SELF-EVALUATION DOCUMENT OF THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY FACULTY OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY UTRECHT UNIVERSITY
This is the self-evaluation document of the Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy prepared for its upcoming research assessment organized by the Governing Board of Utrecht University. It is prepared on the basis of the Evaluation Protocol [1] which is derived from the Standard Evaluation Protocol 2003-2009 for public research organizations in the Netherlands [2]. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess against international standard the quality, productivity, relevance and viability of the activities of the Research Institute and its thirteen research programs during the seven-year period that ended on 31 December 2002.
Part A describes the Research Institute as a whole and Part B the separate research programs. Part B is prepared in close collaboration with the program leaders of the respective programs. Besides extensive descriptions of the mission and the organization of the Institute and its programs, detailed annual data are presented regarding the research staff, the productivity and the funding.
This report has been approved by the Governing Board of Utrecht University. It will be submitted as an input document for the evaluation of the Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy to the Evaluation Committee. The Evaluation Committee consists of Prof. dr. Edouard Brézin, (ENS, Paris; Chair); Prof. dr. Marcel Arnould, (Université Libre de Bruxelles); Prof. dr. Paul M. Chaikin, (Princeton University); Prof. dr. Jos Eggermont, (University of Calgary); Prof. dr. Michael Ghil, (UCLA, ENS Paris); Prof. dr. Jürgen Mlynek, (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin). The site visit is set for 10-12 September 2003.
Prof. dr. B. de Wit
Director Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Utrecht University
[1] Evaluation protocol 2003 for the review of the Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy of Utrecht University, March 2003. [2] Standard Evaluation Protocol 2003-2009 for public research organizations in the Netherlands, December 2002.
Table of contents
Section A:...... Documentation regarding the Institute 1. Evaluation of the research organization ...... 5 1.1. Strategy...... 5 1.2. Leadership...... 14 1.3. Management ...... 15 1.4. Researchers and other personnel...... 19 1.5. Resources, funding and facilities...... 29 1.6. Processes in research, internal and external collaboration...... 33 1.7. Academic reputation...... 33 1.8. Internal evaluation and analysis, perspectives and expectations for the research...... 33 1.9. External validation ...... 34
Section B:...... Documentation per research program 1. Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics ...... 37 2. Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics ...... 53 3. Surfaces, Interfaces and Devices ...... 75 4. History and Foundations of Science...... 113 5. Physics of Man: Human Perception...... 139 6. Perceptual Motor Integration...... 161 7. Physics Education...... 175 8. Subatomic Physics...... 197 9. Astrophysics ...... 227 10. Marine and Atmospheric Research...... 287 11. Quantum Gravity, Strings and Elementary Particles...... 357 12. Condensed Matter Theory, Statistical and Computational Physics ...... 339 13. Solar Astronomy...... 431
APPENDIX A Faculty Board, Research Programs and Chairs ...... 451 APPENDIX B Description of the Research Schools ...... 455 APPENDIX C List of Acronyms ...... 459 APPENDIX D References...... 463
University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
Section A: Documentation regarding the level of the Institute
1. Evaluation of the research organization
Name of the Institute: Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy.
Date of establishment: The Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy was officially founded in 2001. Most of the Institute’s research activities were initiated prior to 1996 and were part of the research of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy.
Research area and mission: Research in pure and applied physics and astronomy, driven both by questions of a fundamental scientific nature and by questions motivated by societal needs. The research covers a broad spectrum and consists of atomic and molecular physics, condensed matter physics, materials science, subatomic physics, theoretical and computational physics, biophysics, astrophysics and solar astronomy, human perception and perceptual motor integration, marine and atmospheric research, physics education, and history and foundations of science. The research aims at being competitive on a national and international scale and is expected to be well linked to corresponding bachelors, masters and PhD programs.
1.1. Strategy Research area in the present organizational context: The programs of the Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy[3] cover a broad spectrum of present-day research in physics and astronomy and include a variety of interdisciplinary activities, motivated by questions of pure and applied science and societal relevance. During the evaluation period 1996-2002 the Faculty has seen a continuation of the already ongoing movement towards a more focused and coherent research profile with greater visibility in the educational programs. In this process, the position of selected excellent programs and of interdisciplinary research was to be strengthened. The presence of a sufficiently broad research profile was deemed important for attracting and stimulating high-quality graduate and undergraduate students. In this drive towards a focused and yet broad research profile, scientific excellence, synergy between the research directions, international orientation, and the ability to attract outside funding, were identified as important elements. These elements are still relevant today. Concurrent with these changes in the research focus, the Faculty had to set up a flexible human resources policy and to maintain/extend an appropriate basic infrastructure and corresponding financial support. With regard to the research funding, the Research Institute provides the base funding for the research programs, which includes the salary cost of the tenured research staff and the local infrastructure, while a major part of the equipment and the salary cost of the non-tenured research staff is obtained from external funding agencies.
[3] The name Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy (or Research Institute) will be used throughout the document to designate the research part of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
The present organization of the Research Institute is based on the by-laws that were adopted by the Faculty, and subsequently approved by the University Board, in 2001. These by-laws define research programs as the basic units of research and research management within the Research Institute. As of 31 December 2002, the Research Institute has thirteen research programs, which also play an indirect role in the mission of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy in undergraduate and graduate education. The programs are connected to national and international research organizations. On a formal level, there are affiliations to seven national research schools. A description of these schools, which play an important role in the associated PhD programs, is provided in appendix B. All research schools have received a formal accreditation from the Accreditation Committee for Research Schools in the Netherlands (ECOS), established in 1992 by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) at the request of the government. Currently the Research Institute is the commissioner of two of these research schools, namely the Dutch Research School of Theoretical Physics and the Buys Ballot Research School.
Below we present a short overview of the thirteen research programs of the Research Institute with their formal affiliations to national research schools, as well as to other research institutes and (international) scientific organizations.
- Program 1: Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics. - Program 2: Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics. - Program 3: Surfaces, Interfaces and Devices. Programs 1, 2 and 3 are affiliated with the Debye Institute and Research School, which is based on a collaboration between the Faculties of Physics and Astronomy and of Chemistry.
- Program 4: History and Foundations of Science. This program constitutes the Institute for History and Foundations of Science (IGG) which consists of two distinct sections; one on the history of mathematics and the natural sciences and the other on the foundations of physics. The history section is affiliated with the Huizinga Research Institute and Graduate School of Cultural History, which is a collaboration between the groups of the universities in Amsterdam (UvA and VU), Enschede, Heerlen (Open University), Leiden, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Rotterdam and Utrecht.
- Program 5: Physics of Man: Human Perception - Program 6: Perceptual Motor Integration. Programs 5 and 6 are affiliated with the Helmholtz Institute and Research School. The institute is a collaboration between the Faculties of Physics and Astronomy, Biology, Medicine and Social Sciences of Utrecht University. The research school is a collaboration between the Universities of Amsterdam (UvA and VU), Rotterdam and Utrecht
- Program 7: Physics Education. This program is affiliated with the UU Center for Science and Mathematics Education. The institutions participating in the Center are the Departments of Biology Education, Chemical Education and Physics Education, and the Freudenthal Institute for Mathematics Education.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
- Program 8: Subatomic Physics. This program is a partner in the National Institute for Nuclear and High-Energy Physics (NIKHEF) and in the Research School for Subatomic Physics. Through NIKHEF, the program participates in experiments at high-energy ion colliders at CERN and BNL.
- Program 9: Astrophysics. - Program 13: Solar Astronomy. Program 9 and 13 constitute the Astronomical Institute Utrecht (SIU), which is affiliated with the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA). NOVA is a collaboration between the universities of Amsterdam (UvA), Groningen, Leiden, Nijmegen and Utrecht.
- Program 10: Marine and Atmospheric Research. This program is affiliated with the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU), which is based on a collaboration between the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy and the Faculty of Geographical Sciences. It is also affiliated with the Buys Ballot Research School (BBOS), the Netherlands Center for Climate Research (CKO), the Netherlands Center for Coastal Research (NCK) and the Research School COACh (Co-operation on Oceanic, Atmospheric and Climate Changes studies). COACh is the Dutch-German research consortium in atmospheric and climate research, supported by the German and Dutch Ministries for Science and Education (BMBF and OC&W), the Max-Planck-Society, and Utrecht University.
- Program 11: Quantum Gravity, Strings and Elementary Particles. - Program 12: Condensed Matter Theory, Statistical and Computational Physics. Program 11 and 12 constitute the Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITF), which is affiliated with the Dutch Research School of Theoretical Physics (DRSTP). The DRSTP is a collaboration between the universities of Amsterdam (UvA), Eindhoven, Groningen, Leiden, Nijmegen and Utrecht.
International contacts are vital for maintaining a good research climate and for keeping abreast of the developments in the various research fields. Most of them are between individual researchers and they take various forms. The Faculty tries to assist the researchers whenever possible in maintaining and developing these contacts. The Faculty has several visiting chairs, such as the Debye Chair (shared with the Faculty of Chemistry), the Kramers Chair (theoretical physics) and the Minnaert Chair (astronomy), which attract highly esteemed researchers to teach special courses on current topics. Many of the research programs participate in European networks or organize international conferences and/or workshops. There are also many contacts at the national level. Several researchers from other Dutch universities and research institutes hold adjunct or part-time professorships in the Faculty. For further details, we refer to Part B of this report.
Changes in the research organization: The Research Institute was founded in 2001 and its research programs were then defined as basic research units of the Faculty. Prior to this policy change the eight existing research entities, which are also called ‘research institutes’,
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit played this role within the Faculty. [4] Three of these belonged exclusively to the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, and five were embedded in formal collaborations with other UU Faculties and Departments. For historical reasons, these institutes differed substantially in organizational structure. The ones that operated within the context of a formal collaboration between different UU Faculties and Departments were faced with differences in management structures and culture of accountability between these organizations. Difficult policy decisions involving different groups within the institutes, were often not possible in the collegial atmosphere. In a number of cases, the size and structure of the institutes had obviously stretched the natural span of control. Consequently, institute directors could not exercise their formal responsibility for the institute. Moreover, since budget allocations were based on a standardized set of input parameters, on which the individual director had little influence, there was a certain lack of accountability throughout the research organization. Over time, this became an obstacle to improve the professional quality of the Faculty as a modern research organization.
For these reasons, the Faculty Board decided in the spring of 2001 to adopt new by-laws for the Faculty. As a consequence, the basic units of the research organization are now the research programs organized in the Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy. Each of these programs has a program leader who has the overall responsibility for the program, with respect to both quality and cohesion of the research and with respect to the budget provided by the Faculty. The program leader is responsible for the internal coordination and for maintaining and developing external contacts to the extent that they concern the program as a whole. Full professors (each program has at least one chair) participate in and are committed to a program and they have their own responsibility towards research and teaching. While full professors have direct access to the dean and the Faculty Board, and may share in the running of the program on a day-to-day basis, the final and overall responsibility for the program and its budget rests with the program leader. The research institutes remain important for research and teaching, both as a home base for researchers from the corresponding disciplines, as platforms for various (national or international) networks and as actual focal points of the integration of research and teaching. Many research institutes operate in a multidisciplinairy context, and a large amount of synergy is obtained by optimizing coherence, multidisciplinarity and size.
The identification of the thirteen research programs of the Research Institute was done after extensive consultation with the scientific staff and the institute directors. The present program composition reflects to a considerable extent the preferences of the research staff and this is one of the reasons why research programs differ in size. For instance, program 10 coincides fully with the part of the Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research (IMAU) within the Faculty, and the program leader is also the director of the institute. Programs 9 and 13 comprise the Astronomical Institute Utrecht (SIU), and program 11 and 12 comprise the Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITF). These institutes have a director (not necessarily the program leader), who is responsible for the overall of the institute, which mission was explained above. Depending on the structure of the institute and on the personalities involved, the program leader and/or the director should play a role as inspirational leader. On
[4] Partly for historical reasons we will use the name ‘research institutes’ for these entities, to be distinguished from the ‘Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy’.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit the other hand, there are also programs, that belong to a research institute that involves more then one Faculty, such as the programs 1, 2, and 3, which belong to the Debye Institute established as a formal collaboration between the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy and the Faculty of Chemistry. The director of the Debye Institute is responsible for the overall scientific mission of the Debye Institute and accountable to the two Faculties, wherean the program leaders are accountable only to the Research Institute.
Each research program is hence part of its own characteristic environment, which may involve an embedding into a research institute belonging to either one or several UU Faculties, and/or which may be affiliated to a research school organized within the university or as a national research school. The structure of the Research Institute with the research programs as basic units clearly defines the managerial and financial responsibilities in a way that ensures a sufficient span of control and a realistic accountability level of the program leader. The program structure also provides the necessary flexibility for the research programs to develop according to their needs. The overall complexity of this setting is not primarily the result of the choice of research programs as the basic units, but is rather an unavoidable feature of any research organization in a modern university.
Actions taken based on the 1995 VSNU assessment: The 1995 VSNU assessment was an evaluation of physics research of the Dutch universities. This evaluation system has recently been abandonded, and replaced by the present evaluation system. The old VSNU evaluation system was more directed to past performance and laid less emphasis on the corresponding necessary resources and broader mission of the institutes. The conclusions of the review committee were published by the VSNU. [5]
Apart from commenting on the specific research activities, the committee reflected on the broad profile of the UU research activity with multiple small groups. This was seen as too diverse and, in the opinion of the committee, required correction. Other problems noted were the age distribution of the research staff, which restricted career development opportunities of the young staff, and the low number of research-active staff.
The process of focusing on priority areas of research was already well underway before the 1995 research assessment through the UU policy (started in the late eighties) of establishing priority fields, research institutes and research schools. In fact, the system of research policy and management that was in place in the Faculty in 1995, drew a compliment from the committee. The implementation of this system was therefore vigorously extended following the 1995 recommendations. In doing so, the limitations explained above became apparent. That led to the establishment of the Research Institute and the present research programs. The Research Institute has an annual cycle of planning and control (P&C, see section 2.1), during which the program leaders submit their research plans and budget requests for the coming year.
[5] 1996 VSNU – Quality assessment of research: an analysis of physics in the Dutch universities in the nineties.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
As will be explained in 1.4 the Faculty has addressed the problems of the age distribution of the research staff by adopting new hiring policies and recruiting young talent. However, researchers are much more mobile at present and talented researchers are scarce on an international scale, so that also a few of the recently hired younger staff members have meanwhile left. As a result of this, scouting and recruiting new staff has to have a continuous priority. The dean and directors have already devoted a lot of time to recruiting and in the future the program leaders will also have to invest time in this activity on a more regular basis. The program leaders are stimulated to identify young talent and suggest these for (semi)permanent positions. Here, it is important to make use of the so-called "Vernieuwingsimpuls" of NWO, which is a national program aimed at attracting or keeping young talented researchers. These days, rejuvenating the staff is seen as a top priority and much more attention is given to the career development of assistant and associate professors and to female researchers.
Just before 1995, the various research programs had an agreed level of personnel support from the Faculty. [6] Initially, the 1995 numbers were agreed upon to cope with anticipated budget cuts, but when those did not quite materialize, it was decided to use the available funds to finance the rejuvenation of the research staff. In this spirit the Faculty decided in 1997 to carry out a "quality boost" in accord with the recommendations of the 1995 VSNU assessment, which was later incorporated in new initiatives at the university and at the national level (known as "breedtestrategie" and "dieptestrategie"). Various elements of this boost will be indicated below at the level of the specific programs. Also in this context, the Faculty reserved some funds for new activities, possibly to be organized in new programs. The Faculty made a financial reservation for physics of the life sciences. Attempts were made to attract new talent for this new line of research, which could possibly be clustered with the activities of neighbouring UU Faculties, such as Chemistry and Biology. The Faculty is also discussing with the UU Academic Biomedical Cluster (ABC) the possibility of setting up joint projects related to the life sciences. Although Utrecht University has enough potential here, this approach has thus far not been successful. This strategy will continue to be pursued in the future.
Another attempt to increase the potential for attracting talented researchers was the formation of the Spinoza Institute in 1998. This institute was intended to serve as a platform for boosting new research programs, not restricted by any of the traditions that the existing research institutes and research programs might have, with the possibility of granting an associated member status to researchers from other universities. The first program (on quantum gravity and string theory) was organized around the (later) Nobel laureate, prof. G. ’t Hooft. A second program was set up on condensed matter theory. The Spinoza Institute did gain international recognition and its existence was clearly helpful in attracting new staff. Nevertheless, its success has been limited so far, both because it turned out to be difficult to attract programs in other fields than theoretical physics and because of the fact that two
[6] This was not just in terms of fte's, but took into account the salary levels, as well as possible external funding. For that reason these numbers cannot be compared to the number of fte's listed in the tables for the research staff, but they served as a financial envelope for the various programs. Some programs always remained within these envelopes, while others had persistent trouble bringing their human resources in line with the financial perspectives.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit leading professors in these programs resigned to accept positions in North America (in Princeton and in the University of British Columbia). Nevertheless, the Faculty has decided to continue the institute as an instrument for boosting new (interdisciplinary) research activities in the future.
Changes in the research programs: The VSNU committee also commented on the merits of the different programs. Since the program composition has changed somewhat during the evaluation period, we will briefly summarize the program developments, linking the 1995 situation to the present one. (The designation UU-* refers to the numbering of the research programs in the 1995 VSNU report.)
- Atom optics and ultrafast dynamics (1), Soft condensed matter and biophysics (2), Surfaces, interfaces and devices (3). These are the three programs of the Research Institute that belong to the Debye Institute. They evolved from the four programs UU-1: Atomic, molecular and surface physics, UU-2: Materials science of surfaces and thin layers, UU-3: Molecular biophysics, UU-4: Condensed matter physics, that were described in the VSNU assessment. The activities in program UU-1 that were related to laser physics and cold gases, were integrated with the condensed matter program UU-4 into the present program 1 on atom optics and ultrafast dynamics. Two new professors were appointed. This combination reflects a trend towards a substantial overlap of traditional atomic and molecular physics and condensed matter physics and the resulting program has become more focused. A substantial strenghtening of soft condensed matter led to program 2 on soft condensed matter and biophysics, in which also the former program UU-3 is contained. A new full professor and two assistant professors were appointed as part of the quality boost described earlier. The group has meanwhile attracted considerable extra funding and its activities in the physics of colloids combine well with the Physical and Colloid Chemistry Group of the Faculty of Chemistry, which also belongs to the Debye Institute and which has an excellent research reputation.[7] The activities in surface physics and thin layers of the programs UU-1 and UU-2 were combined into program 3 on surfaces, interfaces and devices. Here a new full professor was appointed. This program, which attracts considerable external funding, covers many aspects of materials science of surfaces and thin films, exploiting two large facilities: the Utrecht Solar Energy Laboratory and the Utrecht Surface Analysis Laboratory.
- History and foundations of science (4) This program already existed in 1995 (listed as UU-11). An important development was the appointment of a new full professor in the history of science. The VSNU committee did not evaluate this program. It was additionally supported by extra funds from the University Board (‘Pareltjes’).
- Physics of man: human perception (5), Perceptual motor integration (6) These two programs evolved from the program UU-9: Information processing in autonomous systems. Because of the decision to form separate programs, program 5 and 6 belong to the smaller programs of the Research Institute. The VSNU committee was very
[7] 2002 VSNU - Quality assessment of research: assessment of chemistry and chemical engineering.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit positive about this group and noted a trend towards a further integration of activities. Program 6 was strengthened meanwhile by a new appointment. These programs obtained additional support as part of the quality boost in order to match the extra funding from the 'breedtestrategie'.
- Physics education (7) This program coincides with the program UU-12: Concept development and curriculum research in physics education. The VSNU committee did not evaluate this group. During the evaluation period two new (part-time) full professors have been appointed
- Subatomic physics (8) This program grew out of program UU-8.1: Subatomic physics. Its research has become more focused and is now mainly directed towards physics with high-energy heavy-ion colliders. The program leader is responsible for the Dutch effort (through NIKHEF) in the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. As part of the physics start-up of ALICE, the group is now also involved in the STAR detector at RHIC (Brookhaven, USA). In the 1995 visitation, this program was accompanied by two other programs, UU-8.2 and UU- 8.3, which were directed to dating with cosmogenic radionuclides and to computational physics and applied computer science. The dating activity still exists as of today, but it has been transformed into a facility with a large service component. It is therefore not embedded in one of the research programs. Computational physics is currently distributed over the various programs (in particular, program 2 and 13).
