Achievements

Grants and Awards

• FNS grant for Juan Rojo to study the feeblest particles in the universe. The Swiss National Research Council (FNS) has awarded a CHF1.250M grant to a team composed by Prof. Dr. Anna Sfyrla (Univesite de Geneve) and Prof. Dr. Juan Rojo (VU Amsterdam & Nikhef) to fingerprint neutrinos and feebly interacting particles with the FASER experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
• EU grant awarded to Roberta Croce as member of Solar Fuels Production Consortium. Biophysicist Prof. Dr. Roberta Croce from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is a member of a European consortium aimed at converting solar energy and CO2 into butanol, an efficient and sustainable biofuel.
• Demonstrator funding for Imran Avci . Associate professor Imran Avci of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Biophotonics and Medical Imaging Group - receives funding for the project SOHO: A new approach for photonic microchip measurements with ultrahigh precision, speed, and sensitivity.
• Development of vibration-free cooling technology Einstein Telescope . VU physicist Joris van Heijningen is part of the Consortium ICVI that receives a NGFT ET subsidy for the development of vibration-free cooling technology Einstein Telescope. 
• NWO Take-off Phase2 Grant for the Startup Company of Dr. Imran Avci. The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded a Take-off Spring Round 2024, Phase 2: Early phase trajectories, grant to Rapid Photonics, which was co-founded by Associate Professor Imran Avci from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at VU Amsterdam. The grant totals €250,000.
• Peter Kraus takes next step towards application with ERC Proof of Concept grant. The research group of Peter Kraus receives an ERC Proof of Concept grant amounting 150 k€ to bring the innovation of Kraus’ ERC Starting grant on correlated materials closer to the application stage. The new project is called ‘Super-resolution microscopy for semiconductor metrology’ (MICROSEM).
• Research begins to make plastics circular. Ten research proposals, including one by scientists Sven Askes and Charusheela Ramanan from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, have been awarded funding under the call "Making Plastics Circular: Technical Innovations." These research projects will commence within the National Growth Fund Program Circular Plastics NL of NWO.
• NWO Summit Grant for the evolution of living cells from lifeless molecules. A large consortium involving Gijs Wuite as a Task leader, Professor in Physics of Living Systems from the department of Physics and Astronomy at the Vrije Universiteit has been awarded a NWO Summit Grant to work on the EVOLF programme. This program aims to bridge the knowledge gap between non-living and living matter by proposing to assemble a living synthetic cell from lifeless molecules. The ten-year funding from the Summit Grant will enable research groups to start the programme and play a prominent international role, thereby strengthening the long-term position of Dutch science. 
• Outstanding results for Physics and Astronomy in 2024. The Physics and Astronomy department is thrilled to share the exceptional results of the 2024 Nationale Studenten Enquête (NSE; National Student Survey) for the Bachelor in Physics and Astronomy.
• Annual LaserLaB Best Paper Award 2024. The winner of the Best Paper Award competition for young scientists was announced. This year's prize goes to Frank Cozijn from the Physics of Light group for article Lamb Dip of a Quadrupole Transition in H2 at Physical Review Letters vol 131, 073001, doi: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.073001
• Dr. Sven Askes, in collaboration with UT colleagues from civil engineering, has received a UT-VU grant of 40k€! This funding will support the innovative project aimed at enhancing landmine detection in conflict areas using thermal imaging with drones.
• The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - Staff Exchanges (SE) European Award A consortium of researchers, including VU Amsterdam and Nikhef, has been awarded a MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE Staff Exchange action for the High-Energy Intelligence (HeI) project. This project aims to achieve breakthroughs in Quantum Field Theory, Quantum Chromodynamics, String Theory, and Quantum Gravity through advanced AI and ML algorithms. Juan Rojo from the Amsterdam node will lead efforts to develop AI strategies to scrutinize proton structure, leveraging recent advancements in AI and ML. The EUR 700,000 funding will support these research activities over the next four years. This grant will foster collaboration across multiple European institutes, bridging fundamental physics and artificial intelligence.
• ERC Advanced Grant for Johannes de Boer. Physicist Johannes F. de Boer, professor of Biophotonics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been awarded an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). In this five-year research program 'Immuno-OCT', he will develop a new optical endoscopic imaging technique to detect cancer in the human body with a resolution 10 to 100 times higher than currently possible. The major challenge is to develop very small motorized catheters that can penetrate deep into the body to determine both the structure and the molecular composition of tissue with light.
