The laureates are, in alphabetical order:
Biologist and ecologist Mirte Bosse receives the Vidi for her research Genetic Guardians: Saving Asian Elephants through Pangenomics.
The ExPANsion project of Bosse pioneers pangenomics to conserve the endangered Asian elephant, analyzing its diverse populations to address challenges of environmental change. By examining genetic distinctiveness, it offers insights into the risks of inbreeding and hybridization. She will develop novel genomic parameters to assess population hybridization's potential for genetic rescue and species conservation. This approach provides early warnings and opportunities for effective conservation strategies.
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Mathematician Magnus Bakke Botnan receives the Vidi for his research Measuring the shape of data.
The human brain easily recognizes the circular shape formed by a few points scattered around a circle. But how do you construct algorithms which detect such non-linear shape in data?
That is the topic of persistent homology, a central part of the field of topological data analysis, which has been applied to many areas of science and engineering. While persistent homology enjoys important theoretical properties, it often fails to capture the shape of noisy data. The goal of Botnans project is to understand the mathematical foundations of a generalization which addresses such shortcomings.
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Chemist Ivana Drienovská receives the Vidi for her research Greening Our World: Unlocking Enzymatic Solutions for the Fluorination Reaction.
Enzymes have massive potential for the sustainable production of chemicals. Unfortunately, the perfect enzyme for a specific task sometimes simply doesn't exist in nature. Fluorination is one of the most desired chemical reactions, as more than 20% of all pharmaceuticals require it for their synthesis. Drienovská will explore different artificial enzymes in order to find an efficient enzyme catalyst for this challenging reaction.
Researcher in human genetics Amélie Fréal of Amsterdam University Medical Center - Location VUmc receives the Vidi for her research Neurons in balance.
The perception of our environment relies on well-organized networks in our brain. But as our environment is constantly changing, these networks need to adapt to effectively process this information, without getting over- or under-active. Neurons communicate using electrical signals, which are generated in the axon initial segment. Changing the molecular composition of the axon initial segment is a powerful way for neurons to adapt their communication and the overall activity of networks. The Vidi projects of Fréal aims at understanding the mechanisms controlling the composition of the axon initial segment and how it participates in the proper functioning of neuronal networks.
Professor of migration law Lieneke Slingenberg receives the Vidi for her research Who makes the legislation in migration law?
Much legislation in migration law is made by the executive, instead of the legislature. Many rules are laid down in subordinate legislation, that does not involve parliament, such as administrative decrees and ministerial regulations. This creates tension with the classical ideas of the rule of law and separation of powers, that particularly serve to temper the potential for arbitrary power. Slingenberg examines the relation between the executive and the legislator in Dutch and European migration law. Is executive rulemaking sufficiently constrained to prevent arbitrariness?
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Assistant Professor of Languages and Cultures of the Ancient Near East Shiyanthi Thavapalan receives the Vidi for her research Materials and Science in Ancient Mesopotamia.
Thavapalan’s project is about the entanglements between human beings, the material world and technology in ancient Iraq (ca. 2000-330 BCE). Recently, it has been recognized that the people of this civilization did not perceive a sharp separation between nature and culture. What then was their worldview? Looking at millennia-old texts and objects, she will ask how ancient Mesopotamians conceptualized the world they lived in and how technologies and tools played a role in gaining scientific knowledge.
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Mathematician Alessandro Zocca receives the Vidi for his research Power Network Optimization in the Age of Climate Extremes.
Zocca’s project addresses the growing challenge of extreme weather events, such as floods, heatwaves, and windstorms, which seriously threaten the reliability of energy networks. These low-probability high-impact events are spatially correlated and can cause widespread physical and economic damage. Traditional methods fall short in assessing the resilience of these complex networks when facing these events. Combining applied probability, graph theory, and stochastic optimization, he will develop new models and strategies for enhancing the resilience of these networks. Zocca focuses on finding cost-effective and flexible network reconfiguration strategies that operators can use to prevent and mitigate damage during such extreme weather events.
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NWO Talent Programme
The NWO Talent Programme gives researchers the freedom to pursue their own research based on creativity and passion. The NWO Talent Programme encourages innovation and curiosity. Curiosity-driven research contributes to and prepares us for tomorrow’s society. That is why NWO focuses on diversity in terms of researchers, domains and backgrounds. Together with the Veni and Vici grants, Vidi is part of the NWO Talent Programme. They receive in total 86,7 million euros.
NWO selects researchers based on the academic quality and innovative character of the research proposal, scientific and/or societal impact of the proposed project and the quality of the researcher.
Read more on the NWO website.