- Astrophysics (9) This program was not considered as part of the 1995 VSNU assessment but was evaluated as part of the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA). Until recently, solar astronomy was also part of this program, but in view of the considerable instrumentation effort for the Dutch Open Telescope (DOT), it was decided to organize the solar astronomy activities separately in program 13. The combined budget of the two programs was always somewhat above the level agreed to in 1995, but this was compensated by the extra funds made available by the Faculty in the context of the quality boost to match the new external funding obtained through NOVA ('dieptestrategie').
- Marine and atmospheric research (10) This program fully coincides with the 1995 program UU-10, which was highly rated in the VSNU evaluation. It was the only program that obtained a structural increase from the Faculty of 3 fte research positions as compared to the level agreed to in 1995, augmented by substantial extra contributions from the government and NWO, as well as directly from the University Board.
- Quantum gravity, strings and elementary particles (11) This program fully coincides with the 1995 program UU-5, which was highly acclaimed in the VSNU evaluation. It received financial contributions from the Faculty, the University Board and NWO as extra support for the Nobel laureate, prof. G. ’t Hooft. In reaction to the Nobel Prize, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) made extra funds available for starting an international masters program in Theoretical Physics linked to this program and to program 12.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
- Condensed matter theory, statistical and computational physics (12) This program coincides with the 1995 program UU-6. Since the beginning of the evaluation period the program has changed considerably in scope, partly in response to the comments made by the 1995 VSNU committee. The research in cold atoms and in condensed matter theory was strengthened with several new appointments. Recently, in 2003, one of these positions became vacant.
- Solar astronomy (13) This is the new program in solar astronomy, which is responsible for the construction and scientific exploitation of the Dutch Open Telescope. The Faculty is seeking the appointment of a full professor in solar astronomy, who will become the program leader.
Beta-federation: Following more than a year of discussions and deliberations, the University Board in March 2003 decided to change the by-laws of Utrecht University. These changes imply that the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy together with the Faculties of Mathematics and Informatics, Biology, Chemistry and the Pharmaceutical Sciences will form a strategic alliance. This alliance will have a federation structure, where the deans of the faculties retain their individual mandates, but combine their resources on strategic areas (research, teaching and management). The federation of the five faculties will have a chairperson, who is not one of the deans. The by-laws of the strategic alliance are in the making, and it is therefore too early to predict what the implications will be. Hopefully the existence of the federation will facilitate further development of interdisciplinary research activities. On the other hand, the research organization at the level of the federation will necessarily be less focused and will have to react to a more complex strategic environment with a larger variety of external funding organizations. On the management and support side, it will be a challenge to maintain the present level of quality. In principle there is added potential for setting up a professional organization with even better service, but bigger units tend to be slower and less responsive in reacting to the needs of the small-scale research programs.
Planning: The new structure of the Research Institute offers flexible and effective instruments for pursuing the various research goals described earlier. Needless to say, the Research Institute welcomes the feedback generated in the upcoming research asssessment. On the basis of the recommendations of the Evaluation Committee as well as in view of the present budget perspectives (to be discussed later) it may be necessary to bring even more focus into the research programs. Here the potential for attracting outside funding will be important. But there is a firm belief that new initiatives should be taken as well, in addition to further strengthening a number of research programs. As indicated earlier, these initiatives should primarily be directed towards interdisciplinary activities.
In the near future, the Faculty intends to fill the chairs in Atmospheric Chemistry and Solar Astronomy. Filling the vacant chair in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics is also being pursued.
At present the societal support for physics and astronomy is not strong and the interest of potential students in the Netherlands for the hard sciences is at a low level. On the other
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit hand, research in physics and astronomy is flourishing. Therefore, the rejuvenation of the research staff is of vital importance, and, as was already indicated, the Faculty is keenly aware of this. Research is, however, not a top-down activity. The Research Institute can, in general, formulate optimal research policies, facilitate desirable actions, identify areas of high potential and improve the technical and management support, but specific input from the research staff is crucial, both in terms of scientific output, as in helping to shape the research profile of the Research Institute and in identifying potential new developments.
1.2. Leadership The Faculty Board: The dean of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy appoints the director of the Research Institute, as well as the director of the Julius School of Physics and Astronomy, responsible for the bachelors and masters programs, and the director of administration. The dean also appoints the program leaders of the research programs, usually for a period of three years. At present, the Faculty Board consists of the dean, prof.dr. H. Rudolph, the director of administration, drs. J. de Wolde, the directors of the Research Institute and the Julius School, prof.dr. B. de Wit and prof.dr. W.F. van der Weg, and two advisors, ms. J. Andriese and ms. N. de Jeu, appointed on behalf of the personnel and the students, respectively.
Chart 1: Organization Chart of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy
In accordance with Dutch law the dean has the ‘integral responsibility’ for the activities within the Faculty. The management team consisting of the dean and the three directors is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Faculty. The director of administration is responsible for all administrative matters. The administration is fully integrated and there is no separate administrative staff for the Research Institute. In practice the director of the Research Institute and the dean together deal with all matters regarding the research programs. The Faculty does not have a very hierarchical structure and the dean and directors are usually available for discussions with the research staff, although all formal exchanges
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit regarding program commitments, budget allocations, human resources, etc., are with the program leaders. This holds in particular for the P&C sessions at the beginning of each academic year (to be described below) during which the program leaders present their plans for the coming year, which provide the necessary input for the budget allocations. Besides the P&C sessions, there are regular meetings of the dean and directors with the program leaders where important faculty matters regarding research, teaching and management are discussed.
Planning and control: Since the establishment of the Research Institute and its research programs, there is an annual cycle of planning and control (P&C). The first round of P&C sessions took place in the fall of 2002. Prior to the P&C discussions the program leaders were asked to submit their research plans and budget requests for 2003. During a period of about one week, the dean and directors met with each one of the program leaders individualy to review their programs. Points of discussion were the progress, achievements and future plans of the program, the necessary level of technical and financial support, the visibility for the students and the degree of participation in the teaching programs. The budget allocations were made based on the number of active staff in the program, on the specific research plans and on commitments by the program leaders to reach certain milestones. Requests for new graduate student positions were decided upon as part of the P&C cycle.
The P&C cycle now plays an important role in reacting to new challenges, internal needs and changes in the external conditions. Programs are expected to assess their research goals on a regular basis and to come up with innovative and challenging initiatives. In case this does not happen at a sufficient level, the program might be forced to reconsider its mission or, in the worst case, might be terminated. On the other hand, after identifying promising opportunities, new programs can be founded or existing programs can be combined to optimize the chances for the future. It is clear that the Faculty is in a learning process here and will have to gain more experience. Especially the role of the technical and administrative support groups will require special attention in the future.
The scientific advisory board: In the past a Faculty committee consisting of some of its leading professors advised the dean on scientific matters. In the context of professorial appointments external experts were often consulted on related research policy matters. The Faculty did not have a standing external advisory board that gave advice on a regular basis. The research schools and some of the research institutes did have external advisory boards, whose recommendations were discussed with the Faculty. Nevertheless, it became obvious that an external advisory body was also needed for the Research Institute, to be consulted at least once a year on important scientific policy matters. In order not to interfere with the upcoming research assessment, it was decided to defer the establishment of such an advisory board. It will be initiated shortly after the official report of the present assessment committee has been received.
1.3. Management Housing: The Faculty of Physics and Astronomy is situated in the northwest corner of the campus of Utrecht University. The Faculty is the main occupant of and has the management responsibility for five buildings:
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
- Robert J. van der Graaff Laboratory (experimental physics) - L.S. Ornstein Laboratory (experimental physics) - Caroline Bleeker Building (workshop and stock rooms) - Buys Ballot Laboratory (various research programs, teaching facilities and administration) - Minnaert Building (Julius School, theoretical physics, teaching facilities, student administration and the restaurant). The building service and maintenance is done within the Faculty, whereas the long-term planning and external building maintenance are done by the housing and facility department of the university. The Faculty has three simple guest rooms for short-term visitors.
Services and facilities: The Faculty of Physics and Astronomy has its own management support groups for finance (5.2 fte), human resources (9.2 fte), computing (6.0 fte), housing and maintenance (4.0 fte) and a student administration office (3.7 fte). Each of these support groups reports directly to the director of administration. Some of the support groups also provide services for other faculties and departments; the human resource support is shared with the Department of Geology and the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, and the financial support group is shared with the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics. The services provided for other faculties and departments are based on basic Service Level Agreements that specify the services provided and the associated costs. All major administrative support systems have been integrated university wide. The research programs have their own administrative support and some of them have additional management support acting as an interface between the programs and the management support groups.
The Faculty has always been on the forefront of the implementation of new computer infrastructure, usually driven by demands from the research programs. It was one of the first Faculties and Departments within the university (before 1990), to have a faculty-wide 10 Mb network. The management support group for computing is responsible for the computer infrastructure, and for maintaining a high level of service in a cost-effective way. The group supports the scientific groups (as well as the educational activities) with central and decentralized computing facilities. All network connections, e-mail addresses and mail servers are centrally regulated, which has kept the impact of viruses, spam mail etc. to a minimum. The computer group also manages the support for backup units, even for the most computer intensive research groups.
The central workshop of the Faculty is the only large-scale workshop within Utrecht University especially geared to research needs. It has a workforce of 42 fte, and includes groups for computer-aided design, mechanical construction, electronic design and storerooms for mechanical and electronic parts. The workshop typically provides integral project support: from design and development to implementation of all mechanical and electronic projects. All UU faculties and departments, as well as some non-profit organizations outside Utrecht University, can on a project basis apply for its assistance (at cost price). The number of outside projects has decreased the last few years and the workshop has been confronted with cutbacks. The workshop time available for the Research Institute is distributed in the P&C cycle. This subsequently leads to a work plan for the workshop which integrates the various needs, taking the capacity into account. The amount
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit of requested time is highly oversubscribed, and the workshop has struggled with its project management. The Faculty is trying to include the workshop support more actively in the recently adopted P&C system. Technicians working within the workshop are expected to keep and maintain their proficiency level also through courses outside the Faculty. Per year about 20% of the work time is reserved for this purpose.
The Faculty has a cryogenic and laboratory gas support unit (1.7 fte). This unit provides the Faculty (and some other faculties and departments) with liquid nitrogen and liquid helium. There is an elaborate recycling system for the helium facility including a compressor unit. Technical gases are also provided via this unit. Because of safety reasons no employee outside the cryogenic support group is allowed to operate the cryogenic gas systems.
The Robert van der Graaff Laboratory houses two particle accelerators, a 3 MV single-ended and a 6 MV tandem accelerator. The group of technicians maintaining and running the accelerators are reporting to the head of the mechanical workshop. The accelerators are currently used for the research within the Surfaces, Interfaces and Devices program as well as for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS). The latter activity has been designated a facility, and is therefore not placed in one of the research programs. The AMS work is strongly related to dating requests from outside. These requests span from measurements on encapsulated air in ice cores through underground drill samples to dating of historical samples. The AMS group has a high reputation in the accuracy of the dating as well as the interpretation of the measured quantities.
The Faculty has its own central library in the Buys Ballot Laboratory (ca. 450 m2). Employees have 24-hour access to the collection. The web pages of the Faculty provide access to the electronic library of the Faculty, and this combined with the web access via the central University Library provides access to all journals of interest for the various research groups. The exceptionally rapid change towards the use of electronic journals instead of the physical collection requires a continuous evaluation and reorientation of the library function.
Within the various research programs, there is a certain level of technical and managerial support. The number of permanent technical staff has evolved in time and is under pressure, partly due to budget choices made in the past, and partly due to employability considerations. There is a delicate balance between the necessary local technical support and the support provided from the central workshop. The central workshop also has a first-come- first-served low threshold facility for urgent non-project based support. The administrative staff within the various programs has not been uniformly integrated with the management support groups of the Faculty. The change of structure that led to the Research Institute with thirteen independent research programs has only gradually become visible at the level of the management support groups. Some programs have managers who report to the director of administration. Their task is the local management of the program in a broad sense, ranging from the monitoring of processes in financial and human resources management, to reporting to the external funding agencies, always in close contact with the program leaders and the relevant mangement support groups. The director of the Research Institute has no special role in this respect other than through his/her membership of the Faculty Board where these issues are discussed.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
There are no charges to the programs associated with services of the management support groups. Program leaders can freely consult with the support groups at all times. This is done on a frequent basis, and the low threshold no-nonsense approach is greatly appreciated by the program leaders and has proved useful. The management support groups, especially the one for finance, monitor the project proposals and the progress of on-going external projects. For projects with extensive reporting requests, such as EU projects, the know-how is retained at the management support level. Often the appropriate support groups remind the grant holder whenever reports have to be written and request scientific input; the financial and personnel parts are then written in close collaboration. While the direct funding to the research programs is discussed directly with the program leaders, external funding (indirect and contract) is usually granted to individual researchers outside the direct control of the Faculty. These project leaders are supported in the same way by the management support groups.
Funding policy: The Faculty receives funding from three sources, which in the standard jargon are referred to as first, second and third stream, corresponding to direct funding by Utrecht University, funding by scientific (nonprofit, semi-governmental) funding organizations (ESF, ASTRON, KNAW, FOM and NWO) and funding by other organizations, such as the EU, industry, etc. The various external funding agencies use different rules with regard to the submission of proposals. Historically most of the funding for research came either from the university (1st stream) or from FOM/NWO (2nd stream). However, during the past 15 years other funding agencies (3rd stream) have become increasingly important. All 3rd stream funding sources (including the EU) request a signature on the proposal and the contract on behalf of the Faculty. When requested the signature on the proposal for 2nd stream funding agencies is given after a minimal test of the feasibility of the proposal. For proposals submitted to other funding sources, the criteria are more stringent. An assessment is made of the suitability of the research project, its possible impact on other activities, and whether the project fits into the mission statement of Utrecht University and the Faculty.
Projects involving issues of confidentiality and/or intellectual property are discussed with the legal department of the university and the University Holding. For 3rd stream contracts where the overheads are not regulated a priori (EU overheads are fixed), an integral cost price is calculated. For most purposes, unless a group is essentially selling university facilities, the earned overheads are retained by the project group.
NWO and all the research councils under NWO, including FOM, normally do not request a signature from the Faculty upon submittal of a research proposal, although the researcher is assumed to obtain the necessary permission prior to submittal. This is especially important for the Faculty when matching funds are requested. The habit of informing the Faculty is unfortunately not well developed, but since these funding agencies are so close to the core business of the Faculty and large applications are often monitored at the management support level, it normally does not give rise to problems.
NWO used to be the employer of all personnel employed on the basis of an NWO grant. In a 1998 agreement between NWO and the Dutch Universities it was decided that the universities would henceforth be the employer. Since NWO employs very few people with
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit a permanent position, and the normal grant period is no longer than four years, it means that almost all personnel employed on the basis of an NWO grant are now within the university system. Personnel employed on the basis of a FOM grant are not employed by the university, but by FOM. The university therefore has no employee-employer relation with the FOM project employees. This does not lead to significant problems, but it means that the "control" over the working conditions is reduced. FOM strictly adheres to a direct relation with the project leader and does not communicate via the Faculty like most other funding agencies do.
Needless to say, to deal with the variety of funding agencies and research contracts requires a professional and experienced staff in the management support groups. The hiring of an increasing number of non-Dutch nationals also puts a heavy strain on the system; this is especially true for non-EU nationals for whom the immigration rules and procedures are becoming increasingly stringent.
1.4. Researchers and other personnel Background information concerning the Dutch Universities: Employees of Dutch universities are civil servants. This means that the hiring and firing procedures are rather elaborate. In recent years, there has been some movement regarding the status of civil servants employed by Dutch universities, but this was then paired with elaborate implementation procedures.
All Dutch universities in principle recognize five different positions in the scientific ranks:
Function name (UU) Function name Permanent (P) or Gross annual (English) non-permant (NP) salary excluding pension (k€) Assistent in Opleiding PhD student NP 19,5-27,8 (AIO) Junior Docent/ Onderzoeker Postdoc NP 27,8-51,1 (JDO)
Docent Onderzoeker (DO) Assistant Professor P 37,3-58,2
Senior Docent / Associate Professor P 51,8-69,4 Onderzoeker (SDO)
Hoogleraar (HGL) (Full) Professor P 59,0-101,2
There is a further differentiation within the various functions, but this differentiation is not relevant here. The pay scales are essentially identical for all Dutch universities, and are settled between the VSNU and the labor unions. There has recently been some development in the fringe benefit system, where e.g. vacation days and gross salary can be exchanged for other items, such as a personal computer.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
The VSNU and the labor unions have recently agreed to initiate a pilot project for a new function ranking system based on recommendations from the Hay Group. The Hay Function Ranking System will most likely be implemented during the coming years. At present the expectation is that its implications for positions in the scientific ranks will be limited.
The PhD student is a regular employee in the Netherlands with (almost) all the rights and responsibilities of a regular employee. The position is restricted to a maximum of 4 years (as a full time employee) and has to be at least 80% (4 days a week). The salary level is also governed by the collective labor agreements. Deviating from this is only possible if it leads to a higher salary. In recent years, the technical universities especially have felt compelled to offer higher salaries than required by the labor agreements.
Specific changes within Utrecht University in the evaluation period: Utrecht University has implemented a new teaching qualification skills system (called FLOW). In this system all permanent scientific personnel are expected to acquire a certain proficiency level in teaching. There are two levels, the basic teaching qualification (BKO) and the senior teaching qualification (SKO). Full professors are required to achieve the SKO level. All new permanent scientific personnel are individually guided in a training program under the supervision of the director of the Julius School. Upon successful completion of the program the candidates receive a teaching certificate from the University (signed by the Julius School director, the dean and the Rector Magnificus).
Utrecht University is also introducing a new annual personnel evaluation system, the so- called result and development talks (R&O). The system will be fully operational in 2003.
Specific personnel policies for the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy. Recruitment and selection procedures: During the evaluation period the recruitment procedure has changed and is no longer uniform. In the early days, it was customary to place an advertisement in (inter)national publications for most of the positions. Currently we use a larger variety of recruitment approaches depending on the type of position and the research field. Some research programs regularly receive open applications for PhD and post-doc positions. Some of the recruitment for post-doc positions also takes place in the context of EU networks. Vacant positions can be posted on a variety of electronic bulletin boards. Obviously the senior research staff has to play an active role in scouting and recruiting new staff. For permanent research positions special care is taken to ensure that vacant positions are brought to the attention of a wider scientific community.
Recruitment for temporary positions requires a pro forma approval of the human resources and financial support groups to check the availability of funds. For permanent positions, there is a more elaborate procedure which requires the approval of the dean. For all permanent scientific positions, extended international experience at an appropriate level is required. In the exceptional case of a candidate who is at an early stage of his/her scientific career, a substantial project period outside the Netherlands will be part of the contract conditions.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
The selection procedure for filling a PhD position is the responsibility of the future PhD supervisor (and/or grant holder), but the procedure is often conducted in collaboration with one or more colleagues. Once the candidate has been identified and has in principle agreed to accept an appointment, the human resources support group is responsible for the employment contract and related issues such as immigration. For non-EU candidates immigration issues are becoming an increasing problem. Procedures not only take a lot of time and effort, but also they are slow and unpredictable. At the start of the contract, a job description must be submitted specifying the research plan with possible milestones, the educational activities that the student will have to participate in, and the supervision that will be provided. At least once a year there is a formal R&O discussion between the supervisor(s) and the PhD student.
When the research program is associated with a Research School, the PhD student must be admitted to the school which usually imposes stringent rules on the training and supervision of graduate students. The directors of the Research Institute and of administration meet several times a year with representatives of the PhD students and the leader of the human resources support group, to discuss issues that are important to the PhD students. In the case of grievances, PhD students can always turn to the special ombudsman, prof. Lamers. All these procedures are part of the Faculty 's quality plan for PhD students designed to ensure that the PhD candidate has an optimal chance of graduating within four years. This system has proven effective in reducing the drop-out rate (less than one per year) as well as the average time spent on the PhD projects.