• ERC Advanced Grant for Roberta Croce. Photosynthesis is necessary to sustain life on earth, but it is very inefficient. Biophysicist Roberta Croce receives an ERC (European Research Council) Advanced Grant for her research into improving photosynthesis. Currently, less than one percent of accessible solar energy is turned into biomass in crops, and plants only utilize visible light, discarding more than half of the sunlight that reaches us. This is particularly limiting for crops. Limits of photosynthesis . When plants grow close together, the lower leaves receive almost exclusively far-red light, which has been thought to be unusable for oxygenic photosynthesis. Recent discoveries, however, show that certain cyanobacteria, the ancestors of plant chloroplasts where photosynthesis takes place, can grow under far-red light. This insight challenges previous beliefs about the limits of photosynthesis.
• New investment in VU spin-off Rapid Photonics for even faster internet. Rapid Photonics B.V. is a spin-off of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Through the new convertible loan of €300,000, the company will be getting their technology market-ready to produce integrated photonic chips with lithium niobate, a next-generation material for integrated photonic chips.
• Prestigious NWO grant for research to understand the sense of touch in plants. You probably don't realize it when you walk on the grass: the blades of grass not only feel the pressure of your feet, but adapt their growth accordingly. But how do plants register forces, without a brain and central nervous system? The Green TE (Green Tissue Engineering) consortium will investigate how this works over the next 10 years. The group has been awarded a Gravitation subsidy of 22.8 million euros for this purpose. Prof. dr. ir. Gijs Wuite from the Physics of Living Systems group is one of the main co-applicants in this interdisciplinary consortium which is led by Prof. Dolf Weijers and Prof. Joris Sprakel of the Laboratory of Biochemistry of Wageningen University & Research.
• NWO Open Competition Science-M grant for dr. Matz Liebel. The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded an ENW-M grant to dr. Matz Liebel of the Biophotonics & Medical Imaging Group for his project Table to Farm: turnkey SERS for real-life applications. Analytical techniques play a crucial role in our daily lives, aiding medical diagnostics, ensuring clean food, water, and safe travel. The design of analytical platforms involves balancing specificity, precision, sensitivity, speed, and cost. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) assays have the potential for sophisticated, low-cost analysis, but current read-out platforms are slow, complex and very expensive, limiting their widespread use. FASTSERS offers a solution: an affordable, easy-to-use widefield SERS reader that maximizes SERS capabilities. Additionally, user-friendly SERS-sensing and barcoding assays will be developed, expanding the analytical potential of SERS beyond academic applications.
• NWO Open Technology Program Grant for DoPredict. The research project DoPredict: Dynamic 3D Biopsy Based Response to Treatment Prediction, led by Professor of Biophotonics and Medical Imaging Marloes Groot, has been awarded funding by the Open Technology Program from the NWO domain of Applied and Technical Sciences.  With the DOPREDICT project, the research team, consisting of Marloes Groot from VU LaserLab, Jan Willem Duitman (Respiratory Medicine, Amsterdam UMC), and Francesco Ciompi (Pathology, Radboud UMC), will develop a system to predict the outcome of lung treatment relatively quickly and simply by testing a combination of potentially applicable drugs on a small piece of the patient's tissue (biopsy).
• Dr. Anouk Post received NWO Faculty of Impact Award for Life Sciences & Health. From radiotherapy against prostate cancer to detecting biomarkers in sweat, and from new drugs against Alzheimer's disease to a camera the size of a pill, the new Faculty of Impact fellows want to bring these and more ground-breaking innovations to the market. With the Faculty of Impact the selected researchers with entrepreneurial ambitions will receive two years of intensive and personal guidance from experts in entrepreneurship, intellectual property and investment. They keep (or get) an appointment at their university for that period, but are exempted from administrative and teaching obligations. This gives them time and space to take their innovation into the world.
• NWO Perspectief funding for flat optics VU Amsterdam assistant professor Lyuba Amitonova, amongst others ARCNL group leader, is one of the participating researchers. With the Perspectief program, NWO challenges researchers to establish broad, cross-disciplinary consortia with industry, civil society organizations and governments to conduct research focused on societal challenges and key technologies.
• Prestigious Quantum Delta NL Award for our researchers . Dr. Maximilian Beyer and Dr. Laura Dreissen receive Quantum Delta NL award. Quantum Delta NL, in collaboration with NWO, announces that 19 Honorees have been awarded €10.4 Million in grants as part of the second call of the National programme’s Actionline 1 ‘Research & Innovation’. Quantum innovations in the categories of quantum sensing applications, quantum computing, and quantum networking were recognized. 

