Twelve young researchers, including two from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, have been awarded an Early Career Award by the KNAW. With this award, the KNAW recognises their scientific talent.
Their talent is expressed not only in their innovative and original research work, but also in how they take on their roles as scientists, inspiring, guiding and teaching. All laureates will receive 15,000 euros for their research, and a sculpture by artist Laura Klinkenberg.
Dries Daems
Archaeologist Dries Daems researches how cities in Anatolia developed thousands of years ago and how that had an impact (social and ecological) on the landscape. In his research, he combines classical archaeology with digital techniques. In doing so, he not only enriches our knowledge of the past, but also provides insights on how the Mediterranean is changing today due to climate change and ever-increasing urbanisation.
Vasilis Kokkoris
Ecologist Vasilis Kokkoris researches underground fungal networks. Such fungal networks play a crucial role in our planet's ecosystem: they store CO2 and interact greatly with plants. Kokkoris is looking at what happens inside the cells of such networks so that we can better understand how we can use them in the transition to more sustainable agriculture and perhaps even as a solution to excessive CO2 emissions.
For all Early Career Award researchers, read on the KNAW website