The hiring of a postdoc is the responsibility of the grant holder. Lately the Faculty has become more aware of the fact that more senior postdoc candidates, although often more productive than junior candidates, may face difficulties in finding subsequent positions in academia after long-term employment as a postdoc. Whenever this is relevant, the Faculty advises the grant holder as well as the candidate, to give serious consideration to the possible career consequences of a prospective appointment. In principle, the program is required to maintain reserves for the payment of unemployment benefits in case the postdoc does not find subsequent employment.
For the hiring of assistant and associate professors the Faculty makes use of a selection committee, usually consisting of staff members from the research program, with one or two experts from outside the Faculty. The committee is requested to specifically consider the teaching qualifications of the candidates. The Faculty has not encountered difficulties in finding well-qualified candidates at this level. Unlike in the past, an assistant (DO) or associate professor (SDO) position is not considered a position for life, and career development is an important issue (see below). Combined with the fact that non-Dutch nationals have more frequently been hired who eventualy may return to their native country, this means that the average employment time in these ranks is decreasing. Because a lot of effort is put into the hiring of an assistant or associate professor it puts a high strain on the recruitment system.
The selection committee reports to the dean and in the case of a positive recommendation, the candidate is hired. The initial employment contract is for two years, and there are a number of criteria defined for converting the position, after maximally two years, into a
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit permanent position. A standard requirement is the basic teaching certificate (BKO) and, for non-Dutch speaking candidates, a certain proficiency level in the Dutch language. All candidates for permanent positions are expected to be able to teach in fluent English, although this is currently not a condition of initial employment. In view of the fact that the prior selection is strict, the tenure decision is rarely negative, although it is possible that extra conditions are attached to the permanent appointment when one or more of the criteria are not yet fully satisfied.
Prior to the appointment of full professors, the dean consults the University Board (in practice the Rector) about the intention of hiring a professor in a given subject area. Full professors have the "ius promovendi", i.e. "the formal right to supervise a thesis", which in principle must be granted by the University Board prior to the actual hiring of a candidate. The approval of the University Board is often a formality, since the Faculty has a research plan with an accompanying budget and "ius promovendi" level that has been mutually agreed upon. An undesirable aspect of the Dutch rule to grant the "ius promovendi" only to full professors, is that assistent and associate professors who in many cases supervise PhD students, are not allowed to receive the formal credit for their work. The Faculty has often pleaded to change this rule, but so far without success.
The remainder of the procedure for selecting candidates for a full professorship is essentially the same as for the selection of assistant and associate professors, except that more stringent requirements are posed on the composition of the selection or search committee. Often the committee is given specific instructions, such as the area of expertise of the candidate or special qualifications. The committee submits its findings to the dean, who, depending on the complexity of the recommendations, will consult with the directors and outside experts. Eventually the dean contacts one or more candidates and conducts the negotiations leading to a possible appointment. Utrecht University has recently created a new set of professorships, in addition to a standard full professorship. One of these offers the option of hiring a candidate in a temporary position for five years, with the "ius promovendi" and with a tenure decision within the five years. This gives us an extra opportunity to attract promising candidates at an early stage of their career and somewhat eases the constraint on "ius promovendi" for full professors. The Faculty is actively trying to fill up the holes in the age profile of the research staff, among others by having overlap appointments with current chair holders. However, the Faculty has always been adamant not to appoint "follow up chairs", since this tends to restrict the optimal evalution (development) of the research profile of the Faculty, as well as to put a recently hired professor in the shadow of the previous chair holder.
The Faculty has actively tried to attract (Dutch or non-Dutch) candidates but found it increasingly difficult for the full professor positions, especially for female candidates. We are competing with the rest of the world for the few available candidates. Especially for the female candidates we have found offers not accepted for this reason. Regardless of gender the mobility of non-Dutch candidates, that brings them to Utrecht in the first place, is hampering their long-term commitment to Utrecht University. In view of the amount of effort spent in the recruitment, this has led to a more cautious policy towards such appointments.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
A person hired for a permanent research position is generally expected to spend about 40% of his/her time on teaching and related issues. For the bachelor courses the allocation of the instructors is supervised by the Julius School director. Non-Dutch speaking staff will normally not be involved in class room teaching on the bachelor level (the instruction language on the bachelor level is Dutch) during the first years of employment. The actual teaching load has increased somewhat through the years, partly because the number of core employees has slightly decreased (more temporary personnel) and partly because the number of contact hours has increased.
All personnel, especially in the higher ranks, are expected to participate actively in administrative and policy-making procedures. As a consequence of changes in the law governing the Dutch universities, the number of permanent formal committees has lately been reduced. However, in the Netherlands there is a long tradition of continuous change in the structures of public education and research. New changes are often initiated before the effectiveness of previous ones has been assessed, and as a result even those changes that are regarded as positive often do not bear fruit. The universities and funding organizations have not been exempt from this and have to some extent become affected by the same problem. This has led to an increase in political and managerial duties in the Research Institute. The disenchantment with this situation is widespread, especially among the younger research staff and in the long run tends to make the Research Institute less attractive. There is no serious accounting of the manpower needed to carry out the various processes of change, but it is very substantial. This situation is by no means restricted to Utrecht University.
Staff members have become increasingly resistent to the demands of the non-core business, and it has proven difficult to develop inducements for these tasks. Time spent on policy- making issues is considered wasted and could be more productively spent on research. A program leader for an average sized program is expected to spend no more than ½ day per week related to administrative issues for the program. The three directors are expected to spend, respectively, 2 days (director Research Institute), 3 days (director Julius School) and 4-5 days (director Administration). The dean is expected to spend about 3½ days per week. It is hard to determine whether the reality is in agreement with the guidelines.
Career development opportunities, assessments, mobility and exchange policies: Realizing that a new and more flexible personnel policy was crucial, in 1999, the Faculty changed the rol of the 1995 staffing levels. Instead of having fixed numbers of assistant, associate and full professor positions, the Faculty converted the 1995 staffing levels to personnel budget levels per research group, based on the average salary costs per position type. In this way the career development of a young assistant professor is no longer hampered by a rigid formation agreement. As long as there is staff flexibility within a group, this will allow the promotion of an employee; if there is not and a promotion is nevertheless deemed desirable, agreements can be made to cover the personnel budget deficit sometime in the future. These agreements are typically long term (> 5 years) agreements. This change in policy requires careful monitoring, but has so far not led to a noticeable inflation in ranks.
With the advent of the Research Institute and its flexible basis of research programs, this model of personnel budget levels has reached its limit because the personnel budget levels are in principle subject to change as a result of the annual P&C cycle. This is especially
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit important when discussing the creation of new programs or the termination of old ones. To deal with this aspect is a future challenge for the management in the Research Institute.
The line management model employed within the Faculty is reflected in the supervisor- employee relations. Each person within the Faculty has an assigned supervisor. The dean is the supervisor of all full professors and of the three directors. These relations are defined at the time of the appointment, but can be changed. Each employee is expected to meet his/her supervisor for the above mentioned periodic evaluation (R&O), at least once a year. A brief report of this evaluation is placed in the personnel file.
The Faculty has a designated budget for training related costs. This budget is often used by non-scientific personnel for acquiring certain technical skills, but also by PhD students for personal development and training. The latter is often included in the written research plan of the PhD student. These formal courses aim at improving the employability of the students. For recently hired research staff, the Faculty has, on an individual basis, offered professional external guidance.
The Faculty has adopted a sabbatical system where all permanent scientific personnel can save seven vacation days a year during three or five years. These saved days are matched by the Faculty so that the researcher can take a sabbatical leave of three or six months, respectively. This system has now been in place for four years, and the first employees have made use of it. Requests by the scientific personnel who want to accept visiting professorships elsewhere are considered on an individual basis. All requests for leave of absence are formally submitted to the dean and the decision is made on basis of the merits of the proposal. For short-term visits (less than two months) there is a minimal technical test of the proposal, but long-term visits are more thoroughly analyzed in the context of the research program and the teaching commitments. Usually the proposal is approved, possibly with certain conditions attached.
Age distribution scientific staff: One of the specific recommendations of the 1995 VSNU committee concerned the age distribution within the Faculty. Using the above mentioned instruments the Faculty has actively sought to improve the age profile. Figure 1 shows the age distribution of the tenured research staff as of 1-1-1996 and as of 31-12-02. Clearly, the distribution has become more evenly spread and the average age for all three categories has decreased. The figure takes into account the fraction that the permanent staff spends on research, according to the Tables 3 in Part B of this document. Noteworthy is the dip in the age distribution of full professors, which is due to insufficient hiring in this category during the early nineties and to the loss of several full professors during the evaluation period. The total number of research-active permanent staff has remained almost constant. In view of the anticipated budget cuts, it will be a challenge to keep improving this age profile in the coming years.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
Figure 1: The age distribution of the permanent research staff weighed by the fraction attributed to research (listed in the tables 3 in Part B) as per 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2002.
Table 1 presents the the composition of the scientific staff of the Research Institute and its programs, as well as the total supporting staff for the Research Institute, all properly weighed by the fraction that can be attributed to research.
Table 1 Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research staff at institutional level 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Tenured staff 37,51 36,30 36,83 36,07 37,20 36,05 35,20 Non-tenured staff 42,01 38,74 34,68 43,83 57,07 59,87 58,19 PhD students 68,53 75,88 80,51 77,23 77,79 74,41 81,42 Total research staff 148,05 150,93 152,02 157,13 172,05 170,33 174,80
Supporting staff 129,00 141,40 135,10 143,60 138,50 142,80 133,40 Total staff 277,05 292,33 287,12 300,73 310,55 313,13 308,20
Research program level Name and present title Program nr. 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program 1 Tenured staff 4,20 4,20 4,05 3,40 3,30 2,15 1,25 Non-tenured staff 1,87 2,92 2,02 0,08 0,00 0,00 0,10 PhD students 7,08 7,08 4,80 5,16 6,00 4,92 5,85 (sub) Total research staff 13,15 14,20 10,87 8,64 9,30 7,07 7,20
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
Soft condensed matter and biophysics Program 2 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Tenured staff 1,20 0,60 0,60 0,71 1,71 2,31 2,06 Non-tenured staff 2,58 2,42 1,42 2,67 6,33 7,50 8,83 PhD students 1,80 2,26 3,60 3,16 4,74 6,00 6,88 (sub) Total research staff 5,58 5,28 5,62 6,54 12,78 15,81 17,77
Surfaces, Interfaces and Devices Program 3 Tenured staff 4,40 4,40 4,30 4,30 4,63 4,30 4,40 Non-tenured staff 7,34 5,87 3,12 3,20 4,37 4,12 4,37 PhD students 9,96 13,62 12,66 10,80 10,68 8,04 8,93 (sub) Total research staff 21,70 23,89 20,08 18,30 19,68 16,46 17,70
History and Foundations of Science Program 4 Tenured staff 3,84 3,84 3,84 3,84 3,84 4,09 4,20 Non-tenured staff 2,06 1,56 1,26 1,26 0,89 1,73 2,06 PhD students 3,00 1,85 2,25 2,10 1,69 1,10 1,43 (sub) Total research staff 8,90 7,25 7,35 7,20 6,42 6,91 7,69
Physics of Man: Human Perception Program 5 Tenured staff 1,20 1,40 1,44 1,44 1,44 1,44 1,44 Non-tenured staff 3,45 1,27 0,43 0,78 1,80 1,17 2,75 PhD students 2,99 3,77 4,09 4,09 2,59 2,16 2,67 (sub) Total research staff 7,65 6,44 5,96 6,31 5,83 4,77 6,86
Perceptual Motor Integration Program 6 Tenured staff 1,20 1,20 1,20 1,20 1,20 1,35 1,80 Non-tenured staff 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,75 1,00 1,75 0,00 PhD students 1,80 2,16 2,70 2,70 3,06 3,84 4,50 (sub) Total research staff 3,00 3,36 3,90 4,65 5,26 6,94 6,30
Physics Education Program 7 Tenured staff 2,10 1,80 1,80 1,80 1,50 1,50 1,50 Non-tenured staff 1,52 1,60 1,17 0,55 1,07 1,60 1,43 PhD students 0,60 0,60 0,20 0,00 0,30 0,90 1,30 (sub) Total research staff 4,22 4,00 3,17 2,35 2,87 4,00 4,24
Subatomic Physics Program 8 Tenured staff 2,40 2,40 2,40 2,70 3,00 2,95 2,50 Non-tenured staff 0,00 0,50 1,00 1,00 0,50 0,00 0,00 PhD students 4,68 4,68 6,24 6,24 6,48 7,08 6,12 (sub) Total research staff 7,08 7,58 9,64 9,94 9,98 10,03 8,62
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
Astrophysics Program 9 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Tenured staff 3,51 3,51 3,71 3,31 3,36 3,24 3,45 Non-tenured staff 4,82 2,29 2,79 3,54 4,12 4,58 4,79 PhD students 9,94 8,83 9,90 8,85 8,89 9,83 10,73 (sub) Total research staff 18,27 14,63 16,40 15,70 16,37 17,64 18,97
Marine and Atmospheric Research Program 10 Tenured staff 7,15 6,60 7,20 7,05 6,65 6,35 6,00 Non-tenured staff 12,36 15,17 15,31 19,09 22,95 20,61 15,19 PhD students 15,24 19,44 21,84 21,60 20,64 17,16 16,68 (sub) Total research staff 34,75 41,21 44,35 47,74 50,24 44,12 37,87
Quantum Gravity, Strings and Elementary Particles Program 11 Tenured staff 2,40 2,34 2,28 2,16 1,80 2,10 2,80 Non-tenured staff 2,01 2,00 4,75 9,08 8,45 8,58 9,58 PhD students 4,80 6,19 6,60 6,90 6,00 5,51 6,90 (sub) Total research staff 9,21 10,53 13,63 18,14 16,25 16,19 19,28
Condensed Matter Theory, Statistical and Computational Physics Program 12 Tenured staff 2,20 2,30 2,30 2,45 3,05 3,05 2,60 Non-tenured staff 0,92 0,90 1,01 1,09 4,58 7,23 8,08 PhD students 4,16 4,50 4,50 4,58 5,82 6,97 8,75 (sub) Total research staff 7,27 7,70 7,81 8,12 13,45 17,25 19,42
Solar Astrophysics Program 13 Tenured staff 1,71 1,71 1,71 1,71 1,71 1,24 1,20 Non-tenured staff 3,08 2,25 0,42 0,73 1,00 1,00 1,00 PhD students 2,48 0,90 1,13 1,05 0,90 0,90 0,68 (sub) Total research staff 7,27 4,86 3,26 3,49 3,61 3,14 2,88
Total research staff 148,05 150,93 152,02 157,13 172,05 170,33 174,80 Table 1: This table represents the actual fraction of the fte available for research; the research input of all personnel is quantified on the basis of a fixed standard for each function: - full professors 60% - associate professors (SDO) 60% - assistant professors (DO) 60% - post-doctoral fellows 100% - PhD students (AIO/OIO’s) 90% The research input is calculated in proportion to the size of the appointment of the researcher involved. In exceptional cases when a staff member has performed certain duties that have taken up an extra-proportional amount of time, the percentage of time for research has been adapted. The numbers are based on the numbers presented in the Tables 3 in Part B of the document.
Below we present some of the date of Table 1 in graphical form. Figure 2 shows the staff decomposition during the evaluation period. Although the graph seems to indicate that the main change was an increase in the number of non-tenured research staff, a more detailed
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit analysis shows that there were many more changes whose combined effect averages out. A similar comment applies to Figure 2 which shows the research staff per program during the evaluation period. Here many of the changes are mainly due to program re-arrangements. These effects can be understood from the numbers presented in Table 1.
Figure 2: Distribution of the research and supporting staff of the Research Institute weighted by the fraction attributed to research during the evaluation period as listed in Table 1.
Figure 3: Distribution of the total research staff per research program during the evaluation period as listed in Table 1.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
1.5. Resources, funding and facilities The Research Institute receives its funding from the University (direct funding) and the various project leaders in the Research Institute receive funding from a number of external funding agencies, as described in 1.3. The research funds from the Faculty are distributed over the research programs by means of the annual P&C cycle, which was described in 1.2. This was done for the first time in the fall of 2002.
The funding situation of the Research Institute is complex and has changed during the evaluation period. Funding provided by Utrecht University (1st stream) is included as ‘direct funding’ in table 2. The direct funding is composed of a rather stable research component and a variable component based on the number of (under)graduate students, dissertations, non-tenured staff and on (relatively minor) policy decisions of the University Board., The University Board decided that as of 2002 the Faculties and Departments should have a greater responsibility in the housing policies. Therefore an internal rental system was introduced, and the budget allocations for 2002 were increased to accommodate the newly introduced rental rates. Since the rental system was introduced in 2002 in a budget-neutral way, the increase in the budget allocations has not been included in the direct funding listed in Table 2a. The funding level and the rental rates are likely to develop independently in the future; therefore the next self-evaluation (after 2005) should preferably include the rental rates and the corresponding budget increase in 2002.
Table 2a Institute of Physics and Astronomy Funding and expenditure at institutional level in k€
Institutional level Funding: 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Direct funding 7.930 8.449 9.017 10.013 10.140 10.452 Research funds 2.673 3.380 2.915 3.260 4.188 4.461 3.991 Contracts 1.775 1.707 2.056 2.003 1.899 2.116 2.508 Other 500 391 666 674 1.075 1.040 443 Total 13.408 14.087 14.954 17.175 17.756 17.393
Expenditure: 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Personnel costs8 3.020 7.813 8.423 9.279 10.757 11.578 11.578 Other costs 1.929 5.595 5.664 5.675 6.418 6.179 5.815 Total 13.408 14.087 14.954 17.175 17.756 17.393
Research program level Program 19961997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Funding: Atom Optics and 1 1.787 1.798 1.821 1.336 1.353 876 Ultrafast Dynamics Soft Condensed Matter 2 637 406 697 1.264 1.735 1.458 and Biophysics
8 Personnel costs: all wages, salaries of the personnel including the social security charges, the donation to the provision “wachtgelden” (=reduced pay in case of unemployment), the cost of temporary workers or agency staff and other personnel costs like allowances for child care, commuter traffic etc.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
Surfaces, Interfaces and 3 2.221 2.430 2.413 2.567 2.846 3.083 Devices History and Foundation 4 458 611 594 542 643 849 of Science Physics of Man Human 5 365 364 357 448 459 533 Perception Perceptual Motor 6 238 311 305 425 637 594 Integration Physics Education 7 752 724 810 811 1.080 1.057 Subatomic Physics 8 1.494 1.600 1.183 1.349 1.424 1.204 Astrophysics 9 829 957 1.000 1.183 1.220 1.326 Marine and Atmospheric 10 3.036 2.998 3.605 4.191 3.384 3.167 Research Quantum Gravity, 11 685 934 1.015 989 1.082 1.222 Strings and Elementary Particles Condensed Matter 12 490 543 630 1.007 1.222 1.219 Theory, Statistical and Computational Physics Solar Astronomy 13 418 412 523 1.064 670 778
Total 13.408 14.087 14.954 17.175 17.756 17.393 Table 2a: The funding and expenditure of the Research Institute during the evaluation period in k€.
Table 2b Institute of Physics and Astronomy Funding at institutional level in %
Institutional level Funding: 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Direct funding 59% 60% 60% 58% 57% 60% Research funds 25% 21% 22% 24% 25% 23% Contracts 13% 15% 13% 11% 12% 14% Other 3% 5% 5% 6% 6% 3% Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Table 2b: The funding of the Research Institute during the evaluation period in %.
A large proportion of the research funding is provided by NWO and is included in the 'research funding' listed in Table 2a. Until 1998, NWO was the employer of all personnel employed on basis of a NWO grant. Funding corresponding to these personnel costs could not be included in the financial administration. Beginning in 1998 Dutch Universities gradually became the employer of all personnel employed on basis of NWO grants, which made the corresponding personnel visible in the 'research funding'. Correspondingly the 'research funding' component steadily increased as can be seen in Table 2a. At this moment some parts of the NWO-support can still not be incorporated in the university accounting system (e.g. from ASTRON and STW) and they are therefore missing in Table 2. Personnel employed on the basis of FOM grants is employed by FOM, but the corresponding FOM funding has been included in the table based on data extracted from the FOM annual reports.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
Special funds for climate research from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and funding from the Dutch Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) are included in Table 2a as 'other funding', although these funds are made available to the Research Institute through Utrecht University.
