations.
Administrative corruption is an unresolved issue that causes severe societal harm worldwide. Anti-corruption regulation neglects the human factor in the challenge of translating these policies into effective strategies within organizational contexts. Weißmüller develops a novel multi-dimensional framework and empirical evidence to explain why some public organizations are more corruptible than others, which anti-corruption strategies work under which conditions, and why. By conducting multi-country mixed-methods research, it provides new insights into how public organizations can govern corruption risks comprehensively. Consequently, anti-corruption strategies can be designed more effectively by integrating insights from public integrity, compliance management, and behavioral public administration research.
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Vera Wiersma of Amsterdam UMC receives a Veni for her research Bad romance: comorbid pathologies in Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia. In the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, the protein tau and protein fragment Aβ aberrantly pile up. In about half of the patients, the protein TDP-43 additionally accumulates in neurons. This comorbid TDP-43 pathology accelerates cognitive decline, yet its biological cause is not understood. This research uses brain tissue and neural cell culture models to determine the origin of TDP-43 co-pathology in Alzheimer's disease, thereby opening avenues for personalized therapy.
Economist Etienne Wijler receives a Veni for his research Statistical inference for high-dimensional, non-stationary time series.
Advances in information-gathering technology have enabled the collection of large datasets with immense potential for scientific discovery and data-driven decision-making. However, existing methods to analyze large datasets have limited applicability in fields like economics and climatology, where the persistent and trending nature of data recorded over time results in poor predictions and misleading conclusions. Wijler will develop specialized methods focussed on extracting reliable information and quantifying uncertainty based on large, trending datasets. Utilizing these methods, he will analyze how regional variations in greenhouse gas emissions impact global warming, offering an enhanced framework for developing and quantifying risks in climate policy.
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Josjan Zijlmans of Amsterdam UMC receives a Veni for his research Psychedelic-assisted therapy in adolescent psychiatry.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a serious condition that is common in young people. If not treated in time, it can have lifelong consequences. Although effective therapies exist, a quarter to half of adolescents are not well served by them. This is often because it is emotionally difficult to talk about trauma. Therapy with psychedelics is a new, innovative way to potentially help this hard-to-treat group. Zijlmans investigates whether this form of therapy is suitable for adolescents, how it can help them, and whether its effects differ from those in adults.
NWO Talent Programme
The NWO Talent Programme gives researchers the freedom to pursue their own research based on creativity and passion. They receive up to EUR 320,000. The programme encourages innovation and curiosity. Curiosity-driven research contributes to and prepares us for tomorrow's society. That is why NWO focuses on a diversity in terms of researchers, domains, and backgrounds. Together with the Vidi and Vici grants, Veni is part of the Talent Programme.
NWO selects researchers based on the academic quality and the innovative character of the research proposal, the scientific and/or societal impact of the proposed project, and the quality of the researcher.
Read more on the NWO website