The VU is well represented with 11 pre-finalists (of 28) in the Amsterdam Science & Innovation Award (AmSIA), the Amsterdam competition for innovative ideas that contribute to a better world. The ideas range from new applications of AI in healthcare, smart ideas on how to deal with the effects of climate change, inspiring solutions in medical care technology, ideas for solving mental health issues, and innovative plans to improve education.
At the end of April, the pre-finalists will present themselves and their ideas in short videos during the public voting campaign. The expert jury, chaired by İlknur Dönmez, Director of Economic Affairs and Culture of the Municipality of Amsterdam, together with the public, will determine which finalists will get to pitch during the final on June 17 at the NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam.
The following VU participants have been selected for the pre-final:
In the category of Society:
- Tieme Janssen, Nienke van Atteveldt en Funda Jelsma: Explore your Brain
- Quint Wiersma, Francisco Blasques: Readler
- Reshmi Gopalakrishna Pillai, Constanza Gajardo Leon, Antske Fokkens: Global answers for local problems: Empowering communities with AI-supported solutions journalism
In the category of Health:
- Anouk Post, Tyla Danskin, Johannes de Boer: LightUp: a pill-sized camera for the early detection of oesophageal cancer
- Moira van Leeuwen, Mohammadreza Mahaki: LesSchuh: An innovative fall prevention training shoe for older adults
- Martin Gevonden, Cor Stoof en Eco de Geus: Top quality digital biomarkers for indexing stress in daily life
- Felix Paulussen, Ana Alcalde Ordóñez: Novel PIRCE molecules for the treatment of colorectal cancer
- Marvin Albers and Tom Grossmann: grabRNA: Smart RNA delivery enables novel therapeutic strategies
In the category of Environment & Climate:
- David Poole: Enhancing Protein-Rich Food Production with Targeted Chemistry
- Daniel Muth, Gergely Muth: Blue Tech Energy Solutions – Arbitrinity
- Maria Margalef, Marja Lamoree, Jeroen Kool and Julien Slagboom: FractioMate: Revolutionizing Water Research & Risk Assessment
- Nicolas Paul Cullen: Bacteria-produced sports chalk using magnesium salts from industrial waste streams or salt mines
- Maryam Alimardani: GreenPick: a serious VR game to promote pro-environmental consumption
Please find the full list of pre-finalists here.