The funding and expenditure of the Research Institute shown in Table 2a is composed of the following four categories: - Direct funding: provided by Utrecht University (1st stream) - Research Funds: provided by NWO and its research councils and by KNAW (2nd stream) - Contracts: funds from third parties for specific research activities, including funds from EU framework programs and other EU funding (3rd stream) - Other funding: Special funds for climate research from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and funding from the Dutch Research School for Astronomy (NOVA).
To determine the expenditure, we used the following rules: - Personnel costs: cost of all research and support staff that can be attributed to research. For the tenured research staff 60% of all fte's is uniformly attributed to research - Other costs: The technical support from the central workshop (including overhead) and the technical and administrative support in the programs is fully accounted for at the program level. The cost of the management support groups is attributed to research at the 60% level, in proportion with the direct funding per program. The cost of the computer support group, the building cost and big infrastructure (e.g. cryogenics) is attributed to research for 80%, again in proportion to the direct funding per program. Half of the cost of the accelerators is attributed to program 3. In case costs were only known at the level of a Research Institute, they were attributed to the programs in proportion to the number of tenured staff - For the programs the numbers are in accord with those presented in the Tables 4 of Part B of this report
Since the financial administrative systems have been changed in the evaluation period, it is impossible to present a complete presentation of the funding and expenditure for 1996. Table 2b presents the funding as percentage of the total funding. Table 2c presents the direct funding, corrected for inflation, over the evaluation period.
Table 2c Institute of Physics and Astronomy Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Index 100 104 109 118 114 108
Table 2c: The direct funding (1st stream) of the Research Institute during the evaluation period corrected for inflation.
Figure 4 shows the funding of the Research Institute during the evaluation period, without indexation. The effect of the employment policy of NWO that we decribed earlier, is reflected in the increase of ‘research funds’ around 1999. There has obviously been an
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit increase in funding during the first part of the evaluation period, followed by a decrease (when accounting for inflation).
Figure 4: Funding of the Research Institute during the evaluation period as listed in Table 2.
The Faculty of Physics and Astronomy has a substantial reserve, roughly equivalent to one year direct funding from the university. Half of the total budgetary reserve of the Faculty consists of funds allocated to programs, and this was the reason why one of the issues of the 2003 P&C cycle was the budgetary reserves of the programs. Concrete projects with joint program/ Faculty funding were decided upon for some of the programs. This should, in the coming years, reduce the budgetary reserves. As was already discussed in 1.1, the Faculty has identified a number of promising new research directions related to the physics of the life sciences.
The funding situation within the university is a point of concern. Utrecht University will have to cut back the overall direct expenditures on research and education by about 10%. This is caused by increasing costs for the housing partly due to new government policies. The University Board has decided that cut-backs in education funding should be avoided, because the recent introduction of the bachelor master system has already strained the education part of the budget. Since the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy has about 2% of the total turnover in the education budget and 10% of the total turnover of the research budget of the university, the decrease in the research budget will hit the Faculty hard. Linearly extrapolating from the present, the Faculty will have to save about 2,5 M€ on a total direct funding budget of ca. 19,5 M€ in 2007. Although it is possible to achieve this by not filling vacancies between 2003 and 2007, this would clearly be undesirable. It is therefore the intention of the current Faculty Board to make a master plan for the budgetary cuts taking into account the results of the present evaluation of the Research Institute.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
1.6. Processes in research, internal and external collaboration With very few exceptions, all research activities of the Research Institute are carried out in the context of the research programs. The Research Institute closely follows the scientific activities that take place in the programs and tries to facilitate matters related to the infrastructure, the human resources and the external funding. The director of the Research Institute speaks at least twice a year with a delegation of the graduate students. More information on these topics can be found in the program descriptions in Part B.
1.7. Academic reputation The Research Institute's academic reputation is solely derived from the academic reputation of the research programs, which are discussed in Part B. The last time the Research Institute as a whole was reviewed, was the 1995 VSNU research assessment. The results of this national assessment were published in 1996 [3]. Several programs or combinations of programs have been evaluated, mostly in the context of research schools. Below we present a list of evaluations that took place during the evaluation period: 1998: The Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) 1999: The Dutch Research School of Theoretical Physics (DRSTP). 2000: Helmholtz Research School 2000: Huizinga Research School 2000: Research School Subatomic Physics (OSAF) 2000: Buys Ballot Research School (BBOS) 2002: International peer review of the Debye Research School 2003: Evaluation of the Physics Education Program
1.8. Internal evaluation and analysis, perspectives and expectations for the research Strenghts: The Research Institute covers a broad research profile, with a diverse range of programs motivated by questions both of a fundamental scientific nature and of relevance to society. The fact that it is one of the largests Physics and Astronomy Faculties in the Netherlands with a number of programs that are unique on the national scale, attracts a large number of good students and enables the Faculty to respond in a flexible way to new developments. In general there is a growing trend to more synergy between the research themes. The Faculty has an infrastructure that is good to excellent.
Weaknesses: It is not easy to define the optimal balance between a broad research profile on the one hand and enough focus on the other hand. Part of the experimental research lacks sufficient visibility and some of the research programs have difficulty finding qualified candidates for PhD positions. In spite of much effort, recruitment of resarch staff has turned out to be increasingly difficult. The Faculty has not yet overcome the negative effect of the reduced level of hiring of permanent research staff in the early 90's.
Opportunities: The newly formed Beta-Federation of five UU Faculties, i.e., Biology, Chemistry, Farmaceutical Sciences, Mathematics and Informatics, and Physics and Astronomy, offers opportunities for the possible extension and/or the creation of research programs of an interdisciplinary nature. The newly adopted program structure of the
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
Research Institute and the P&C cycle should be helpful in initiating such new ventures. The presence of the newly created (international) masters programs will ensure additional visibility and the availability of talented students and candidates for PhD positions. The Faculty has kept some reserves, in spite of the forthcoming general budget cuts, to finance new initiatives.
Threats: Talented researchers are in high demand in the internationally competitive world of the sciences and we have to compete for the relatively few candidates available.
The research staff increasingly sees the extended rounds of meetings and deliberations that accompany changes in structure of research and education as a threat to their core bussiness, which they perceive as research and teaching at an internationally competitive level. This, together with the lack of real commitment in the national arena to a strengthening of the scientific, technological and educational base, tends to makes the Research Institute less attractive to young researchers.
Another threat concerns the future perspective for research funding. At present all Dutch universities have budgetary problems and in Utrecht the impact of this is most strongly felt in the research funding. The future of the Research Institute depends strongly on its potential for attracting talented research staff and students, which is in turn closely linked to the excellence of the research now and in the near future.
While the Beta-Federation offers opportunities, there is also a fear that the huge size of the federation will have a negative effect on the level and quality of technical and administrative support. The lack of bottom-up processes in the movement towards the federation so far, adds to these concerns.
1.9. External validation The effects of collaboration and dissemination of research results are best discussed at the level of the separate research programs and can be found in Part B of the document. The Faculty stimulates and supports activities of this kind. The big hall of the Minnaert building is an excellent gathering place which is made available for outreach and information to a wider audience from highschools and to the general public. The Faculty also stimulates national initiatives through FOM and the VSNU physics and astronomy sections (the so- called Kamers Natuurkunde en Sterrenkunde). These initiatives are often directed to undergraduate teaching; also a new web page is supported for high school students and teachers (http://www.natuurkunde.nl/) to stimulate an interest in physics and astronomy. In the future it is necessary to keep pursuing an active role in this.
Through its Physics Education program (7), the Faculty is involved in networks of neighbouring high-schools aimed at supporting science teachers and at facilitating contacts between high-school students and the Faculty. Through a special project the Faculty assists hundreds of high-school teachers in the Netherlands in performing experiments on radioactivity together with their students.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
Another outreach program is the so-called Science Shop (wetenschapswinkel), which works in a network of outreach programs within Utrecht University. The Science Shop has one permanent employee, with a scientific supervisor from the Julius School of Physics and Astronomy, and a number of PhD students (as part of their teaching duties) and (paid) undergraduate students are involved in its projects, based on requests from the surrounding community. The Physics Science Shop is specialized in vibration and noise (sound) and has been involved, for example, in various noise monitoring projects around Schiphol Airport. Projects are done free of charge and are only accepted from individuals and non-profit organizations.
Recently, the University Board has taken initiatives in close cooperation with the Dutch Association of Chemical Industries (VNCI), to establish a Graduate School of Applied Science. Students from the Faculty of Chemistry, but also from the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, can follow a masters or PhD track in the school. Such students can perform part of their work for the degree in an industrial laboratory, or conversely, scientists working in industry may be able to obtain a PhD degree at Utrecht University.
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University : Utrecht University Institute : Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Research director : Prof. dr. B. de Wit
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Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
2. Documentation per research program
Title of the program Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics
Program leaders Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis (from 2001) Directors Debye Institute Prof. dr. F.H.P.M. Habraken (from 2000) Prof. dr. H.N.W. Lekkerkerker (from 1998 until 2000) Prof. dr. W.F. van der Weg (until 1998)
Starting date of the program Formally this program started when the two independent laser groups of the department active in atomic and condensed matter physics were merged.
Research area and mission Ultrafast spectroscopy of nanostructures, coherent phonons, acoustic solitons; laser cooling, cold atom collisions, photo-associative spectroscopy, optical lattices, quantum degeneracy. This program aims at the experimental study and understanding of nonlinear properties of laser-excited atomic and condensed matter systems at a fundamental level, taking full advantage of state-of-the-art ultrafast and high-resolution optical facilities.
Formal affiliations outside Debye Institute and Research School. the Research Institute
2.1. Leadership The program leader has the overall responsibility for the program, both with respect to the quality and the cohesion of the research and with respect to the budget that is provided by the Faculty. He is responsible for the internal coordination and cooperation within the program, for organizing the human resources and for maintaining and developing the external contacts. This is in close collaboration with the other chair holder. Together with the leaders of the other research programs he discusses the general policies of the Research Institute at regular meetings and makes recommendations to the director. The program leader represents the program in the P&C session that is organized by the Faculty Board once a year, where the plans and budget request for the coming year are presented. The presentations form the basis for the budget allocations made by the Faculty Board for the subsequent year. This program is part of the Debye Institute. The program leader has to optimize his activities within the Institute. See also: Part A, 1.2.
37 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
2.2. Strategy and policy This program aims at the understanding of laser-excited atomic and condensed matter systems at the fundamental level, in particular in the field of coherent matter and nonlinear wave phenomena. The research is experimental, is curiosity driven, uses state-of-the-art ultrafast and high-resolution optical facilities, and seeks strong collaboration with the program Theory of Condensed Matter, Statistical and Computational Physics.
This program emerged from the Atomic, Molecular and Surfaces Physics group and the Condensed Matter Physics group of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy. The research projects on thermal collision physics, antiferromagnetism, and electrical noise in semiconductors were terminated in order to increase the focus of this program: laser cooling and ultrafast dynamics. The laser cooling project aims at creating a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice to study coherent matter waves in a periodic potential and demonstrate phase transitions and elementary excitations of this novel form of coherent matter. The ultrafast dynamics project focuses on creating coherent superposition states of electrons, phonons or other elementary excitations in photonic crystals and amorphous semiconductors to study nonlinear wave phenomena such as photon echo, superradiance, acoustic soliton formation, shock waves, and laser-induced phase transitions. The intention is to have a strong and coherent program (at one location) in the well-equipped experimental rooms at the Ornstein Laboratory. The program builds on the vivid collaboration over the years on the laser-technical level and on teaching of undergraduate and advanced courses on Fourier optics, lasers, optical resonances, and light-matter interaction. This allows the program to effectively combine the expertise and infrastructure on ultrafast and high-resolution laser spectroscopy, low-temperature physics and laser cooling, and thus to arrange a new basis to study the properties of novel forms of quantum matter. The challenge for the program is to keep the infrastructure at the forefront of research, make the program robust and united, and seek and profit from synergy in the physics problems addressed.
The program acts quickly if needed: recently, we embarked on a new research project on the interaction of ultrafast light pulses with cold atoms, an essentially unexplored area in the field of coherent matter. Here, the internal strength and potential of the program can become very manifest because all essential expertise is available. Novel schemes for cooling, manipulating, and compressing cold atoms are within reach. Further enhancements of the common focus of the program are found in the measurement of nonlinear optical properties of cold atomic clouds by ultrafast pump-probe laser techniques and the spectroscopy of elementary excitations in Bose-Einstein condensates by dynamic light scattering.
2.3. Processes in research, internal and external collaboration The research of the program is carried out largely by graduate students. The PhD projects are supervised by the scientific staff. This enables to detect problems at an early stage, and to redirect the course of research when necessary. Daily supervision of the undergraduate students is done by the graduate students. Optimal conditions for undergraduate and graduate students to perform attractive experimental research are found in the availability of excellent apparatus and infrastructure supervised by a small but
38 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis skillful technical staff that unites the indispensable expertise in lasers, optics, electronics, vacuum, cryogenics, and mechanics. Graduate students share the complex experimental setups and mutually profit from their experiences and talents both on the technical and the scientific level. Care is taken that students act as a team and learn from each other as much as possible by creating an open, low-threshold friendly atmosphere. Some graduate students carry out a combined experimental and theoretical project and are additionally supervised by the staff of the program Theory of Condensed Matter, Statistical and Computational Physics. Working discussions are organized on the project level on a regular basis to coordinate the technical efforts of the program, to communicate the results of the research, to brainstorm and to solve problems. The internal collaboration of the program is stimulated by the Seminar Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics organized every other week. Here research is presented of the graduate- and undergraduate students and of visiting guests.
As to the quality control, a significant and original individual achievement has to be realized depending on the talent and capabilities of the student. Graduate students are supposed to present papers on international conferences, publish in high-standard journals and in some cases collaborate with groups abroad. At present, the program runs projects on the following subjects: acoustic solitons, ultrafast dynamics of colloids, ultrafast Bragg switching, electrical noise in a-Si:H, cold collisions, theory and experiments of cold atoms in optical lattices. To attract talented graduate students is, of course, a vital point for the program. At present one PhD student is from abroad (Russia) and eight are from the Netherlands. We consider the relatively high fraction of Dutch graduate students as a strong basis and an indication that we are on the right track.
In the Debye Institute, the program collaborates with the program Surface Interfaces and Devices and participates in the Breedtestrategie-project Physics of Colloidal Matter. On the national level we participate in the FOM programs Cold Atoms and Waves in Complex Media. Recently, substantial support (1 PhD and 1 post-doc) was granted by the EU in the program Cold Molecules. The program further participates on a regular basis in experiments at FELIX in Nieuwegein.
International contacts and collaborations are with the Ioffe Institute in St.Petersburg (Russia), SUNY at Stony Brook (USA), NIST Gaithersburg (USA), Ecole Normale Superieur (France), the University of Georgia in Athens (USA), and the University of Sheffield (UK).
2.4. Academic reputation Van der Straten holds a part-time professorship at the Technical University of Eindhoven since fall 2000.
2.5. Internal evaluation and analysis, perspectives and expectations for the research program Strengths. The program is one of the players in the booming field of physics of cold atoms, but also has a reputation in the field of nonlineair optics and coherent vibrations in the ultrafast time domain. The strength is in the combination: it is one of few groups in the world that apply single-frequency laser techniques with ultrafast spectroscopy to one physical
39 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis system. The program contributes to competing subjects such as coherent matter, photonic crystals and disordered materials. The program offers a research environment that is attractive for ambitious young graduate students. A further vital point is the collaboration with the programs Soft Condensed Matter and Theory of Condensed Matter, Statistical and Computational Physics.
Weaknesses. The presence of only two senior staff members makes the program vulnerable as it limits the time and effort available to maintain the desired quality of the research and infrastructure of the program. The connection with other Dutch experimental groups is limited and should be reinforced.
Opportunities. The main challenge for the program in the near future is to study the properties of a Bose-Einstein condensate in optical lattices and demonstrate phase transitions for coherent matter waves. There are novel opportunities in slowing down and compressing cold atoms by femtosecond optical pulse trains, schemes that are potentially applicable to cold molecules as well.
Threats. The lack of qualified graduate students at the national and international level is a serious threat. The availability of a good number of excellent graduate students is a prerequisite to carry out the ambitious experimental and theoretical research of the program. A further threat is the anticipated decay of proper expertise on the instrumental level (cryogenics, vacuum technology, and electronics) when the technicians retire. Hiring this expertise and commercially purchasing the dedicated apparatus will demand considerable budget.
2.6. External validation The primary focus of this program is fundamental research and the training of physicists for jobs in industry and society. As to the direct applications of the research, the ultrafast optical work may lead to new schemes and structures for optical communication and ultrafast optical switching. The atom optics work can on the long term have impact on fabricating nanostructures in a coherent manner with yet unknown potential. Finally, Bose-Einstein condensates are considered to be relevant for metrology and the creation of quantum computers.
2.7. Researchers and other personnel One of the main tasks of the program is to spot and recruit talented young graduate students and guide them through a successful PhD project, which includes scientific training, writing scientific papers, presenting talks and lectures, and management training. Further responsibilities on the program level are the coaching and guiding of post docs, the technical staff and secretary. Finally, the program can initiate the process of recruiting young scientific staff through the annual P&C cycle.. From 1996 until 2001 the program produced 17 PhD theses in category 1. From these, the present chair holders of the program supervised 9 PhD theses. No students dropped out of the PhD program.
40 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
Table 3: Atomic Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Research staff at program level Name and present title ‘96 ‘97 ‘98 ‘99 ‘00 ‘01 ‘02
Full professors H.W. de Wijn 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,25 J.I. Dijkhuis 0,10 0,60 0,60 0,60 H.G.M. Heideman 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,05 A. Niehaus 0,30 0,30 0,30 0,30 0,30 0,10 P. van der Straten 0,20 0,60 0,60 Associate professors A.F.M. Arts 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,60 J.I. Dijkhuis 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,50 H. Rudolph 0,30 0,30 0,15 W. Westerveld 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,10 P. van der Straten 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,40 Total tenured staff 4,20 4,20 4,05 3,40 3,30 2,15 1,25
Post-doctoral fellows M. Lundsgaard 1,00 1,00 0,42 M. Pieksma 0,92 1,00 0,08 J. Thomsen 0,67 1,00 0,25 Part time professors A.V. Akimov 0,20 0,35 0,10 H.C.W. Beijerinck 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PhD students Total 7,08 7,08 4,80 5,16 6,00 4,92 5,85 Total non tenured staff 8,95 10,00 6,82 5,24 6,00 4,92 5,95
Total research staff 13,15 14,20 10,87 8,64 9,30 7,07 7,20 This table represents the actual fraction of the fte available for research, the research input of all personnel is quantified on the basis of a fixed standard for each function: full professors 60% associate professors (SDO) 60% assistant professors (DO) 60% post-doctoral fellows 100% PhD students (AIO/OIO’s) 90% The research input is calculated in proportion to the size of the appointment of the researcher involved. In exceptional cases when a staff member has performed duties that have taken up an extra-proportional amount of time, the percentage of time for research has been adapted.
2.8. Resources, funding and facilities Dedicated infrastructure of the program includes a Zeeman slower, several magneto optical traps, the Hurricane high-power femtosecond laser, and further laser- and other optical equipment.
41 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
Table 4a Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Funding at program level in K€ Funding 1996 19971998 1999 2000 2001 2002 97-02 average
Direct funding 1.066 1.234 1.351 1.006 839 616 1.019 Research funds 464 552 533 433 329 514 260 437 Contracts 112 17031 37 1 0 0 40 Other
Total 1.7811.798 1.721 1.336 1.353 876 1.495 Table 4a: The funding of the program during the evaluation period in k€.
Table 4b Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Funding at program level in % Funding 1996 19971998 1999 2000 2001 2002 97-02 average
Direct funding 60% 69% 74% 75% 62% 70% 68% Research funds 31% 30% 24% 25% 38% 30% 29% Contracts 10%2% 2% 0% 0% 0% 3% Other
Total 100%100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Table 4b: The funding of the program during the evaluation period in %. For an explanation see Research Institute documentation.
