Vici grant for seven Utrecht University minds
The Dutch Research Council (DRC, in Dutch: NWO) has awarded Vici grants to seven researchers from Utrecht University and the UMC Utrecht. They will each receive up to EUR 1.5 million for research.
Vici is one of the largest personal scientific grants in the Netherlands. Advanced researchers in the Netherlands can apply for it. The award offers laureates the opportunity to develop an innovative line of research and further develop their own research group over the next five years. A total of 34 researchers will receive the Vici grant.
Laureates and research topics
Tracing Marine Macroplastics by Unraveling the Ocean’s Multiscale Transport Processes
The plastic polluting our ocean is an atrocity, and this project will help clean-up efforts. And at the same time, the floating plastic provides a unique opportunity to improve our fundamental understanding of ocean transport processes.
Prof. dr. Erik van Sebille
Marine plastic pollution is a growing global problem, with plastic litter being found almost everywhere in our ocean. But the concentration of plastic is not uniform, with some beaches having much higher concentrations than others. So why does marine plastic accumulate in these hotspots? And how do ocean processes control this accumulation? With his Vici project, Prof. Erik van Sebille aims to better understand the accumulation of marine plastic in northwestern European waters. His research team will unravel and predict the oceanic transport, fragmentation, and beaching processes that act on floating macroplastic: plastic items larger than 5 centimeters.
Bridging the gap: How proteins rule cell junctions and cell junctions rule proteins
It is fantastic that we can now start new research into the processes that provide interaction and communication between cells.
Dr. ir. Bert Janssen
In his Vici project, dr. Bert Janssen will visualize at the atomic level how proteins keep cells in our body at the right distance from each other and how this affects communication between cells. These tiny and precisely calibrated distances have a major influence on the formation and functioning of cell tissues. For example, in the nervous system, the distance determines how fast nerve cells can function. It also determines how cells differentiate into specific cell types and tissues. When this distance is not properly regulated, diseases such as cancer and neuronal disorders can develop. Understanding more about how proteins operate between cells may provide new leads for treating these diseases.