News

• Laura Dreissen, Assistant Professor from Quantum Metrology & Laser Application group, has been appointed as a new member of the Amsterdam Young Academy (AYA).
• Juan Rojo new Head of the Physics and Astronomy department. The Faculty of Science of VU Amsterdam has appointed Prof. Dr. Juan Rojo as Head of the Physics and Astronomy Department, effective from 1 January 2025, for a period of 4 years.
• Revolutionary Thorium Clock . Dr. Jeroen Koelemeij, a physicist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, comments on the revolutionary nature of this innovation, likening its potential impact to that of the atomic clock introduced seventy years ago. The thorium clock, which measures vibrations within the atomic nucleus itself, promises unprecedented precision, with the possibility of advancing technologies like quantum networks, improving internet speeds, and even enabling millimeter-accurate altitude measurements. 
• New Program Director of the Master Science, Business, and Innovation: Dr. Marie Louise Blankesteijn. Marie Louise Blankesteijn, Associate Professor of the Physics and Astronomy department at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, has been appointed as the new Program Director for the Master Science, Business, and Innovation. Her term as program director will commence in September, 2024. 
• New Program Director Physics and Astronomy Joint Degree BSc: Chase Broedersz. Chase Broedersz, Associate Professor of the Physics and Astronomy department at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, has been appointed as the new Program Director for the Bachelor's program in Physics and Astronomy. His term as program director will commence in September, 2024.
• Dr. Wouter Hulsbergen named Professor by Special Appointment. Dr. Wouter Hulsbergen named Professor by Special Appointment to the chair "Flavour Physics at the LHC", on behalf of the Faculty of Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics Nikhef.
• Interview with Jeroen Koelemeij and Florian Schreck in NRC. Jeroen Koelemeij and Florian Schreck were interviewed by journalist Dorine Schenk about the most accurate atomic clock's and GPS navigation. This interview was published on Saturday the 23rd of March in NRC Science section. Online: https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2024/03/20/de-nauwkeurigste-klokken-ter-wereld-worden-nog-beter-die-lopen-na-14-miljard-jaar-1-seconde-uit-de-pas-a4193617
• Highest accuracy achieved in laser spectroscopy of tritium molecules. Scientists of VU Amsterdam and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have employed an ultra-sensitive intracavity absorption technique in the near infrared to measure transition frequencies between ro-vibrational energy levels of the radioactive tritium hydride (HT) molecule. It exceeds the precision of corresponding theoretical predictions at the moment.
• New MNW & BMTP Program Director: John Kennis . Prof. Dr. John Kennis has been appointed as the new Program Director of MNW/BMTP
• In Memoriam: Professor Harold V.J. Linnartz. Prof. Harold Linnartz had in the period 2003 - 2005 an affiliation as a Senior researcher at Laser Centre Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and 2008 - 2013 a Special Chair appointment for Molecular Laboratory Astrophysics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. In 2011 Harold was appointed as Full Professor at Astrophysics Laboratory at Leiden University.
• Dr. Loreta Muscarella joins the Physics Department  as Assistant Professor in the section of PhotoConversion Materials