Support from the EU - EU Program Cold Molecules (2001, graduate student, post-doc) - EU Postdoc (J. Thomsen) - EU Postdoc (M. Lundsgaard) - EU Workshop ESCOLAR (Rust 1998, Krete 1999)
Support from FOM FOM program Period Support AQ &GM 3-4 graduate students Cold Atoms 1999-2002 1 graduate student Waves in Complex Media 2002-2007 1 graduate student
FOM projectruimte Dynamics in Optical Lattices 1999 1 graduate student Ultrafast Bragg Switching 1999 1 graduate student Generation and propagation of Acoustic 2000 1 graduate student Solitons 1 guest Low Dimensional Bose Gases in an 2002 1 graduate student Optical Lattice
42 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
FOM Investment Hurricane Ti-sapphire laser 290 k€
Support from the "Breedtestrategie - "Physics of Colloidal Matter" (1 graduate student, investments: 90k€).
2.9. Overview of the results 1. Key Publications 1. Molenaar, P.A., P. van der Straten, and H.G.M. Heideman, Long-Range Predissociation in Two-Color Photo ionization of Ultra cold Na Atoms, Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 1460 (1996).
2. Vledder, P., A.V. Akimov, J.I. Dijkhuis, J. Kusano, Y. Aoyagi, and T. Sugano, Transport of superradiant excitons, in GaAs single quantum wells, Phys. Rev. B 56, 15282 (1997).
3. Voort, M. van der, C.W. Rella, A.F.G. van der Meer, A.V. Akimov, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Dynamics of Si-H vibrations in an amorphous environment, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 1236 (2000).
4. Herschbach, N., P.J.J. Tol, W. Vassen, W. Hogervorst, G. Woestenenk, J.W. Thomsen, P. Van der Straten, and A. Niehaus, Photo association spectroscopy of cold He (23S) atoms, Phys. Rev. Lett . 84, 1874 (2000).
5. Oosten, D. van, P. van der Straten, and H.T.C. Stoof, Quantum phases in an optical lattice, Phys. Rev. A63, 053601 (2001).
6. Muskens, L. and Jaap I. Dijkhuis, High Amplitude, Ultrashort, Longitudinal Strain Solitons in Sapphire, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 285504 (2002)
2. Dissertations 1996: J.J. Blangé (category1) Ionization processes in thermal and ultracold collisions between Sodium atoms promotors: Prof. Dr. H.G.M. Heideman Prof. Dr. H.C.W. Beijerinck co-promotores: Dr. H. Rudolph Dr. H.A. Dijkerman
1996: P.A. Molenaar (category1) Photo associative reactions of laser-cooled sodium promotors: Prof. dr. H.G.M. Heideman Prof. dr. G. Nienhuis co-promotor: Dr. P. van der Straten.
43 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
1996: P.J. Rump (category1) Phonon studies in LiY1-xHoxF4 promotor: Prof. dr. H.W. de Wijn co-promotor: Dr. A.F.M. Arts.
1997: P. Vledder (category1) Picosecond exciton dynamics in gallium-arsenide quantum wells promotor: Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis.
1997: P.A.W.E. Verleg (category1) Noise spectroscopy of hydrogenated amorphous silicon promotor: Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis.
1997: P.A. Walree (category1) Coherent phonon avalanches promotor: Prof. dr. H.W. de Wijn co-promotor: Dr. ir. A.F.M. Arts.
1997: H.C. Mastwijk (category1) Cold collisions of metastable Helium atoms promotor: Prof. dr. A. Niehaus co-promotor: Dr. P. van der Straten.
1998: M.G. Peters (category1) Noise measurements on silicon quantum dots promotor: Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
1998: D. J. Dieleman (category1) Physical optics of high-frequency acoustic beams promotor: Prof. dr. H.W. de Wijn co-promotor: Dr. ir. A.F.M. Arts
1998:W.L.Planje (category1) Inelastic processes in atomic collisions involving ground state and laser-prepared atoms promotor: Prof. Dr. A. Niehaus co-promotor: Dr. W.B. Westerveld
1999: T.L. Sonnemans (category1) Thermal He(23S)-atom scattering from a Cu(100) surface promotor: Prof. dr. A. Niehaus co-promotors: Dr. P. van der Straten Dr. P.A. Zeijlmans van Emmichoven
1999: J.P.G. Valkonet (category1) Two-dimensional magnetic systems with frustrated random exchange interactions promotor: Prof. dr. H.W. de Wijn co-promotor: Dr. A.F.M. Arts
44 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
1999: M. van der Voort (category1) Dynamics of vibrations in amorphous silicon promotor: Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
2000: A. Amelink (category1) Photo association of ultra cold Sodium atoms promotor: Prof. dr. H.G.M. Heideman co-promotor: Dr. P. van der Straten.
2000: M. Benndorf (category1) Fragmentation dynamics of small molecules after absorption of synchrotron radiation promotor: Prof. dr. H.G.M. Heideman co-promotor: Dr. W.B. Westerveld
2001: L.G. Tilstra (category1) Stimulated emission of phonons in an acoustic cavity promotor: Prof. dr. H.W. de Wijn co-promotor: Dr. A.F.M. Arts.
2001: G. Woestenenk (category1) Photo association of cold metastable Helium atoms promotors: Prof. dr. A. Niehaus Prof. dr. P. van der Straten.
3. Numerical Overview of the results Table 5 Program results: output numbers ‘96 ‘97 ‘98 ‘99 ‘00 ‘01 ‘02 Total
1. Academic a. In refereed 19 11 10 18 8 6 9 6* 87 publications journals
b. other publications Total 19 11 10 18 8 6 9 6* 87
2. PhD theses 343322 0 17 *Submitted and not yet published as of 31 December 2002
4. Full list of publications (1996-2002) 1996 (refereed) Baerveldt, A.W., W.B. Westerveld, J. van Eck, and H.G.M. Heideman, Polarization and orientation in electron impact excitation to Ne*(2p5 3p) states, Can.J. Phys. 74: 897-905 (1996).
45 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
Blangé, J.J., X. Urbain, H. Rudolph, H.A. Dijkerman, H.C.W. Beijerinck, and H.G.M. Heideman, Wavelength-dependent photodissociation as a probe for vibrational energy distributions in molecular ions, J.Phys. B 29, 565 (1996)
Damen, E.P.N., A.F.M. Arts, and H.W. de Wijn, Monochromatic acoustic waves generated by laser-induced, thermomodulation, Progress in Natural Science 6, S-449 (National Natural Science Foundation of China, 1996).
Dijkhuis, J.I., A.J. Scholten, A.V. Akimov, Localized high-frequency phonons in amorphous materials , Physica B Cond. Mat. 219 & 220 228(1996).
Dijkhuis, J.I., Dynamics of high-frequency phonons in amorphous silicon, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 41 732(1996).
Heideman, H.G.M., Coherences between the excitation of autoionizing states of widely different energies, 5th International Workshop Autoionization Phenomence in Atoms, Moscow University Press 57-61. (1996).
Hoogerland, M.D., H.F.P. de Bie, H.C.W. Beijerinck, E.J.D. Vredenbregt, K.A.H. van Leeuwen, P. van der Straten, H.J. Metcalf, Force, diffusion and channeling in sub-Doppler laser cooling, Phys. Rev. A 54 (1996) 3206-3218.
Molenaar, P.A., P. van der Straten, H.G.M. Heideman, Long-Range Predissociation in Two- Color Photoassociation of Ultra cold Na Atoms, Phys. Rev. Lett. 77 no. 8 (1996) 1460-1463.
Peters, M.G., Y. Shi, J.I. Dijkhuis, M.J.M. de Jong, L.W. Molenkamp, Random telegraph signals in the Coulomb blockade regime, The Physics of Semiconductors, ed. Scheffler, Zimmerman, p. 1979 (World-Scientific Press 1996).
Rudolph, H, X. Urbain, Vibrational branching ratios for single-photon ionization of Na2, Phys. Rev. A 53, no. 6 (1996) 4111-4119.
Rump, P.J., A.F.M. Arts, H.W. de Wijn, and M. Nielsen, Dynamics of coupled electron-phonon modes in LiHo1-xYxF4, Physica B 219, 760 (1996).
Scholten, A.J., J.I. Dijkhuis, Decay of high-frequency phonons in amorphous silicon, Phys. Rev. B 53, 3837 (1996).
Scholten, A.J., A.V. Akimov, and J.I. Dijkhuis, The transport of 29 cm-1 phonons in hydrogenated amorphous silicon, Phys. Rev. B 54 12151(1996).
Urbain, X. and H. Rudolph, Vibrational branching ratios resulting for single-photon ionization of Na2, Phys. Rev. A, 4111 (1996)
Vledder, P., J.I. Dijkhuis, Superradiance and transport of excitons in gallium arsenide single quantum wells, in "Excitonic processes in Condensed matter", ed. Schreiber, p. 119 (Dresden, Univ. press., 1996).
46 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
Vledder, P., J.I. Dijkhuis, Coherent ultra fast spectroscopy using the Doppler effect, in "The Physics of semiconductors", ed. Scheiffler/Zimmerman, p. 781 (World Scientific press 1996), and IEEE 96 TH 8162, 205.
Vledder, P., F.J.P. Schuurmans, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Superradiant excitons in GaAs single quantum wells, "The Physics of Semiconductors" ed. Scheiffler/Zimmerman, p. 1979 (World Scientific press, 1996) and IEEE, 96TH8162 p. 16.
Walree, P.A. van., A.F.M. Arts, H.W. de Wijn, and A.A. Kaplyanskii, Nonequilibrium phonons in Cr3+-doped germanate glass, Physica B 219, (1996) 757.
Westerveld, W.B., J. van der Weg, J. van Eck, H.G.M. Heideman and J.B. West, "Electron- ion coincidence measurements following 1sc-photoabsorption of CO, Chem.Phys.Lett. 252: 107-111 (1996).
1997 (refereed) Blangé, J.J., J.M. Zijlstra, A. Amelink, X. Urbain, H. Rudolph, P. van der Straten, H.C.W. + Beijerinck, and H.G.M. Heideman, Vibrational state distribution of Na2 ions created in ultracold collisions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 3089 (1997)
Blangé, J.J., G. Aben, H. Rudolph, H.C.W. Beijerinck, and H.G.M. Heideman, Associative 2 2 ionization in collisions between excited Na atoms in the 3 P3/2 and the 3 P1/2 states, J.Phys. B 30, 2789 (1997)
Blangé, J.J., X. Urbain, H. Rudolph, H.A. Dijkerman, H.C.W. Beijerinck, and H.G.M. Heideman, Vibrational state distributions resulting from associative ionization in Na(3p)- Na(3p) collisions, J.Phys. B 30, 565 (1997)
Eck, J van, W.B. Westerveld, J. van der Weg, H.G.M. Heideman, J.B. West, Fragmentation of small molecules,. Synchrotron Radiation Depart., Scientific Reports (1997) 463-464.
Fokker, P.A., J.I. Dijkhuis, and H.W. de Wijn, Stimulated emission of phonons in an acoustical cavity, Phys. Rev. B 55, 2925 (1997).
Fokker, P.A., R.S. Meltzer, Y.P. Wang, J.I. Dijkhuis, and H.W. de Wijn, Suppression of stimulated phonon emission in ruby by a magnetic field gradient, Phys. Rev. B 55, 2934 (1997).
Fokker, P.A., W.D. Koster, J.I. Dijkhuis, H.W. de Wijn, L. Lu, R.S. Meltzer, and W.M. Yen, Stimulated emission of phonons in a ruby fiber, Phys. Rev. B 56, 2306 (1997).
Molenaar, P.A., P. van der Straten, H.G.M. Heideman, H. Metcalf, Diagnostic technique for Zeeman-compensated atomic beam slowing: Technique and results, Physical Review A 55, no. 1 (1997) 605-614.
47 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
Peters, M.G., A.J. Jansen, J.I. Dijkhuis, M.J.M. de Jong, and L.W. Molenkamp, Dynamics of random telegraph signals in the Coulomb blockade regime, in "Noise in Physical Systems and 1/f Fluctuations", edited by Claes and Simoen, World Scientific (Singapore), p.236 (1997).
Verleg, P.A.W.E., O. Uca, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Noise induced by structural changes and carrier trapping in hydrogenated amorphous silicon, in "Noise in Physical Systems and 1/f Fluctuations", edited by Claes and Simoen, World Scientific (Singapore), p. 442 (1997).
Vledder, P., A.V. Akimov, J.I. Dijkhuis, J. Kusano, Y. Aoyagi, and T. Sugano, Transport of superradiant excitons, in GaAs single quantum wells, Phys. Rev. B56, 15282 (1997).
1998 (refereed) Baerveldt, A.W., W B Westerveld, J van Eck, H G M Heideman, G D Menêses, G Csanak, R E H Clark and J Abdallah Jr, Cross sections, polarization and orientation in electron- impact excitation to Ne*(2p5 3p) states, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 31: 573-591 (1998).
Benndorf, M.; Westerveld, W.B.; v. Eck, J.; v.d. Weg, J.; Heideman, H.G.M., Electron-ion coincidence measurements on N2 after 1s photoabsorption, Chemical Physics Letters 286: 321-328 (1998).
Damen, E. P. N., A. F. M. Arts, and H. W. de Wijn, Experimental verification of Herring's theory of anharmonic phonon relaxation: TeO2, Phys. Rev. B59 (1998) 349.
Lundsgaard, M.F.V., S.E. Nielsen, H. Rudolph, and J. P. Hansen, Multi-crossing Landau- Zener and close-coupling calculations for H+ + Li(2s,2p) collisions, J. Phys. B 31, 3215 (1998)
Mastwijk, H.C., J.W. Thomsen, P. van der Straten, A. Niehaus, Optical Collisions of Cold, Metastable Helium Atoms, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80 (1998) 5516-5519.
Mastwijk, H.C., M. Rijnbach, J.W. Thomsen, P. van der Straten, A. Niehaus, Photo induced collisions of laser cooled He* atoms, Eur. Phys. J. D4 (1998) 131-137.
Peters, M.G., S.G. den Hartog, J.I. Dijkhuis, O.J.A. Buyk, and L.W. Molenkamp, Single electron tunneling and suppression of short-channel effects in submicron silicon transistors, J. Appl. Phys 84, (1998) 5052.
Verleg, P.A.W.E., and J.I. Dijkhuis, Mobility fluctuations in hydrogenated amorphous silicon associated with deep defects, Journ.Non-Cryst.Sol. 227-230 (1998) 172.
Verleg, P.A.W.E., and J.I. Dijkhuis, Resistance fluctuations in hydrogenated amorphous silicon: thermal equilibrium, Phys. Rev. B58 (1998) 3904.
Verleg, P.A.W.E., and J.I. Dijkhuis, Resistance fluctuations in hydrogenated amorphous silicon: nonthermal equilibrium, Phys. Rev. B58 (1998) 3917.
48 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
1999 (refereed) Benndorf, M., W.B. Westerveld, J. van Eck, J. van der Weg and H.G.M. Heideman, Electron-ion coincidence measurements on CO after C 1s and O 1s photoabsorption, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 32: 2503-2515 (1999).
De Wijn, H.W. de, P.A. van Walree, and A.F.M. Arts, Coherent phonon avalanches, Physica B263-264 30 (1999).
Dijkhuis, J.I. and P.A.W.E. Verleg, Generation-recombination noise in hydrogenated amorphous silicon, “The Physics of Semiconductors”, edited by D. Gershoni, World Scientific 1999, VIII, E7
Damen, E.P.N., A.F.M. Arts, and H.W. de Wijn, Experimental verification of Herring's theory of anharmonic phonon relaxation: TeO2, Phys. Rev. B59, 349 (1999).
Damen, E. P. N., A. F. M. Arts, and H. W. de Wijn, Anharmonic phonon decay in TeO2: confirmation of Herring's theory, Physica B263-264 (1999).
Dieleman, D.J., A.F. Koenderink, A.F.M. Arts, and H.W. de Wijn, Diffraction of coherent phonons emitted by a grating, Phys. Rev. B60 (1999) 14719.
Dieleman, D.J., A.F. Koenderink, M.G.A. van Veghel, M.A. de Vries, A.F.M. Arts, and H.W. de Wijn, Physical and geometrical optics of phonons, Physica B263-264 (1999) 564.
Lundsgaard, M.F.V. and H. Rudolph, Vibrationally resolved cross sections for single-photon ionisation of LiH, J. Chem. Phys. 111, 6724 (1999)
Peters, M.G., J.I. Dijkhuis, and L.W. Molenkamp, Random telegraph signals and 1/f noise in a silicon quantum dot, Journ. Appl. Phys 86, 1523 (1999).
Peters, M.G., J.I. Dijkhuis, and L.W. Molenkamp, Zero-dimensional states in a quantum dot, formed at threshold in a disordered submicron silicon transistor, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 14, 1119 (1999).
Rella, C.W., M. van der Voort, A.F.G. van der Meer, A.V. Akimov, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Localization of the Si-H stretch vibration in amorphous silicon, Appl. Phys. Lett. 75, 2945 (1999).
Rump, P.J., A.F.M. Arts, and H.W. de Wijn, Diffusion of phonons in LiY1-xHoxF4, Physica B263-264 (1999) 702.
Van der Voort M., G.D.J. Smit, A.V. Akimov, J.I. Dijkhuis, Phonon generation by carrier recombination in a-Si:H, Physica B263-264, 283(1999).
Van der Voort M., A.V. Akimov, G.D.J. Smit, J.I. Dijkhuis, N.A. Feoktistov, A.A. Kaplyanskii, and A.B.Petsov, Decay of nonequilibrium phonons in nanocrystalline silicon, Physica B263-264, 473 (1999).
49 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
Van der Voort M., A.V. Akimov, O.L. Muskens, J.I. Dijkhuis, N.A. Feoktistov, A.A. Kaplyanskii, and A.B. Petsov, Phonon dynamics in amorphous and nanocrystalline silicon, Journ. Lumin. 83-84, 161 (1999).
Van der Voort M., C.W. Rella, A.F.G. van der Meer, A.V. Akimov, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Free- electron laser experiments on Si-H vibrations in a-Si:H, Journ. Lumin. 83-84, 183 (1999).
Vledder, P., A.V. Akimov, J.I. Dijkhuis, J. Kusano, Y. Aoyagi, and T. Sugano, Dynamics of superradiant excitons in GaAs single quantum wells, Journ. Lumin. 83-84, 309 (1999)
Woestenenk, G., H.C. Mastwijk, J.W. Thomsen, P. van der Straten, M. Pieksma, M. van Rijnbach, A. Niehaus, Collisions between ultra cold metastable He atoms, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. in Phys. Res. B154 (1999) 194-203.
2000 (refereed) Amelink, A., K.M. Jones, P.D. Lett, P. van der Straten, and H.G.M. Heideman, Single-color photo associative ionization of ultra cold sodium: The region from 0 to 5 GHz, Phys. Rev. A 61 (2000) 013408.
Amelink, A., K.M. Jones, P.D. Lett, P. van der Straten, and H.G.M. Heideman, Spectroscopy of auto ionizing doubly excited states in ultra cold Na2 molecules produced by photo association, Physical Review A 61 (2000) 042707.
Herschbach, N., P.J.J. Tol, W. Vassen, W. Hogervorst, G. Woestenenk, J.W. Thomsen, P. van der Straten, and A. Niehaus, Photoassociation Spectroscopy of Cold He(2 3S) Atoms, Physical Review Letters 84 (2000) 1874.
Planje, W.G., W.B. Westerveld, A. Niehaus, Oscillations Due to Two-Electron Exchange during He-Ne Collisions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85: 2713-2716 (2000)
Van der Voort M., C.W. Rella, A.F.G. van der Meer, A.V. Akimov, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Ultra fast experiments on Si-H vibrations in a-Si:H, Journ. Noncryst. Solids 266-269, 180(2000).
Van der Voort M., C.W. Rella, A.F.G. van der Meer, A.V. Akimov, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Dynamics of Si-H vibrations in an amorphous environment, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 1236 (2000).
Van der Voort M., A.V. Akimov, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Phonon generation and decay in hydrogenated amorphous silicon, Phys. Rev. B62, 8072 (2000).
Verleg, P. and J.I. Dijkhuis, Generation-recombination noise studied in hydrogenated amorphous silicon, Journ. Noncryst. Solids 266-269, 232 (2000).
