Faculty of Science
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Faculty of Science Overall impression 2013 Introduction The year 2013 put the spotlight on the Faculty of Science’s top research, both in the Netherlands and abroad, because of many prestigious awards including a Spinoza Prize, Gravitation subsidies, an ERC Synergy Grant and many others. Our Professors have stepped up their efforts to join forces with related disciplines and further developed a focus on various social challenges such as sustainable energy, fundamentals of health, future food and understan- ding complex systems. We believe that is of vital importance to build a bridge between fundamental research and the challenges the world is facing, because it enables us to make a valuable contribution to the progress of science while being a strong knowledge partner for society and the business community. We therefore view educating students as a great privilege, not only because we want our students to contribute to top science in the future, but also becau- se we want to teach them the knowledge and skills that will enable them to make a difference in the world. I am proud of what our faculty achieved this year and I want to share my pri- de with you by looking back on the past year by means of the telling exam- ples in this overall impression of 2013! Professor Gerrit van Meer Dean of the Faculty of Science Research areas The Faculty of Science is committed to the following research themes: Research theme Research theme Research theme Research theme Research theme Research theme Research theme Foundations of Integrative Water, Climate Future Food Game Research Science for Life Energy & Resources Complex Systems Bioinformatics & Ecosystems The faculty also makes a significant contribution to the following research focus areas of the Utrecht University: Focus areas Focus areas Focus areas Focus areas History and Philosophy Education for Neuroscience & Future Deltas of the Sciences and Learning Societies Cognition Utrecht the Humanities 1 Education Bachelor's programmes Master's programmes Intake Intake Pharmaceutical Sciences & CPS Biology Graduate School of Information and Mathematics / Natural Sciences Computing Sciences Graduate School of Physics and Information Mathematics & Life Sciences School of Technology Applications Astronomy Pharmacy Chemistry 403 344 206 142 141 728 627 251 233 213 368 120 112 82 79 199 160 105 52 142 145 1132 1129 119 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 Source: Studielink/VSNU, overview of 30 September 2013 compared to 2012 Source: Bio-BT management data. Overview of September and February, intake in the academic year 2013/2014 compared to 2012/2013 The 2013 intake of students in Master’s programmes was at the regular level again after a slight decrease between 2011 and 2012. We noticed an increase for several programmes of the Graduate School of Natural Sciences. At the Graduate School of Life Sciences the increase was mainly due to the greater popularity of the programme Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences. 2 Education State Secretary Dekker finds inspiration for talent policy at U-Talent Academy In September 2013, more than 100 students from 5VWO classes started the U-Talent Academy, the new programme of the Faculty of Science for talented and motivated VWO students of Junior College Utrecht. U-Talent Academy offers students a wide and all-encompassing introduction to themes from the science subjects, a thorough orientati- on on scientific research and attention to personal development study attitude. On 11 November, State Secretary Dekker visited U-Talent Academy. He talked to the secondary school students and teachers involved about their experiences. “The entire education system and all individual students will benefit from talent policy”, Dekker said. 3 Education A thesis that reads like a novel Best Master’s thesis for Pablo Acuña Luongo Pablo Acuña Luongo, graduate of the Master’s programme History and Philosophy of Science, won Utrecht University’s 2013 thesis prize in the category ‘Best Master’s Thesis’. In his thesis, he combined philosophy of science and physics. “His thesis is written in a clear and exciting way and reads like a novel”, said the judges. They also praised him for the wide range, applicability and accessibility of his work. Five science Bachelor students make the selection Christine Verbeke wins Student Research Award From among more than 120 submissions, the research of Christine Verbeke, student of Physics and Astronomy at Utrecht University, was awarded the Student Research Award 2013, a €1,500 prize for the best Bachelor research in the Netherlands. According to the jury, Verbeke’s research into future energy sources is a highly relevant and innovative subject. The jury also praised her for the clear way she presented her research. 4 Valorisation and outreach ‘Creative industry’ subsidy for Time Capsule and Mycelium Design TNO and NWO established the Creative Industry programme It is a ground-breaking, digital historical research that combi- to make scientific knowledge accessible to the creative industry, nes old and new knowledge.” The acquired knowledge can be to develop new knowledge and to establish connections between linked to current medication and offers advantages to future science and practice. In 2013, the Faculty of Science received medication research. two subsidies from the programme, one for the research programme Time Capsule and one for Mycelium Design. Mycelium design The toadstool species Schizophyllum has a network of hyp- Time Capsule hal threads, which is called the mycelium. By combining different databases, Toine The mycelium found on the Chinese Wall Pieters, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, appears to have different features than those looks for connections between the medicinal found in Dutch woods. “We want to find benefits of plants that are not obvious at first out which genes are responsible for these glance. Pieters: “All databases use diffe- features and what the relevance is in natu- rent semantics, which makes it difficult to re”, says Han Wösten, Professor of Biology. compare them. Therefore, we started working with information Several designers and architects are also working with the fungus scientists to create a semantic thesaurus which can compare the in the project. Their goal is to make sustainable materials from databases. the fungus and to incorporate them in contemporary products. 5 Valorisation and outreach Simulating large crowds in 3D Crowdsourcing with tea bags How does a large crowd move through a train station or at an Together with a team of international scientists, Utrecht eco- event such as King’s Day? Information scientists of Utrecht Uni- logists Joost Keuskamp, Bas Dingemans and Margriet Hefting versity developed new generation software to thought of a way to conduct cheap and easy soil research: the accurately simulate crowd movements. The Tea Bag Index. Tea bags contain plant material. Burying them software programs offers life-like, super-fast in soil for a while is a simple way to measure how long the and super-easy 3D simulations of crowds of decomposition process takes. By comparing decomposition up to 80,000 people. The software program’s at various locations across the world, it is easier to predict the principle is derived from Utrechts gaming consequences of climate change. research. Utrecht-based company INCON- TROL Simulation Solutions uses the software program, for example, to simulate walking routes for NS/ProRail at large train stations in the Netherlands that are being renovated. Game ‘Hooked!’ discovers secret to popular songs What is it that makes you immediately recognise that well- known song? Why does one song stick in your head and the other does not? In order to find out more about this, researchers of Utrecht University, the University of Amsterdam and the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision developed Hooked!, a game with music from the Radio 2 Top 2000. Hooked! can be downloaded for free and the players’ answers are used as research data. 6 Subsidies & Grants Faculty of Science part of prestigious Gravitation programme With the Gravitation programme, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Sci- ence and research financier NWO invest in long-term and large-scale top research. The Faculty of Science was closely involved in three of the six awarded proposals, thereby providing an important contribution to Utrecht University’s strategic themes ‘Sustainabi- lity’ and ‘Life Sciences’. 7 Subsidies & Grants Out of the box cooperation in Chemical immunology: Reading the past to predict catalysis research € 31,9 million a new discipline € 27,6 million the future € 28 million At the Netherlands Center for Multiscale If a person’s immune system does not The Netherlands Earth System Science Catalytic Energy Conversion, researchers function properly, infection and cancer Centre (ESSC) is focused on research of Utrecht University (coordinator), TU may develop. If it functions too well, into climate of the past, present and Eindhoven and Twente University joined this may lead to auto-immune diseases, future to be able to better predict future forces to radically change processes with meaning that the body attacks its own climate circumstances on our planet. The which fuels and chemical building blocks immune system, such as is the case with new centre brings together paleoclima- are made. The goal is to develop new rheumatoid arthritis and multiple scle- tologists, bio-geo scientists and