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Vidi grants for Faculty of Science researchers

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24 October 2024
The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded 102 experienced researchers with Vidi funding. This will allow them to develop their own innovative line of research and set up a research group over the next five years. Four of them are from VU University Amsterdam's Beta Faculty.

The following researchers received a grant:

Biologist and ecologist Mirte Bosse receives the Vidi for her research Genetic Guardians: Saving Asian Elephants through Pangenomics.
The ExPANsion project of Bosse pioneers pangenomics to conserve the endangered Asian elephant, analyzing its diverse populations to address challenges of environmental change. By examining genetic distinctiveness, it offers insights into the risks of inbreeding and hybridization. She will develop novel genomic parameters to assess population hybridization's potential for genetic rescue and species conservation. This approach provides early warnings and opportunities for effective conservation strategies.

Mathematician Magnus Bakke Botnan receives the Vidi for his research Measuring the shape of data.
The human brain easily recognizes the circular shape formed by a few points scattered around a circle. But how do you construct algorithms which detect such non-linear shape in data? That is the topic of persistent homology, a central part of the field of topological data analysis, which has been applied to many areas of science and engineering. While persistent homology enjoys important theoretical properties, it often fails to capture the shape of noisy data. The goal of Botnans project is to understand the mathematical foundations of a generalization which addresses such shortcomings.

Chemist Ivana Drienovská receives the Vidi for her research Greening Our World: Unlocking Enzymatic Solutions for the Fluorination Reaction. Enzymes have massive potential for the sustainable production of chemicals. Unfortunately, the perfect enzyme for a specific task sometimes simply doesn't exist in nature. Fluorination is one of the most desired chemical reactions, as more than 20% of all pharmaceuticals require it for their synthesis. Drienovská will explore different artificial enzymes in order to find an efficient enzyme catalyst for this challenging reaction.

Mathematician Alessandro  Zocca receives the Vidi for his research Power Network Optimization in the Age of Climate Extremes. Zocca’s project addresses the growing challenge of extreme weather events, such as floods, heatwaves, and windstorms, which seriously threaten the reliability of energy networks. These low-probability high-impact events are spatially correlated and can cause widespread physical and economic damage. Traditional methods fall short in assessing the resilience of these complex networks when facing these events. Combining applied probability, graph theory, and stochastic optimization, he will develop new models and strategies for enhancing the resilience of these networks. Zocca focuses on finding cost-effective and flexible network reconfiguration strategies that operators can use to prevent and mitigate damage during such extreme weather events.

NWO Talent Programme
The NWO Talent Programme gives researchers the freedom to pursue their own research based on creativity and passion. The NWO Talent Programme encourages innovation and curiosity. Curiosity-driven research contributes to and prepares us for tomorrow’s society. That is why NWO focuses on diversity in terms of researchers, domains and backgrounds. Together with the Veni and Vici grants, Vidi is part of the NWO Talent Programme. They receive in total 86,7 million euros.

NWO selects researchers based on the academic quality and innovative character of the research proposal, scientific and/or societal  impact of the  proposed project and the quality of the researcher. Read more on the NWO website.

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