2001 (refereed) Damen, E.P.N., Dieleman, D.J., Arts, A.F.M., and De Wijn, H.W., Generation and propagation of coherent phonon beams, Phys.Rev. B64, 174303 (2001).
50 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
Dieleman, D.J. Koenderink, A.F. , Van Veghel, M.G.A., Arts, A.F.M., and De Wijn, H.W., Transmission of coherent phonons through a metallic multilayer, Phys. Rev. B64, 174304 (2001).
Van der Voort M., O.L. Muskens, A.V. Akimov, A.B. Pevtsov, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Dynamics of vibrations in a mixed amorphous nanocrystalline Si system, Phys. Rev. B64, 45203 (2001).
Van Oosten, D., P. van der Straten, and H.T.C. Stoof, Quantum phases in an optical lattice, Phys. Rev. A63, 053601 (2001).
Walree, P.A. van, A.F.M. Arts, and H.W. de Wijn, Relaxation of an optically created phonon void, Phys. Rev. B64, 174301(2001).
Woestenenk, G.R., J.W. Thomsen, M. van Rijnbach, P. van der Straten, Construction of a low velocity metastable Helium atomic beam, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 72, 10, (2001).
2002 (refereed) Bakker J.P.R., B.J. van der Horst, J.I. Dijkhuis, Simulations of generation-recombination noise of n-i-n a-Si:H devices using AMPS-1D - J.P.R., J. Non-Cryst. Solids 299-302 (2002) 1256-1260
Bakker J.P.R., B.V. Fine, J.I. Dijkhuis, Generation-recombination noise in a-Si:H studied by device simulations - MRS Proceedings, 715 (2002)
Bosch R.C.M., H.C.W. Beijerinck, P. van der Straten, and K.A.H. van Leeuwen, Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys., 18, 221 (2002).
Metcalf H.J. and P. van der Straten, Laser cooling and trapping ,In Handbook of Optics III, ed. M. Bass, J.M. Enoch, E. van Strykland, and B. Wolfe, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2002.
Muskens O.L. and J.I. Dijkhuis, Propagation of Ultrashort Acoustic Wave Packets in PbMoO4 Studied by Brillouin Spectroscopy, Physica B316-317, 373-376 (2002)
Muskens Otto L., Jaap I. Dijkhuis, High Amplitude, Ultrashort, Longitudinal Strain Solitons in Sapphire, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 285504 (2002)
Pieksma M., M. Cizek, J. W. Thomsen, P. van der Straten, and A. Niehaus, Energy + + 3 3 distributions of He and He2 ions formed in ultracold He(2 S1)+He(2 P2) collisions, Phys. Rev. A66, 022703 (2002)
Te Sligte E., R.C.M. Bosch, B. Smeets, P. van der Straten, H.C.W. Beijerinck, and K.A.H. van Leeuwen, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 99, 6509 (2002).
51 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 1 : Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics Program Leader : Prof. dr. J.I. Dijkhuis
Wells J.P.R, R.E.I. Schropp, L.F.G van der Meer, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Ultrafast Vibrational Dynamics and Stability of Deuterated Amorphous silicon, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 125504 (2002).
2002 (submitted to a refereed journal and not yet published as of 31 December 2002) Fine B.V., J.P.R. Bakker, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Long-range potential fluctuations and 1/f noise in hydrogenated amorphous silicon - submitted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. (arXiv:cond-mat/0210680)
Metcalf H.J., and P. van der Straten, Laser cooling and trapping of atoms, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B (accepted for publication)
Mazurenko D.A., A.V. Akimov, A.B. Pevtsov, D.A. Kurdyukov, V.G. Golubev, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Ultrafast switching in Si-embedded opals, Physica E (2003) (in press).
Van den Oosten, D., P. van der Straten and H. T. C. Stoof , Mott insulators in an optical lattice with high filling factors, cond-mat/0205066 (2002), accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A
Van der Straten P., and H. Metcalf, The Quest for BEC,Interac-tion in Ultracold Gases, ed. M. Weidemuller and C. Zimmerman, Wiley-VCH, Germany, 2003
Wells J.P.R., P.J.Phillips, N. Tomozeiu, F.P.M. Habraken, and J.I. Dijkhuis, Infrared Transient Grating and Photo Echo Spectroscopy of Oxygen Vibrational Modes in Amorphous Silicon Thin Films, submitted for publication in Phys. Rev. B
52 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
2. Documentation per research program
Title of the program Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics
Program leaders Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen Directors Debye Institute Prof. dr. F.H.P.M. Habraken (from 2000) Prof. dr. H.N.W. Lekkerkerker (from 1998 until 2000) Prof. dr. W.F. van der Weg (until 1998).
Starting date of the program Formally this program was established when the Research Institute was created in 2001. However, the biophysics parts of this program dates back from before 1996 and the soft condensed matter part started in 2000.
Research area and mission Soft Condensed Matter: colloids, confocal microscopy, spectroscopy, imaging, photonic crystals, electro rheological fluids, computer simulations. Biophysics: confocal microscopy, multi-photon excitation microscopy, fluorescence lifetime imaging, fluorescence spectroscopy, single molecule imaging, fluorescent probes.
Soft Condensed Matter: The use and development of new colloidal model systems to study fundamental (condensed matter) physics. Biophysics: The development and application of advanced fluorescence imaging and micro-volume spectroscopy methods and the characterization and development of luminescent labels.
Formal affiliations outside Debye Institute and Research School the Research Institute
2.1. Leadership The program leader has the overall responsibility for the program, both with respect to the quality and the cohesion of the research and with respect to the budget that is provided by the Faculty. He is responsible for the internal coordination and cooperation within the program, for organizing the human resources and for maintaining and developing the external contacts. This is in close collaboration with the other project leader. Together with the leaders of the other research programs, he discusses the general policies of the Research Institute at regular meetings and makes recommendations to the director. The program leader represents the program in the planning and control session that is organized by the Faculty Board once a year, where the plans and budget request for the coming year are presented. The presentations form the basis for the budget allocations made by the Faculty Board for the subsequent year.
53 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
This program is part of the Debye Institute. The program leader has to optimize the activities of the program within the Debye Institute. See also: Part A, 1.2.
2.2. Strategy and policy Program History At the end of 2001 all physics groups participating in the Debye institute moved into the L.S. Ornstein Laboratory and the Robert J. van der Graaff Laboratory. Groups that share equipment were brought physically close together. To reflect this new situation, several groups were also brought together in the new structure at the Research Institute. This has led to the program: Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics, in which the groups of Van Blaaderen (former group: soft condensed matter that started at the end of 1999) and Gerritsen (former group Levine/Gerritsen: Molecular Biophysics) are brought together. These groups carry out research using similar methods and the research fields are bordering and sometimes overlapping. The move has and will stimulate further synergy between the two research themes in the program. It should be stressed, however, that before 2001 the unison of these two groups was not yet effective.
Van Blaaderen was appointed full professor in the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy in November 1999 to start a for this Faculty new direction of soft condensed matter research. Before his appointment, Van Blaaderen worked as associate professor in the Chemistry Faculty for 50% of his time and for the other 50% as group leader at the FOM institute for atomic and molecular physics, AMOLF (Amsterdam). Also at the end of 1999 M. Dijkstra joined this new group as assistant professor and in April 2000 A. Imhof started as assistant professor as well. In 2002 all experimental set ups that were built up at AMOLF were moved to Utrecht.
The Biophysics group stems from the Molecular BioPhysics group that was headed by Levine. This group mainly worked on membrane biophysics using fluorescence spectroscopy and synchrotron radiation. Because Gerritsen was awarded a PIONIER grant by NWO in 1996, he subsequently formed his own group working on advanced microscopy and spectroscopy. Levine branched out into the area of computational biophysics. In 2002 Gerritsen was appointed adjunct professor (Utrecht University Foundation) in “the laser physics of complex biological systems”.
Direction of Research Area and Mission: Soft Condensed Matter The objective of our research is the use and development of new colloidal model systems to study fundamental (condensed matter) physics. This is possible because colloids, which are particles or macromolecules with a size ranging from a few nm to a few µm, have a well- defined thermodynamic temperature that manifests itself through Brownian motion. We focus on phase transitions (freezing, melting) and the glass transition. We developed methods to study and manipulate concentrated model dispersions quantitatively in real-space using confocal microscopy and external fields like: corrugated walls, light, gravity and electric fields. In addition, we try to use the fundamental knowledge obtained to make new materials with special (mostly optical) properties such as photonic crystals and electro- rheological fluids. Finally, we also strive to obtain a better understanding of the structure and
54 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen phase behavior of colloidal suspensions, and condensed matter in general, through computer simulations.
The SCM research theme fits very well within the research theme of the Debye Institute in which groups from the Physics and Astronomy and Chemistry Faculties collaborate on research on nanomaterials and interfaces. Moreover, there is extensive recognition both on a Dutch national and international level that the field of ‘nano-science’ is rapidly maturing and promising to bring applications to many fields. This recognition is apparent from new program initiatives to fund and stimulate this field in which the SCM group is actively taking part.
The near future plans of the SCM group build upon our leading ability to investigate and simulate concentrated dispersions under the influence of external fields in real space. We want to further integrate our ability to perform computer simulations (M. Dijkstra) and theory (R. van Roij) on the same systems we study quantitatively in real space. We have already started working on implementing rheology with real space confocal measurements and will also significantly increase our possibilities to manipulate colloids with optical tweezers. In addition, we have recently set up light scattering equipment and have made trips to the synchrotron in Grenoble (ESRF) to be able to obtain complementary information through scattering experiments. Finally, we have started to develop and study more complex systems than dispersions of spheres, such as anisotropic colloids (dumbbells, rods) and particles with dipolar interactions.
Our long-term objective is to extend the role of colloids as condensed matter model systems to provide for an understanding of systems (far) out of equilibrium in which colloids can be prepared through the controlled actions of external fields. Aided by computer simulations and theory our goal is to extend the understanding of such model systems, because this will be applicable to many other situations either used in industry or in nature where systems are almost always far out of equilibrium. In 2002 a 6-year FOM program The Physics of Colloids under External Fields was approved. This program is the Dutch (Utrecht) based part of a 12 year running TransRegio DFG collaboration with the leading colloid physics groups in Germany with very similar objectives as just mentioned.
Direction of Research Area and Mission: Biophysics The Biophysics theme of the program has a strong multi-disciplinary character that is based on the group’s long-standing background in fluorescence spectroscopy. More than ten years ago the first steps were made to extend the fluorescence spectroscopy work to the microscopic level. This resulted in the current research that focuses on the application and development of novel fluorescence spectroscopy-based imaging methods as well as the characterization and development of luminescent labels. The mission of the group is to develop and exploit fluorescence spectroscopy-based techniques in microscopy. In our vision the future of fluorescence microscopy lies in the combination of fluorescence imaging and spectroscopic techniques. The novel imaging methodologies under development in the group utilize advanced light sources, non-linear excitation methods and contrast based on fluorescence spectroscopy. For instance, the group developed and installed a confocal UV microscopy beamline at the Synchrotron Radiation Source, Daresbury Laboratory (UK). This combination was the first
55 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen step in combining fluorescence spectroscopy with microscopy for imaging experiments at the microscopic level. The group was one of the first to develop and exploit the technique of Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM). This imaging method has now been combined both with confocal microscopy and with two-photon excitation microscopy. The technical developments by the group are to a great extent driven by biological and biophysical problems, which cannot be imaged with conventional techniques. Applications that require specialized biological know-how are in general carried out in collaboration with biological groups. Fluorescence spectroscopy relies on the ability to incorporate luminescent molecules in a chemically specific way into the sample. Moreover, the application of spectroscopic contrast techniques requires knowledge of their photophysical characteristics. For these reasons the group also works on the characterization and development of luminescent labels. Conventional organic dyes are studied and characterized spectroscopically. Importantly, a number of collaborations were started recently to use novel luminescent particles as labels. Particles based on silica colloids, fluorescent dyes and a metal core or a metal shell are now studied in collaboration with the SCM group. Another productive collaboration was started with the group of Meijerink (Chemistry, Debye Institute) to study the properties of semiconductor nano-crystals (Quantum Dots) at the single particle level. Both type of luminescent particles offer interesting perspectives for use in imaging experiments.
In the coming years, we shall further extend the use of novel fluorescence spectroscopy- based imaging methods. For example, several novel spectroscopy-based approaches to the imaging of Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) will be explored. Furthermore, it is envisaged that the emphasis of the efforts of the group will shift somewhat towards the application of these advanced imaging and spectroscopy techniques. The Biophysics theme of Program 2 participates in the new Academic Biomedical Cluster (ABC) initiative of Utrecht University. This initiative aims at stimulating activities in the biomedical area. Gerritsen was co-applicant for the ABC multi-photon excitation facility and the strong links with the facility will strengthen the collaboration with biological and biomedical users. The fruitful collaborations with the groups in the Debye Institute working on fluorescent colloids, quantum dots (Meijerink, Debye Institute) and other nano-particles will be continued. In particular we will focus on spectroscopy and microscopy of single particles and conventional dyes.
2.3. Processes in research, internal and external collaboration The tenured staff of the SCM group consists of two experimentalists and one staff member specialized in computer simulations. The educational backgrounds of all three staff members are a mix of physics and chemistry. This is reflected in the research and in the group members: both chemists and physicists are about equally represented and there are or have been not only experimentalists, but also theorists are part of the group. This mix is also reflected in the group meetings, not only are there the important group meetings of the whole group, but also more specialized ones together with theorists (R. van Roij, Condensed-Matter Theory, Statistical and Computational Physics program) and/or computer simulators (D. Frenkel, AMOLF Amsterdam). Moreover, every week there is a joint (more formal) lunch group meeting together with the group of Philipse/Lekkerkerker. With this group, that works within the Debye institute in the Faculty of Chemistry on overlapping research areas there
56 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen are close collaborations. Within the Debye institute, there are also collaborations with the groups of Kelly/Meijerink, Dijkhuis, Schropp and Habraken/Vredenberg. Collaborations of the SCM group are also intensive with groups from the FOM institute AMOLF in Amsterdam. There are collaborations with the groups of D. Frenkel, M. Dogterom and A. Polman. As is apparent also from the authors in the group’s output, the group also collaborates with several foreign groups. Next to academic groups, there are also connections (and partial funding) from groups at companies such as: Philips, Unilever and AKZO.
The Biophysics group has one tenured staff member with a background in experimental physics. The coherence of the research program is achieved by focusing on a limited number of topics, thus ensuring overlap between projects. Both the group leader and a postdoctoral fellow usually supervise the graduate students. The group holds a weekly meeting to discuss the progress of the work. In addition ad-hoc progress meetings are organized for the individual projects that may include members from collaborating groups. The Biophysics group has a strong interaction with the group of Meijerink in the framework of the Debye Institute. Within Utrecht University, there are important collaborations with the groups of Verkleij (molecular cell biology), Vermeer (chemistry of lipids) and Jongsma (physiology). Outside Utrecht there are and have been numerous collaborations including those with Herman (Chapell Hill, US), Slaaf (Maastricht), Sterenborg (Rotterdam). In additon to the academic collaborations, we have excellent contacts with e.g. Unilever, Philips, Amarsham and Nikon Europe BV.
2.4. Academic reputation The reputation and broad range of impact of the SCM group is exemplified by the fact that group members were invited to present papers at six different Gordon conferences the last few years and by the fact that it was chosen as the Dutch partner in an approved Transregio DFG grant (funded on the Dutch side as the FOM program Colloids in External Fields). During its relatively short lifetime the SCM group has got many so-called ‘tweede geldstroom’ projects funded (listed in 2.8). Among these are seven prestigious FOM ‘Projectruimte’ proposals, for which all physicists in the NL compete and for which the chance of success is low. At present Van Blaaderen is ‘consultant’ at the FOM institute AMOLF.
H.C. Gerritsen - NWO PIONIER grant (1996).
M. Dijkstra - FOM Minerva price (2000) for her paper Phase diagram of highly asymmetric binary hard- sphere mixtures, Phys. Rev. E 59, 5744 (1999).
A. Yethiraj - The Glenn H. Brown Award at the 18th International Liquid Crystal Conference, Sendai, Japan July, 2000.
57 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
2.5. Internal evaluation and analysis, perspectives and expectations for the research program Strengths. The Soft Condensed Matter (SCM) research spans the whole range of developing and making new colloidal model systems, the study of these systems to investigate fundamental (soft) condensed matter questions and the design of new advanced materials. This means that research of the group draws on the disciplines chemistry, physics and materials science. In several of these disciplines mentioned the group is at the international scientific forefront. There is a strong affinity and collaboration with theorists in the (soft) condensed matter field. SCM research fits well within the Debye Institute. Utrecht is recognized as one of the main centers worldwide in colloid science. The Biophysics branch of the program has a sound background in fluorescence spectroscopy and imaging. The excellent infrastructure includes cutting-edge as well as standard microscope systems and fluorescence spectroscopy equipment. The group is working in an active field that is attracting much attention and is an attractive partner for collaborations.
Weaknesses. The combination of SCM and Biophysics within one program is mainly based on the sharing of scientific equipment and methodology. The scientific overlap between the Biophysics and Soft Condensed Matter theme is weak. Covering the broad range of fields, has the risk of research becoming less focused and fragmented.
Opportunities. In fields in which the SCM group is active, there are many funding opportunities, like nano science and photonic crystals. The SCM group is actively pursuing them both on a national and European level and has been quite successful in the past in doing so. For the type of research SCM provides, it is essential to attract scientists with a combined physics and chemistry background. SCM can profit from the fact that within the new Bachelor and Masters structure more multidisciplinary students are trained. The Biophysics branch profits from the enormously increased interest in biophysics over the past years, both at the national and at the international level. Many multi-disciplinary programs have been started by various funding institutes. The Biophysics group is an attractive and sought-after partner for such grant applications. The recently started Academic Biomedical Cluster (ABC) at Utrecht University aims at stimulating activities in the biomedical area. This initiative offers excellent opportunities for the Biophysics theme to collaborate within Utrecht University.
Threats. The development of new methodologies and experimental techniques requires a good and dedicated infrastructure like machine shop and designers. Future financial support for this infrastructure is a serious concern. As a result of the high quality of the young and active staff of the SCM group, staff members are attractive to other universities and research groups. Although this is a compliment for the group as such, the program would suffer if people leave the group at this stage. The Biophysics group is very vulnerable because there is only one tenured scientific staff member.
58 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
2.6. External validation Societal/technological relevance: Soft Condensed Matter The research we perform is fundamental in nature; however, with soft condensed matter systems applications are never far away. The concentrated and strongly interacting colloidal model systems we study are of course not only condensed matter physics models, but are also important to achieve a better understanding of concentrated more complex dispersions found in industry (paints, food) and nature. Moreover, some of the subjects we study in particular, electro-rheological fluids (dispersions under the influence of an electric field) and photonic crystals, belong to a class of ‘smart materials’ of which the properties can be changed dynamically. Examples are a variable transmission or shock absorber for which the stiffness can be quickly changed as function of the applied electric field strength and dielectrically doped photonic crystal that can switch light with light: an optical transistor. As the society demands faster and larger data streams the pressure to reduce the size and costs of (electro)optical components and improve their performance will increase. We believe that colloids will play an important role enabling this. Because of these reasons more than half of our FOM ‘projectruimte’ proposals are labeled ‘fsto’ or ‘fundamental strategical/technological’ research. In addition we participate in the Softlink programme which funds fundamental soft matter research projects that are of interest to and co-funded by industrial partners like Philips, Akzo Nobel, DSM and Unilever.
Biophysics Research results in this field have significant implications for both society and technology. Fluorescence imaging techniques are becoming increasingly important in many different fields. This does not only include fundamental research but also medical diagnostics and industrial applications. The group has close contacts with academic, clinical and industrial users of fluorescence techniques. Examples of the societal and technological relevance of the work carried out within the framework of the sub-program are given below. The sub-program contributed to the development of novel imaging methods such as Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging and its implementation in multi-photon excitation microscopy. These two techniques are now generally accepted, commercially available and in use in many laboratories. Moreover, the group developed a Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging method that has recently become commercially available (Nikon). The luminescent labels based on colloids and semiconductor nano-crystals may become of great practical importance. For instance, when bound to proteins these labels may become a good alternative for conventional organic dye molecules. Eventually these novel labels may replace conventional luminescent dyes in for instance diagnostic applications. In 2001 a FOM project was awarded that aims at investigating the potential of multi-photon excited auto-fluorescence spectroscopy for the diagnosis of superficial cancers.