Highlighted Papers

• Dynamics of Dominance in Interacting Zebrafish - Dr. Greg Stephens
• Simple universal model captures complex plasma behavior - Dr. John Sheil
• Simple computer model able to predict behaviour of complex organism - Dr. Greg Stephens
• Real-Time Measurements of Photonic Microchips with Femtometer-Scale Spectral Precision and Ultrahigh Sensitivity – Dr. Imran Avcı
• Photosensory Receptors-Mechanisms and Effects - Dr. Volha Chukhutsina and Prof. Dr. John T.M. Kennis
• Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy of Scientists: A qualitative study on ATTRACT Phase 2 R&D&I Ventures - Dr. Marie Louise Blankesteijn
• Towards transformative experiential learning in science- and technology-based entrepreneurship education for sustainable technological innovation - Dr. Marie Louise Blankesteijn
• Highlighted Paper: Ultrafast switching with light in correlated materials. Materials that refuse to fit into theory are often the most fascinating. They challenge researchers to try harder to understand their peculiar behaviour, especially when their properties are promising for technological applications. Researchers in the High Harmonic Generation & EUV Science group of Peter Kraus at ARCNL, also assistant professor at VU Amsterdam, have recently unravelled some of the mysteries of a so-called correlated material and found a way to manipulate its resistivity with light. This paves the way for opto-electronic ultrafast switching in future microelectronics. The study was recently published in Physical Review Letters.

Grants and Awards

• Arie den Boef appointed as Fellow of the Netherlands Academy of Engineering At last week’s ASML Technology conference, ARCNL group leader and VU professor Arie den Boef has been awarded with the title of ASML Corporate Fellow. Only one other person currently working for ASML holds this title, which shows the great appreciation of his work for the company ASML.
• ERC Starting Grant Award for physicist Sven Askes The researcher receives the grant for the HEATPULSE project. With his research, Askes aims to challenge the traditional approach for the use of catalytic reactors in the chemical industry. These reactors are typically used to produce essential building blocks for our society, such as raw materials for plastics and fertilisers.
• Honorable mention Loreta Angela Muscarella for Christiaan Huygens Science Award Loreta Angela Muscarella has awarded 'honorable mention’ for the Prestigious Christiaan Huygens Science Award, an annual honor presented by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) to recognize exceptional achievements in the world of science. Muscarella has been selected as one of the three nominees for the prize, whereas the first prize has been awarded to Dr. Nico Hendrickx.
• Gold Medal award for Roberta Croce Roberta Croce has been honored with the Gold Medal award for Excellence in Photobiology. The award is presented during the biennial congress of the European Society of Photobiology to eminent scientists recognized globally for their exceptional contributions to the field of Photobiology and to the ESP activities. 
• ERC Starting Grant for Maximilian Beyer Physicist Maximilian Beyer receives a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for his research into laser cooling of molecular helium. Beyers research is focused on precision measurements of the simplest molecules in our universe - molecular hydrogen (H₂) and its ion (H₂⁺) – to test quantum electrodynamics.
• John Sheil develops lithography light source simulation capability with Veni ARCNL group leader and VU physicist John Sheil receives a Veni grant from NWO for his project “ARIES”. Sheil will develop a unique laser-plasma simulation capability to guide the design of tomorrow’s more powerful and more sustainable EUV sources for nanolithography.
• Laura Dreissen develops quantum sensor for dark matter with Veni grant What is the origin and composition of dark matter? Although 85% of all the matter in our universe consists of dark matter, we still know very little about it. Physicist Laura Dreissen therefore plans to use her Veni grant to search for signs of this mysterious and remarkable phenomenon.
• NWO funding for Andrea Baldi to study valuable metal nanoparticles features For his research proposal titled: Selective CO2 photoreduction on plasmonic nanoparticles, VU Amsterdam physicist Dr Andrea Baldi, is awarded a NWO Open Competition Domain Science grant. The funding will be used to study how metal nanoparticles under illumination can drive CO2 towards specific desired products.
• Max Beyer joins as new member Die Junge Akademie and receives Ewald Wicke Price Every year Die Junge Akademie, academy for excellent young academics, welcomes new members. This year, VU physicist Max Beyer will join as a new member, a great achievement! For five years, the members collaborate on interdisciplinary projects and express their vision of shaping the scientific and academic system, in addition to continuing their research.
• Peter Kraus receives Vidi and NWO Open Competition funding Peter Kraus, VU physicist and ARCNL group leader Peter Kraus has received the Vidi grant for his ARCNL research HIMALAYA, which focuses on super-resolution for ''dancing electrons.'' The funding will allow Kraus to conduct this research at ARCNL. The researcher also received funding from the NWO Open Competition for a project called "Ultrafast X-ray access to strongly correlated designer materials" (UltraX).
• Million grant for early detection and treatment of lung cancer by Marloes Groot Can you simply take a biopsy from a lung tumour via the trachea, and then treat that tumour locally in the same procedure? According to the IMAGIO research team, including VU professor of Biophotonics & Medical Imaging Marloes Groot, this is getting closer. Additional and new technology is being developed that allows a doctor to find lung cancer earlier, results in better identifying and treat the cancer more vigorously.
• Andreas Freise receives NWO grant for improvements Virgo detector VU physicist Andreas Freise has received funding from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) Scientific Research Infrastructure programme to further improvements to the Advanced Virgo detector for gravitational waves in Pisa. Freise leads the Virgo innovation project at Nikhef. NWO has awarded 2.7 million euros to the project.
• Peter Kraus receives NWO grant for visualising structures in computer chips VU physicist and ARCNL group leader Peter Kraus has received funding from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) Open Technology Programme for the project 'Integrated nanophotonic and extreme-ultraviolet access to semiconductor metrology' (NANOXUV). NWO has awarded 1 million euros to the NANOXUV project.
• Volha Chukhutsina receives L’Oréal Unesco For Women in Science fellowship Biophysicist Volha Chukhutsina has received a research grant of 30,000 euros. On April 18, the L'Oréal Unesco For Women in Science Fellowships and Rising Talent Awards were presented for the 11th time in the field of Life Sciences and STEM disciplines. VU biophysicist Volha Chukhutsina received one of the research grants. This gives her the opportunity to spend a few months working on her research at the prestigious Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS-KNAW) in Amsterdam.
• ERC Consolidator Grant voor Oscar Versolato Physicist Oscar Versolato has received a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) of two million euro. The grant allows him to investigate the ideas put forward in the research proposal ‘Next-Generation Light Source: Driving plasmas to power tomorrow’s nanolithography (MOORELIGHT)’. Versolato is a group leader at ARCNL and associate professor of physics at VU Amsterdam.

