The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded 109 experienced researchers, eleven of whom are from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Amsterdam UMC, affiliation VU, with a Vidi grant. With the help of the Vidi grant, the talented scientists can start their own line of research and further develop their talent.
The laureates are, in alphabetical order:
Political scientist Loes Aaldering receives the Vidi for her research Political Sexism Among Adolescents: Understanding and Countering Gender Bias.
Adolescence is a crucial stage for forming ideas about politics and gender. In today’s polarized climate, young people - particularly boys - are increasingly exposed to sexism, shaping their gendered political attitudes. Aaldering examines two forms of political sexism: male-supremacist ideologies and gender bias in evaluating politicians. Working together with adolescents and using interviews, surveys, experiments, and classroom interventions in the US, UK, and the Netherlands, she maps how widespread these attitudes are and tests strategies to counter them. The goal is to reduce political sexism among adolescents and foster a generation committed to gender equality and democratic values.
Read more
Microbiologist and microbial ecologist Matti Gralka receives the Vidi for his research Microbial friends and foes in a warming ocean.
Microscopic algae in the ocean make half of our oxygen, but they do not live alone: they are surrounded by bacteria that can help them or harm them. Right now, we do not know how these interactions change as the ocean warms, but this is critical for predicting how the ocean will respond to climate change. Gralka will study hundreds of these interactions to build a model that can make these predictions and help us understand how we can create our own communities of algae and bacteria for biotechnology.
Read more
Neurologist Colin Groot of Amsterdam UMC receives the Vidi for his research Biomarker development in a euthanasia-autopsy study targeting neurodegenerative diseases.
In most forms of dementia, harmful proteins accumulate in the brain. Biomarkers can measure these proteins using imaging, and blood, but for many dementias such markers are still lacking. The BEACON study aims to change this. In this unique study, 100 individuals who have chosen euthanasia and have protein accumulation participate. Biomarkers are measured shortly before death. Immediately afterward, brain tissue is examined to determine how well these measures reflect protein accumulation. In this way, we test the reliability of biomarkers and improve diagnosis, prognosis, and the development of effective treatments.
Mathematician Renee Hoekzema receives the Vidi for her research Cut, Paste, and Evolve: From Smooth Shapes to the Shape of Life.
Networks and tree-like structures are used as models across science, from particle interactions to the evolution of species. A powerful idea in modern mathematics is to study not just individual networks, but entire spaces of them, allowing for comparison, averaging, and statistical analysis. New tools based on cutting, pasting, and evolving through time, developed for studying smooth shapes, give a unified description of spaces of networks and trees. We use this to create the first geometric model for co-evolution in biology and open new connections between fundamental mathematics and biological applications.
Read more
Systems ecologist Vasilis Kokkoris receives the Vidi for his research Nuclear Swarms.
Mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with plants and help them to grow better. Some of these fungi are unlike anything we learn in basic biology. Instead of one cell nucleus per cell, they have thousands that work together within a single cell measuring several metres in length. Kokkoris will investigate how the fungus’s cell nuclei work together. By gaining a better understanding of this fungus, researchers can find new ways to support plant growth naturally and make agriculture more sustainable.
Read more
Criminologist Elanie Rodermond receives the Vidi for her research Radical Adolescence: Dynamics of Youth Involvement in Contemporary Violent Extremism [RADICAL].
Adolescent involvement in violent extremism, ranging from online extremist engagement to executing violent attacks, is rapidly increasing. However, we do not understand well how young people become involved or disengage. Existing research is limited and fails to capture new developments, such as online radicalisation and recruitment pathways and cases where attraction to violence appears to precede ideological commitment. Rodermond combines insights from criminology, developmental psychology and terrorism studies with the use of unique primary and longitudinal data to study adolescent pathways into and out of violent extremism. Results will contribute to more effective and proportionate prevention and intervention strategies.
Read more
Architectural and urban historian Gabriel Schwake receives the Vidi for his research DEBTSCAPES: DEBTSCAPES: A New Spatial History of Credit, Capital, and Urbanization.
Modern cities are often defined by debt, yet we rarely see how it physically shapes our streets. DEBTSCAPES reveals debt as a generative force that transformed architecture and planning practices. Focusing on the pivotal interwar years (1918–1938), the project compares how different financial regimes in Amsterdam and Vienna created distinct urban landscapes. Cross-referencing historical mortgage records with architectural plans using digital mapping, the research treats the city as an archive. This provides a new perspective on urban history and uncovers the historical foundations of today’s housing crisis, showing how our homes have long been entangled with global finance.
Read more
Psychologist Giuliana Spadaro receives the Vidi for her research When Institutions Succeed but Citizens Distrust.
Why do people sometimes distrust institutions that actually work well? And how does this affect their willingness to contribute to the society?Spardaro studies the gap between how institutions perform and how people perceive them. She investigates when such misperceptions arise, how they influence behavior, and how they can be corrected. By combining experiments and large-scale studies, Spardaro develops strategies to improve public understanding of institutions and strengthen cooperation in society.
Read more
Neurologist Eva Stijbis of Amsterdam UMC, affiliation VU receives the Vidi for her research Healthy aging with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The average age of people with MS is increasing. More than 50% of all people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are now over 50 years old. However, treating MS at an older age presents challenges, because we know surprisingly little about aging with MS. For example, it is unknown how the diagnosis can best be made, whether the benefits and drawbacks of treatment are weighed differently than in younger people, and how normal aging affects the course of the disease and quality of life. With this research, we are taking a step toward care that truly matches the needs of this growing group of people with MS.
Communication scientist Kasper Welbers receives the Vidi for his research Reading Different Realities: How to Write News for a Polarized Society
Why do two people read the exact same news article but perceive a completely different reality? In our polarized society, citizens increasingly disagree on fundamental facts. Welbers investigates how the specific words and frames used by journalists accidentally trigger these divergent interpretations. By combining large-scale surveys with content analysis and artificial Intelligence, he maps these interpretational "blind spots" in Dutch news. Ultimately, Welbers develops a practical tool to help journalists anticipate how different audiences will read their texts, enabling them to report the news in a way that bridges societal divides rather than deepening them.
Read more
Lotte de Winde of Amsterdam UMC, affiliation VU, receives the Vidi grant for her research Exploring the matrix: how lymph node structure drives cancer spread and immune activity.
De Winde will investigate how changes in the matrix structure of lymph nodes affects the movement of cancer and immune cells. By combining an innovative human 3D lymphoma model and mechanistic research, she aims to uncover fundamental processes that drive lymphoma spread and immune regulation within lymph nodes. The results will advance scientific understanding of lymph node and cancer biology, and may inspire development of new therapies for lymphoma and other lymphoid cancers.
NWO Talent Programme
The aim of the NWO Talent Programme is to create creative space for adventurous, talented, pioneering researchers, in which they can conduct research of their own choosing, develop a line of research and further develop their talent. They receive up to 850,000 euros.
The Vidi target group consists of researchers who are in the process of transitioning to leadership positions, for which the Vidi grant can contribute to the researcher's further development in this area. Researchers who are eligible for a Vidi grant have academic qualities that clearly exceed the norm and demonstrate the development of leadership and mentoring skills.
Read more on the NWO website.