59 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
2.7. Researchers and other personnel
Table 3: Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Research staff at program level Name and present title ‘96 ‘97 ‘98 ‘99 ‘00 ‘01 ‘02
Full professors Y.K. Levine 0,6 A. van Blaaderen 0,05 0,6 0,6 0,6 Associate professor H.C. Gerritsen 0,6 0,6 0,6 0,46 0,41 0,51 0,51 Assistant professors M. Dijkstra 0.2 0,35 0,6 0,35 A. Imhof 0,35 0,6 0,6 Total tenured staff 1,20 0,60 0,60 0,71 1,71 2,31 2,06
Postdoctoral fellows S. Agronskaia 0,58 1 1 1 C. de Grauw 0,83 1 1 1 0,17 0 M. Della Noce 0,5 M. Giesbers 0,67 1 0,25 C. Graf 0,83 1 1 P. Johnson 0,83 G. Latouche 0,08 1 A. Moroz 0,83 1 0,42 Palermo 0,5 P. Royall 0,75 J. Sytsma 0,17 O. Tovmachenko 0,25 1 B. van Rotterdam 1 0,75 W. van Sark 0,5 1 1 0,83 A.J. van der Sijs 0,42 0,58 M. van Zandvoort 1 1 0,42 A. Yethiraj 0,58 1 1 1 PhD students Total 1,8 2,26 3,6 3,16 4,74 6 6,88 Total non tenured staff 4,38 4,68 5,02 5,83 11,07 13,50 15,71
Total research staff 5,58 5,28 5,22 6,54 12,78 15,81 17,77
This table represents the actual fraction of the fte available for research, the research input of all personnel is quantified on the basis of a fixed standard for each function: full professors 60% associate professors (SDO) 60% assistant professors (DO) 60% post-doctoral fellows 100% PhD students (AIO/OIO’s) 90% The research input is calculated in proportion to the size of the appointment of the researcher involved. In exceptional cases when a staff member has performed duties that have taken up an extra-proportional amount of time, the percentage of time for research has been adapted.
60 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
2.8. Resources, funding and facilities Data: Table 4a Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Funding at program level in K€ Funding 1996 19971998 1999 2000 2001 2002 97-02 average Direct funding 376 294 532 908 995 916 670 Research funds 261 261 113 125 253 549 478 297 Contracts 70 0-1 41 102 192 91 71 Other
Total 637406 697 1.264 1.735 1.458 1.037 Table 4a: The funding of the program during the evaluation period in k€.
Table 4b Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Funding at program level in % Funding 1996 19971998 1999 2000 2001 2002 97-02 average Direct funding 59% 72% 76% 72% 57% 62% 65% Research funds 41% 28% 18% 20% 32% 32% 28% Contracts 0%0% 6% 8% 11% 6% 7% Other
Total 100%100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Table 4b: The funding of the program during the evaluation period in %. For an explanation see Research Institute documentation.
Externally funded projects NWO-FOM ‘Projectruimte’ - Colloidal Epitaxy (Van Blaaderen, 1997-2001) - Colloidal crystals with a 3D photonic bandgap (Van Blaaderen, 1998-2002) - Direct measurement of the colloidal potential of mean-force (Van Blaaderen, 1999- 2002) - Microgravity on Earth: Crystallization and the Glass Transition in Density Matched Colloidal Systems (H.N.W. Lekkerkerker, W.K. Kegel, A. van Blaaderen, 2000-2003) - Real-space analysis of concentrated dispersions in a gravitational field (Van Blaaderen, 2001-2004) - Colloidal particles with continuously variable shape (Polman, Van Blaaderen, 2001- 2004) - Condensation of charged spheres and swelling of clay platelets (Dijkstra, 2001- 2004)
Photon physics in optical materials - Manipulating photonic crystals with external fields (van Blaaderen, Imhof, 2002-2005)
61 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
Statistical Physics - Real-space analysis of electro-rheological fluids (Van Blaaderen, 1999-2001)
Structure Function Flow of Soft Matter - Colloids with a soft and tunable anisotropic potential (Van Blaaderen, 2001-2004) - Colloidal phase transitions under shear flow (Imhof, 2001-2004) - Entropic wetting in colloidal mixtures (Dijkstra, 2001-2004)
Softlink - Fluorescent metal-core silica-shell colloids in non-linear photonic applications (Van Blaaderen, Gerritsen, 2000-2004)
FOM Program: Physics of Colloids in External Fields (program leader: Van Blaaderen) - Quantitative real-space analysis of concentrated dispersions under shear and in electric fields (Imhof, van Blaaderen, 2002-2005) - Interfaces, wetting and coppillary crystallization in colloid polymer mixtures (Dijkstra, Lekkerkerker, 2002-2005).
Physics for medical technology - Non-linear in-vivo spectroscopy for non-invasive diagnosis of superficial cancers (Gerritsen, 2001-2006)
NWO-CW Inorganic emulsion templating (Imhof, 2001-2004)
NWO-STW Pionier (Gerritsen, 1995-2002) - Time resolved imaging using pulsed excitation - Time resolved spectroscopic imaging using cw excitation
Nano-impulse initiative - Metallo-dielectric photonic crystals (Van Blaaderen, Imhof 2003-2007)
“Breedtestrategie” - The Physics of Colloidal Matter (Van Blaaderen, 1999-2004) - Colloidal particles in non-linear microscopy (Gerritsen, 1999-2004)
EU 5-th Framework - Enhanced multiphoton excitation methods for neuroscience (Gerritsen, 2000-2003)
ESF - Challenges in Molecular Simulations: bridging the length and time-scale gap (Dijkstra 2000)
Miscellaneous Unilever Vlaardingen
62 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
- 2-photon microscopy of diary products (Gerritsen, 1999) Unilever PortSunlight - Functional imaging of dental biofilm using 2-photon microscopy (Gerritsen, 1998-2001) NIKON Europe bv - Lifetime imaging (Gerritsen, 2000-2002)
2.9. Overview of the results 1. Key publications 1. Van Blaaderen, A., R. Ruel, and P. Wiltzius, Template-directed colloidal crystallization, Nature 385, 321-324 (1997).
2. Dijkstra, M., R. van Roij, and R. Evans, Phase behavior and structure of binary hard- sphere mixtures, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 2268-2271 (1998).
3. Imhof, A., W.L. Vos, R. Sprik, and A. Lagendijk, Large dispersive effects near the band edges of photonic crystals, Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 2942-2945 (1999).
4. Frederix, P.L.T.M, E.L. de Beer W. Hamelink and H.C. Gerritsen, Dynamic Monte Carlo simulations to model FRET and photobleaching in systems with multiple donor-acceptor interactions, J. Phys. Chem. B 106, 6793-6801 (2002).
5. van Sark, W.G.J.H.M., P.L.T.M. Frederix, D.J. van den Heuvel, and H.C. Gerritsen, Photooxidation and Photobleaching of Single CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots Probed by Room-Temperature Time-Resolved Spectroscopy, J. Phys. Chem. B 105, 8281-8284 (2001).
6. Velikov, K.P., C.G. Christova, R.P.A. Dullens, and A. van Blaaderen, Layer-by-layer growth of binary colloidal crystals, Science 296, 106-109 (2002).
2. Dissertations 1996: D.H. van Harry, (category 3) Studies of rotational motion with time resolved ESR, promotors: Prof. dr. Y.K. Levine Prof. dr. G. Kothe (Albert-Ludwig Universität, freiburg, Germany)
1996: J.M. Muller (category 1) Probing lipid bilayers with fluorescence depolarization techniques promotor: Prof. dr. Y.K. Levine
1998: J.M. Vroom (category 3) Two-photon excitation fluorescence lifetime imaging: development and biological applications promotor: Prof. dr. Y.K. Levine
63 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
1999: M.P. Lettinga (category 1) Phosphorescence spectroscopy and its application to the study of M colloidal dynamics promotors: Prof. dr. Y.K. Levine Prof. dr. A. P. Philipse (UU)
2001: P. Frederix (category 3) Spectral analysis in microscopy, A study of FRET and single quantum dot luminescence promotors: Prof. dr. H.J. Jongsma (UU) Prof. dr. A. Meijerink (UU) copromotor Dr. H.C. Gerritsen
2002: K.P. Velikov (category 1) Towards a complete photonic band gap in the visible promotor: Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
2002: J.P. Hoogenboom (category 1) Collodial epitaxy. A real-space analysis promotor: Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
3. Numerical Overview of the results Table 5 Program results: output numbers ‘96 ‘97 ‘98 ‘99 ‘00 ‘01 ‘02 Total 1. Academic a. In refereed 10 5 4 5 22 28 25 99 publications Journals b. other 3 2 3 5 4 6 1 24 publications Total 13 7 7 10 26 34 26 123
2. PhD theses 2 0 1 1 1 2 7 3. Patents 1 2 3
4. Full list of publications (1996-2002) Soft Condensed Matter 2000 (refereed) Dassanayake U, S. Fraden, A. van Blaaderen, Structure of electrorheological fluids, J. Chem. Phys. 112: (8) 3851-3858 (2000).
Dijkstra, M. and R. Evans, A Simulation Study of the Decay of the Pair Correlation Function in Simple Fluids J. Chem. Phys. 112, 1449 (2000).
Dijkstra, M., R. van Roij, and R. Evans, Effective Interactions, Structure, and Isothermal Compressibility of Colloidal Suspensions, J. Chem. Phys. 113, 4799 (2000).
64 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
Eisenbach, M., M. Dijkstra and B.L. Györffy, On the states of orientations along a magnetically inhomogeneous nanowire, J. Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 208, 137 (2000).
Kegel, W.K. and A. van Blaaderen, Direct observation of dynamical heterogeneities in colloidal hard-sphere suspensions, Science 287, 290-293 (2000).
Lem, H. van der, and A. Moroz, Towards two-dimensional complete photonic band gap structures below infrared wavelengths, J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt. 2, 395-399 (2000).
Moroz, A., Photonic crystals of coated metallic spheres, Europhys. Lett. 50, 466-472 (2000).
Moroz, A., A. Tip, and J.-M. Combes, Absorption in periodic layered structures, Synthetic Metals, 116, 481-484 (2000).
Moroz, A., Single impurity in a photonic crystal, Proceedings of the Academic Colloquium Quantum Optics of Small Structure (The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, 2000)
Slooff, L.H., M.J.A. de Dood, A. van Blaaderen, A. Polman, Erbium-implanted silica colloids with 80% luminescence quantum efficiency, Appl. Phys. Lett. 76: (25) 3682-3684 (2000).
Snoeks, E., A. van Blaaderen, M.L. Brongersma, T. van Dillen, C. M. van Kats, A. Polman, Colloidal ellipsoids with continuously variable shape, Adv. Mater. 12: (20) 1511-1514 (2000).
Tip, A., A. Moroz, and J.-M. Combes, Band structure of absorptive photonic crystals, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 33, 6223-6252 (2000).
Van Roij, R., M. Dijkstra, and R. Evans, Orientational wetting and capillary nematization of hard-rod fluids, Europhys. Lett. 49, 350 (2000).
Van Roij, R., M. Dijkstra, and R. Evans, Interfaces, wetting, and capillary nematization of a hard-rod fluid: theory for the Zwanzig model, J. Chem. Phys. 113, 7689 (2000).
Vossen, D.L.J, M.J.A. de Dood, T. van Dillen, T. Zijlstra, E. van der Drift, A. Polman A. van Blaaderen, Novel method for solution growth of thin silica films from tetraethoxysilane, Adv. Mater. 12: (19) 1434-1437 (2000).
2001 (refereed) Brader, J.M., M. Dijkstra and R. Evans, "Inhomogenous model colloid-polymer mixtures: adsorption at a hard wall." Phys. Rev. E. 63, 1405 (2001).
De Dood, M.J.A., L.H. Slooff, T.M. Hensen, D.L.J. Vossen, A. Moroz, T. Zijlstra, E.W.J.M. van der Drift, A. van Blaaderen and A. Polman, “1,2 and 3 dimensional photonic materials made using ion beams: fabrication and optical density of states”, in: Photonic Crystals and
65 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
Light Localization in the 21st Century, NATO Advanced Study Institute, C. M. Soukoulis ed.. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic: 555-566 (2001).
De Dood, M.J.A., L.H. Slooff, A. Polman, A. Moroz and A. van Blaaderen, "Local optical density of states in SiO2 spherical microcavities: theory and experiment." Phys. Rev. A. 64: 1-7 (2001).
De Dood, M.J.A., L.H. Slooff, A. Polman, A. Moroz and A. van Blaaderen, “Modified spontaneous emission in erbium-doped SiO2 spherical colloids.” Applied Physics Letters 79 (22): 3585-3587 (2001).
De Hoog, E.H.A., W.K. Kegel, A. van Blaaderen and H.N.W. Lekkerkerker, "Direct observation of crystallization and aggregation in a phase-separating colloid-polymer suspension 1407." Physical Review E 6402(2): 1407 (2001).
Dijkstra, M. "Computer simulations of charge and steric stabilised colloidal suspensions." Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science 6: 372-382 (2001).
Dijkstra, M., R. Van Roij and R. Evans (2001). "Wetting and capillary nematization of a hard-rod fluid: a simulation study." Phys. Rev. E. 63, 1703 (2001).
Evans, R., J.M. Brader, R. Roth, M. Dijkstra, M. Schmidt and H. Löwen. "Interfacial properties of model colloid-polymer mixtures." Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. A 359 (1782), 961 (2001).
Herbut, I.F., A. Yethiraj and J. Bechhoefer. "Effect of order parameter fluctuations on the Halperin-Lubensky-Ma first-order transition in superconductors and liquid crystals." Europhys. Lett. 55 (3), 317 (2001).
Imhof, A. "Preparation and characterization of titania-coated polystyrene spheres and hollow titania shells." Langmuir 17: 3579-3585 (2001).
Lagendijk, J., G. Rivas, A. Imhof, F.J.P. Schuurmans and R. Sprik. “Propagation of light in disordered semiconductor materials”, in: Photonic Crystals and Light Localization in the 21st Century, NATO Advanced Study Institute, C.M. Soukoulis ed.. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic: 447-473 (2001).
Manoharan, V.N., A. Imhof, J.D. Thorne and D.J. Pine. "Photonic crystals from emulsion templates." Advanced Materials 13: 447-450 (2001).
Moroz, A. "Exponentially convergent lattice sums." Optics Letters 26(15): 1119-1121 (2001).
Moroz, A. “Towards complete photonic band gap structures below infrared wavelengths”, in: Photonic Crystals and Light Localization in the 21st Century, NATO Advanced Study Institute, C. M. Soukoulis ed.. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic: 373-382 (2001).
66 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
Moroz, A., A. Tip and J.M. Combes. "Absorption in periodic layered structures." Synthetic Materials 116: 481-484 (2001).
Paques, M., A. Imhof, A. van Blaaderen, and Y. Nicolas,” Method and device for imaging the dynamic behaviour of microstructures under the influence of deformation”, European Patent Application 01204378.2-1236 filed (2001).
Snoeks, E., A. van Blaaderen, T. van Dillen, C.M. van Kats, K. Velikov, M.L. Brongersma and A. Polman. "Colloidal assemblies modified by ion irradiation." Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section B- Beam Interactions With Materials and Atoms 178: 62-68 (2001).
Van Blaaderen, A., K.P. Velikov, J.P. Hoogenboom, D.L.J. Vossen, A. Yethiraj, R. Dullens, T. v. Dillen and A. Polman. “Manipulation of colloidal crystallization for photonic applications: from self-organization to do-it-youself organization”, in: Photonic Crystals and Light Localization in the 21st Century, NATO Advanced Study Institute, C. M. Soukoulis ed. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic: 239-251 (2001).
Van Dillen, T., A. Polman, W. Fukarek and A. van Blaaderen. "Energy-dependent anisotropic deformation of colloidal silica particles under MeV Au irradiation." Applied Physics Letters 78 (7): 910-912 (2001).
Van Dillen, T., E. Snoeks, W. Fukarek, C. M. van Kats, K. P. Velikov, A. van Blaaderen and A. Polman. "Anisotropic deformation of colloidal particles under MeV Ion irradiation." Nuclear instruments and methods in physics research B 175: 350-356 (2001).
Velikov, K.P. and A. van Blaaderen. "Synthesis and characterization of monodisperse core- shell colloidal spheres of Zinc Sulfide and Silica." Langmuir 17: 4779 (2001).
Vos, W.L., H.M. v. Driel, M. Megens, A.F. Koenderink and A. Imhof. “Experimental probes of the optical properties of photonic crystals”, in: Photonic Crystals and Light Localization in the 21st Century, NATO Advanced Study Institute, C. M. Soukoulis ed. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic: 191-218 (2001).
2002 (refereed) Bosma, G., C. Pathmamanoharan, E.H.A. de Hoog, W.K. Kegel, A. van Blaaderen, and H.N.W. Lekkerkerker, Preparation of monodisperse, fluorescent PMMA-latex colloids by dispersion polymerization, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 245, 292-300 (2002).
De Dood, M.J.A., B. Berkhout, C.M. van Kats, A. Polman, and A. van Blaaderen, Acid- based synthesis of monodisperse rare-earth-doped colloidal SiO2 spheres, Chem. Mater. 14, 2849 (2002).
Dijkstra, M., Phase behavior of hard spheres with a short-range Yukawa attraction, Phys. Rev. E 66, 021402 (2002).
67 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
Dijkstra, M. and R. van Roij, Entropic wetting and many-body induced layering in a model colloid-polymer mixture, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 208303 (2002).
Graf, C. and A. van Blaaderen, Metallodielectric colloidal core-shell particles for photonic applications, Langmuir 18, 524-534 (2002).
Hoogenboom, J.P., D. Derks, P. Vergeer, and A. van Blaaderen, Stacking faults in colloidal crystals grown by sedimentation, J. Chem. Phys. 117, 11320-11328 (2002).
Hoogenboom, J.P., D.L.J. Vossen, C. Faivre-Moskalenko, M. Dogterom, and A. van Blaaderen, Patterning surfaces with colloidal particles using optical tweezers, Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 4828-4830 (2002).
Hoogenboom, J.P., A. Yethiraj, A.K. van Langen-Suurling, J. Romijn, and A. van Blaaderen, Epitaxial crystal growth of charged colloids, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 256104 (2002).
Moroz, A., Metallo-dielectric diamond and zinc-blende photonic crystals, Phys. Rev. B 66, 115109 (2002).
Moroz, A., "Photonic crystals at near-infrared and optical wavelengths", in Microphotonics 2001 - Materials, Physics and Applications (Materials Research Society, Boston, 2002), Vol. 708, p. K7.5.1-K7.5.8.
Moroz, A., On the computation of the free-space doubly-periodic Green's function of the three-dimensional Helmholtz equation, J. Electromagn. Waves Appl. 16, 457-465 (2002).
Russ, C., H. H. von Grunberg, M. Dijkstra, and R. van Roij, Three-body forces between charged colloidal particles, Phys. Rev. E 66, 011402 (2002).
Slooff, L.H., A. van Blaaderen, A. Polman, G.A. Hebbink, S.I. Klink, F.C.J.M. van Veggel, D.N. Reinhoudt, and J.W. Hofstraat, Rare-earth doped polymers for planar optical amplifiers, J. Appl. Phys. 91, 3955-3980 (2002).
Strohhöfer, C., J.P. Hoogenboom, A. van Blaaderen, and A. Polman, Highly dispersive micropatterns in ion-exchanged glass formed by ion irradiation through a mask of colloidal particles, Adv. Mater. 14, 1815-1818 (2002).
Van Blaaderen, A., J.P. Hoogenboom, D.L.J. Vossen, A. Yethiraj, A. van der Horst, K. Visscher, and M. Dogterom, Colloidal epitaxy: Playing with the boundary conditions of colloidal crystallization, Faraday Discuss. 123, 107-119 (2002).
Velikov, K.P., C.G. Christova, R.P.A. Dullens, and A. van Blaaderen, Layer-by-layer growth of binary colloidal crystals, Science 296, 106-109 (2002).