• ERC Starting Grant for Photonics for Matz Liebel
• Andreas Freise appointed as project director Einstein Telescope
• NWO grant award to David Dulin
• Physicists David Dulin and Jeroen Koelemeij of VU Amsterdam have been awarded a grant within the Open Competition Domain Science-XL programme
• Max Beyer and Jeroen Koelemeij have  awarded an ENW-M2 grant by NWO
• David Dulin awarded with NIH grant
• Roberta Croce and Catarina Dutilh Novaes elected member of KNAW
• Oscar Versolato, Stefan Witte and Wim Ubachs have received funding from the NWO Open Technology Programme for their project ‘Plasma driven by variable-wavelength laser for next-generation EUV sources for nanolithography’. The total project volume amounts to 775.000 euro.
• Physicist Stefan Witte awarded Vici grant
• Marlous Blankesteijn receives BETA Innovation Prize 2021
• Marlous Blankesteijn receives BETA Innovation Prize 2021
  

• Physicist Jeroen Koelemeij awarded big U.S. research grant
• Raoul Frese awarded physics2market grant
• Physicist Johannes de Boer, working with lung specialists Peter Bonta and Jouke Annema from Amsterdam UMC, has developed a new technique for determining muscle thickness in the airways of asthma patients
• Erwin Peterman received NWO grants for their innovative fundamental research
• Imran Avci receives Open Technology Programme AES funding
• Roberta Croce has received a Human Science Foundation grant for a research project into photosynthesis
• eScience "Accelerating Scientific Discovery" grant for Juan Rojo
• Davide Iannuzzi awarded ERC PoC grant

• ERC Proof of Concept grant for Wim Ubachs
• Juan Rojo awarded with NWO-OC KLEIN
• Gijs Wuite, Jeroen Aerts, and Pieter Rein ten Wolde, endowed professor of Physics of Living Systems and AMOLF group leader, have been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant.