Geologist Anouk Beniest receives the grant for the research project GIVE – Geothermal Infrastructures on Volcanic Edifices.
Geothermal energy is a crucial component for the Energy Transition. Conventional geothermal energy uses easily accessible warm fluids that reached shallow (<400m) depths, most commonly in regions with a thin crust. Beniest wants to assess the geothermal potential of a more challenging environment: inactive volcanoes. With the use of seismological techniques, she will create a novel workflow that allows me to first visualize the size and shape of the heat source under such volcanoes, after which she will identify how high-temperature fluids migrate and reach shallower, exploitable depths. This information can be used to determine the location of geothermal infrastructure.
Professor of Medicinal Chemistry Rob Leurs receives the grant for the research project ONCOLIGHT: Switching tumour cells off with light.
Optical control of biological processes is one of the holy grails in biology and medicine as it is non-invasive and can be applied very locally. In this XS-proposal we aim to develop ON/OFF switchable molecules to block a receptor to allow very local inhibition of tumour cells and avoid side effects elsewhere in the body. These molecules will be studied for their ability to be switched on/off by light. Ultimately, suitable tools will be studied for the light-dependent blockade of the receptor and (in the future) in a mouse model.
About the Open Competition ENW – XS grants
The Open Competition Domain Science – XS grants of a maximum of € 50,000 are intended to support promising ideas and to facilitate innovative and more speculative initiatives within the seven Domain Science disciplines. The proposed research is ground-breaking and high-risk. What counts is that all results, be they positive or negative, must contribute to the advancement of science.
Read more on the NWO website.