Velikov, K.P., A. Moroz, and A. van Blaaderen, Photonic crystals of core-shell colloidal particles, Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 49-51 (2002).
68 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
Velikov, K.P., T. van Dillen, A. Polman, and A. van Blaaderen, Photonic crystals of shape- anisotropic colloidal particles, Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 838-840 (2002).
Vossen, D.L.J., J.P. Hoogenboom, K. Overgaag, and A. van Blaaderen, "Building two and three-dimensional structures of colloidal particles on surfaces using optical tweezers and critical point drying", in Nanopatterning - From Ultralarge-Scale Integration to Biotechnology, edited by L. Merhari, K. E. Gonsalves, E. A. Dobisz, M. Angelopoulos and D. Herr (Materials Research Society, Boston, 2002), Vol. 705, p. Y6.8.1-Y6.8.6.
Yethiraj, A. and A. van Blaaderen, Monodisperse colloidal suspensions of silica and PMMA spheres as model electrorheological fluids: A real-space study of structure formation, Int. J. Mod. Phys. B 16, 2328-2333 (2002).
Biophysics 1996 (refereed) Draaijer, A., R. Sanders and H.C. Gerritsen, Time domain FLIM, Scanning, 55, 20 (1996).
Gerritsen, H.C., R. Sanders and A. Draaijer, The photon economy of fluorescence lifetime imaging, Scanning, 55, 18 (1996).
Heide, U.A. van de, G.v Ginkel, Y.K. Levine, DPH is localized in two distinct populations in lipid vesicle, Chem. Phys. Lett. 253, 118 (1996).
Muller, J.M., G. van Ginkel,, E.E. van Faassen, Effects of lipid molecular structure and gramicidin A on the core of lipid vesicle bilayers. A time- resolved fluorescence depolarisation study, Biochem. 35, 488 (1996).
Muller, J.M., J.C.D. Verhagen, D.H. Harryvan, E.E. van Faassen, G. van Ginkel, The orientation of optical transition dipole moments of TMA-DPH, Chem. Phys, 211, 413 (1996).
Munro, I.H., G.R.Jones, M.Tobin, D.A.Shaw, Y.Levine, H.Gerritsen, C.J.R..van der Oord and F. Rommerts, Confocal imaging using synchrotron radiation, J. of Electron Spectr., 80, 343- 347, (1996).
Sanders, R., M.A.M.J. van Zandvoort, A. Draaijer, Y.K. Levine and H.C. Gerritsen, Confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging of chlorophyll molecules in polymer matrices, Photochem. and Biol, 64(5) 817-820 (1996).
Sanders, R., A. Draaijer and H.C. Gerritsen, Applications of confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging, Scanning, 55, 22 (1996).
Van der Oord, C.J.R., H.C. Gerritsen, G.R. Jones, D.A. Shaw, I.H. Munro and Y.K. Levine, High resolution confocal microscopy using synchrotron radiation, J. of Microscopy, 182(3), 217-224 (1996).
Verhagen, J.C.D., P. ter Brake, J.Teunissen, G. van Ginkel and A. Sevanian, Physical effects of biologically formed cholesterol oxidation products on lipid membranes investigated with
69 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen fluorescence depolarization spectroscopy and electron spin resonance, J.of Lipid Res. 37, 1488 (1996).
1996 (other publications) Gerritsen, H.C., Confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging, in 'Fluorescence Microscopy and Fluorescent Probes', ed. J. Slavik, PLENUM New York, 39-50 (1996).
Ginkel, G.van, S. Gobets, B.C. Sliggers, Biophysics in the Netherlands, Time and Life, Teylers museum, Haarlem, The Netherlands, (1996).
Heide, U.A. van de, H. Eviatar, Y.K. Levine, What do probe molecules monitor in lipid bilayers? Y. Barenholz and D.D. Lasic (Eds.), CRC press, 61, (1996).
1997 (refereed) Gerritsen, H.C., R.Sanders, A.Draaijer and Y.K. Levine, Fluorescence lifetime imaging of oxygen in living cells, J. of Fluorescence, 7 (1), 11-16, (1997).
Bultynck, L., J.M.C. Geuns, G. van Ginkel and R.J. Caubergs, Properties of plasma membranes of Phsp 7-ipt transformed tobacco (Nicotiana Tabacum), Phytochemistry, 45, 1337-1341, (1997).
Verhagen, J.C.D., M.A.M.J. van Zandvoort, J. Vroom, L.B.A. Johansson and G. van Ginkel, The spectroscopie properties of 2,5,8,11 – Tetra-tert-butyl-perylene in polymer film, J. Phys. Chem. 101, 10568-10575, (1997).
Zandvoort, M.A.M.J. van, H.C. Gerritsen and Y.K. Levine, Distribution of hydrophobic probe molecules in lipid bilayers. 1. Monte Carlo dynamics computer simulations, J. Phys. Chem. B, 101, 4142-4148 (1997).
Zandvoort, M.A.M.J. van, H.C. Gerritsen G. van Ginkel, Y.K. Levine, R. Tarroni anc C. Zannoni, Distribution of hydrophobic probe molecules in lipid bilayers. 2. Time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy study of perylene in vesicles, J. Phys. Chem. B, 101, 4149-4154 (1997).
1997 (other publications) Gerritsen, H.C., Confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging, in Single Cell techniques in signal transduction research, Ed. B. van Duijn & A. Wiltink, Single cell research foundation, Leiden, 129-136, (1997).
Ginkel, G. van, Dr. Caroline Emilie Bleeker en de Nederlandse Optiek en Instrumentenfabriek Dr. C.E. Bleeker, (1997).
1998 (refereed) Arcioni, A., M.A.M.J. van Zandvoort, P. Bartolini, R. torre, R. Tarroni, R. Righini and C. Zannoni, P., Effective shape and dynamics of chlorophyll a in a nematic liquid crystal, Phys. B 102, 1624-1631, (1998).
70 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
Bradshaw, D.J. , P.D. Marsh, H.C. Gerritsen, J.M. Vroom, G.K. Watson and C. Allison, Detection of pH gradients in biofilms using two-photon excitation microscopy, J. of Dental Research, 77 b, 988 (1998).
Sytsma, J., J.M. Vroom, C.J. de Grauw and H.C. Gerritsen, Time gated fluorescence lifetime imaging and micro-volume spectroscopy using two-photon excitation, J. of Microscopy, 191(1), 39-51, (1998).
Van der Strijf, C. and Y.K. Levine, On the use of the phase memory time T2 for the quantitative characterization of the rotational motions of proteins in lipid bilayer systems, J. Magn. Res. 130, 244-252, (1988).
1998 (other publications) Gerritsen, H.C., and Y.K. Levine, Computer simulations of the behaviour of hydrophobic probe molecules in lipid bilayers, Fluorescence Microscopy and fluorescent probes, Vol.2, Ed. J. Slavik, Plenum New York, 13-23 (1998).
Gerritsen, H.C., Two-photon excitation microscopy in fluorescence lifetime imaging, , Fluorescence Microscopy and fluorescent probes, Vol.2, Ed. J. Slavik, Plenum New York, 55-62 (1998).
Gerritsen, H.C., J.M. Vroom and C.J. de Grauw, In-depth imaging using two-photon excitation microscopy, Microscopy & Analysis, 4(2), 420-421 (1998).
1999 (refereed) De Grauw, C.J., J.M. Vroom, H.T.M. van der Voort and H.C. Gerritsen, Imaging properties in two-photon excitation microscopy and effects of refractive-index mismatch in thick specimens, Applied Optics, 38(28), 5995-6003, (1999).
Lettinga, M.P., Klarenbeek, E.M., Zuilhof, H., van Zandvoort, The orientation of the phosphorescence dipole moment of erythrosine B within its molecular frame, J. Fluoresc. 9, 265-279, (1999).
Van den Bergh, B.A.I., J. Vroom, H.C. Gerritsen, H.E. Junginger, J.A. Bouwstra, Interactions of elastic and rigid vesicles with human skin in vitro: electron microscopy and two-photon excitation microscopy, Bba - Biomembranes 1461(1), 155-173, (1999).
Van Zandvoort, M.A.M.J., D.L.J. Vossen, G. van Ginkel, R. Torre, P. Bartolini, M. Ricci, J.Thomas-Oates and H.Zuilhof, Spectral characterization of fluorescent 5-iodoacetamido- tetramethylrhodamine and its N-acetylcysteine derivative, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys, 1, 4571- 4582, (1999).
Vroom, J.M., C.J. de Grauw, H.C. Gerritsen, D.J. Bradshaw, P.D. Marsh, G.K. Watson, J.J. Birmingham and C. Allison, Depth penetration and detection of pH gradients in biofilms by two-photon excitation microscopy, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 65(8), 3502- 3511, (1999).
71 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
1999 (other publications) Frederix, P.L.T.M., W. Hamelink, E.L. de Beer and H.C. Gerritsen, Dynamic pbFRET measurements on the actomyosin complex – a spectral study of Oregon Green-488 and Texas Red as donor-acceptor couple, Fluorescence Microscopy and Fluorescent Probes, 81-90, ed. A. Kotyk, Espero publishing, Praag, (1999).
De Grauw, C.J., and H.C. Gerritsen, Quantitative imaging in thick specimens using two-photon FLIM, Fluorescence Microscopy and Fluorescent Probes, 91-98, ed. A. Kotyk, Espero publishing, Praag, (1999).
Gerritsen, H.C., and C.J. de Grauw, Imaging of optically thick specimens using two-photon excitation microscopy, Microscopy Research and Technique, 47(3), (1999).
Gerritsen, H.C., J.M. Vroom and C.J. de Grauw, Combining two-photon excitation with fluorescence lifetime imaging. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology, 18(5), (1999).
Gerritsen, H.C. and C.J. de Grauw, Two-photon excitation imaging of biofilm, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 5(2), 502-503, (1999).
2000 (refereed) Agronskaia, A.V. and H.C. Gerritsen, Fast fluorescence lifetime imaging of biological processes, Cel. Mol. Biol., 46: 1 (2000).
Grewal, B.S., A. Naik, W.J. Irwin, G. Gooris, C.J. de Grauw, H.C. Gerritsen and J.A. Bouwstra,. Transdermal Macromolecular Delivery: Real-Time Visualisation of Iontophoretic and Chemically Enhanced Transport Using Two-Photon Excitation Microscopy, Pharm. Res. 17: (2000).
Gerritsen, H.C. and C.J. de Grauw, Microscopic probing using fluorescence lifetime imaging, Cel. Mol. Biol. 46: 46 (2000).
Lettinga, M.P., M.A.M.J. van Zandvoort, C.M. van Kats and A.P. Philipse, Phosphorescent colloidal silica spheres as tracers for rotational diffusion studies, Langmuir 16: 6156-6165 (2000).
Lettinga, M.P., C.M. van Kats and A.P. Philipse, Rotational diffusion of tracer spheres in packings and dispersions of colloidal spheres studied with time-resolved phosphorescence anisotropy, Langmuir 16: 6166-6172 (2000).
Lettinga, M.P., H. Zuilhof and M.A.M.J. van Zandvoort, Phosphorescence and fluorescence characterization of fluorescein derivatives immobilized in various polymer matrices, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2: 3697-3707 (2000)..
Van Sark, W.G.J.H.M., P.L.T.M. Frederix, D.J. van den Heuvel, M.A.H. Asselbergs, I. Senf, and H.C. Gerritsen, Fast imaging of single molecules and nanoparticles by wide-field microscopy and spectrally resolved confocal microscopy, Single Mol. 1: 291-298 (2000).
72 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
2001 (refereed) Barzda, V., C.J. de Grauw, J.Vroom, F.J. Kleima, R. van Grondelle, H. van Amerongen and H.C. Gerritsen, Fluorescence lifetime heterogeneity in aggregates of LHCII revealed by time-resolved microscopy, Biophys. J. 81: 538-546 (2001).
De Grauw C.J. and H.C. Gerritsen, A multiple time-gate module for fluorescence lifetime imaging, Appl. Spectr. 55: 670-678 (2001).
Frederix, P.L.T.M., M.A.H. Asselbergs, W.G.J.H.M. van Sark, D.J. van den Heuvel, W. Hamelink, E.L. de Beer and H.C. Gerritsen, A high sensitivity spectrograph for use in fluorescence microscopy, Appl. Spectr. 55: 1005-1012 (2001).
Frederix, P.L.T.M., W.G.J.H.M. van Sark and H.C. Gerritsen, Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy on the photo-physical behavior of single molecules and quantum dots, Abs. Am. Chem. Soc. 221: 149 (2001).
Van de Ven, M. J. and C. J. de Grauw, 3-D apple skin autofluorescence studied with two- photon excitation microscopy. Biophys. J. 80: 656.02 (2001).
Van Sark, W.G.J.H.M., P.L.T.M. Frederix, D.J. Van den Heuvel, H.C. Gerritsen, A.A. Bol, J.N.J. van Lingen, C De Mello Donegá and A.Meijerink, Photooxidation and photobleaching of single CdSe/ZnS quantum dots probed by room-temperature time-resolved spectroscopy, J. Phys. Chem. B 105: 8281-8284 (2001).
2001 (other publications) De Grauw, C.J., M.A.M.J. van Zandvoort, M.G.A. oude Egbrink, D.W. Slaaf and H.C. Gerritsen, Two-photon lifetime imaging of blood and blood vessels, Proc. SPIE. 4262:171-176 (2001).
Gerritsen, H.C. and C. de Grauw, One and two-photon confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging and its applications. in “Methods in cellular imaging”, Ed. A. Periasamy, Oxford university Press, Oxford (2001) pp. 309-323.
De Grauw, C.J. and H.C. Gerritsen, Aberrations and Penetration in In-Depth Confocal and Two-Photon Excitation Microscopy, in “Confocal and Two-Photon Microscopy: Foundations, Applications and Advances”, Ed. A. Diaspro, Wiley, New York (2001).
Van der Oord, C.J.R., C.J. de Grauw and H.C. Gerritsen, Fluorescence lifetime imaging module LIMO for CLSM, Proc. SPIE 4252, 119-123 (2001).
Van Sark, W.G.J.H.M., P.L.T.M. Frederix, D.J. van den Heuvel and H.C. Gerritsen, Photo- induced oxidation of single nanoparticles studied by fast spectral imaging, in Proceedings of the Fall Meeting of the Dutch Society for Microscopy, December 13-14, 2001, Papendal, the Netherlands (NVVM, Delft, the Netherlands), 128 (2001)
73 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 2 : Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics Program Leader : Prof. dr. A. van Blaaderen
Van Sark, W.G.J.H.M., Methods of deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon for device applications, in “Handbook of Thin Films Materials, Vol. 1: Deposition and Processing of Thin Films”, Ed. H.S. Nalwa, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, USA, 1-102 (2001).
2002 (refereed) Frederix, P.L.T.M. and E.L. de Beer, Dynamic Monte Carlo simulations to model FRET and photobleaching in systems with multiple donor-acceptor interactions, J. Phys. Chem. B 106, 6793-6801 (2002).
Gerritsen, H.C., M.A.H. Asselbergs, A.V. Agronskaia, and W. van Sark, Fluorescence lifetime imaging in scanning microscopes: acquisition speed, photon economy and lifetime resolution, J. Microsc.-Oxf. 206, 218-224 (2002).
Van Sark, W.G.J.H.M., P.L.T.M. Frederix, A.A. Bol, H.C. Gerritsen, and A. Meijerink, Blueing, bleaching, and blinking of single CdSe/ZnS quantum dots, Phys. Chem 3, 871-879 (2002).
Van Sark, W.G.J.H.M., P.L.T.M. Frederix, D.J. van den Heuvel, A.A. Bol, J.N.J. van Lingen, C. De Mello Donegá, H.C. Gerritsen, and A. Meijerink, Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy study on the photophysical behavior of quantum dots, Journal of Fluorescence 12, 69-76 (2002).
Van Zandvoort, M.A.M.J., C.J. de Grauw, H.C. Gerritsen, J.L.V. Broers, M. Egbrink, F.C.S. Ramaekers, and D.W. Slaaf, Discrimination of DNA and RNA in cells by a vital fluorescent probe: Lifetime Imaging of SYTO13 in healthy and apoptotic cells, Cytometry 47, 226-235 (2002).
2002 (other publication) De Grauw, C.J., P.L.T.M. Frederix, and H.C. Gerritsen, "Aberrations and penetration in in- depth confocal and two-photon-excitation microscopy", in Confocal and Two-Photon Microscopy Foundations, Applications, and Advances, edited by A. Diaspro (Wiley-Liss, New York, 2002), p. 153-169.
Note: The program decided not to include the list of publications submitted to refereed journals for publication in 2003.
74 Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 3 : Surfaces, Interfaces and Devices Program Leader : Prof. dr. F.H.P.M. Habraken
2. Documentation per research program
Title of the program Surfaces, Interfaces and Devices
Program leaders Prof. dr. F.H.P.M. Habraken (from 2001) Directors Debye Institute Prof. dr. F.H.P.M. Habraken (from 2000) Prof. dr. H.N.W. Lekkerkerker (from 1998 until 2000) Prof. dr. W.F. van der Weg (until 1998)
Starting date of the program Formally this program was established with the creation of the Research Institute in 2001. The research in the field of the current program dates back from before 1996.
Research area and mission Amorphous and micro-crystalline semiconductor thin films, dielectrics, thin film deposition methods, in situ diagnosis, electronic transport, optical absorption, thin film solar cells, field effect transistors, organic solar cells, opto-electronic devices, oxidation of metals, plasma-surface interaction, ion-solid interactions, ion beam analysis, surface analysis, ion beam modification, electronic sputtering, ion beam shaping of particles, hydrogen storage , bio-active films, catalysis. The program is directed towards obtaining fundamental knowledge of surfaces, interfaces, devices and nanomaterials and of processes, which are related to the preparation and properties of these systems. The program has a strong preference for those systems, which are considered to have an important application in industry and society.
Formal affiliations outside Debye Institute and Research School the Research Institute
2.1. Leadership The program leader has the overall responsibility for the program, both with respect to the quality and the cohesion of the research and with respect to the budget that is provided by the Faculty. He is responsible for the internal coordination and cooperation within the program, for organizing the human resources and for maintaining and developing the external contacts. The program leader operates (as a colleague) in close collaboration with the chair holder and other project leaders. Together with the leaders of the other research programs he discusses the general policies of the Research Institute at regular meetings and makes recommendations to the director. The program leader represents the program in the planning and control session that is organized by the Faculty Board once a year, where the
75
Utrecht University, Research Institute of Physics and Astronomy Program 3 : Surfaces, Interfaces and Devices Program Leader : Prof. dr. F.H.P.M. Habraken plans and budget request for the coming year are presented. The presentations form the basis for the budget allocations made by the Faculty Board for the subsequent year. This program is part of the Debye Institute. The program leader has to optimize the activities of the program within the Debye Institute. See also: Part A, 1.2.
2.2. Strategy and policy The mission of the research in the program Surfaces, Interfaces and Devices (SID) is to obtain fundamental knowledge of surfaces, interfaces, devices and other thin film structures of materials and of processes which are related to the preparation and properties of these systems. The program has a strong preference for those subjects that have an important application in industry and society, like solar cells and opto-electronic technology and catalysis. In the program one can distinguish two approaches: a device oriented approach (solar cells, thin film transistors) and a process oriented approach (deposition, interface reactions, etc). The research of the program has a strong multidisciplinary character. There is a strong mutual benefit in the collaboration with the other groups in the Debye Institute. In the device-oriented approach, the chemical, structural, optical, and electrical properties of thin film amorphous, heterogeneous, and polycrystalline semiconductors are investigated in the bulk of these materials and at interfaces (for instance interfaces with metal oxide transparent conductors and interfaces with silicon nitride and with silicon oxide). This yields knowledge of important material properties, such as the absorption spectrum, photoconductivity and electronic state density distribution within the band gap, as a function of the composition (doping, alloying, and passivation) and of the deposition parameters. The thus optimized layers are incorporated in multi-layer opto-electronic devices, among others in solar cells and thin film transistors. The devices are manufactured in the laboratory and characterized and the implementation in industry is also investigated.
Schematically, the subjects are as follows: