Research News

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) announced its contribution of 15 million euros to PlantXR, a CropXR research programme into 'smart breeding' of extra resilient crops (eXtra Resilient, XR). This impulse brings CropXR's total budget to over €90 million for the next 10 years. NWO’s grant marks the start of the new Dutch institute CropXR, which integrates plant biology, computational modelling, and artificial intelligence into 'smart breeding methods'. Those will be used to develop crop varieties that are more resilient to climate change and less dependent on chemical crop protection. In CropXR, TU Delft works together with Utrecht University, Wageningen University and Research, the University of Amsterdam and dozens of plant breeding, biotech and processing companies on basic scientific research, data collection and data sharing, education, and advancing broad application of the results.

Nick ter Veer, a PhD student at the Delft University of Technology, has recently synthesized a promising thorium chloride salt, that can be used to fuel a new generation of nuclear reactors. Thorium has great potential, in combination with an uranium or plutonium based fuel, for a more sustainable nuclear fuel cycle, thereby producing less long lived radioactive waste. Together with the Reactor Physics & Nuclear Materials research team, he is now looking at this salt’s properties, to assess its suitability for use in the so-called Molten Salt Reactors.

Naomi van der Linden is een van de 61 onderzoekers die financiering heeft gekregen vanuit de SGW Open Competitie XS van NWO. Dit zijn subsidies van maximaal € 50.000, bedoeld om veelbelovende ideeën, vernieuwende en risicovolle initiatieven binnen de Sociale en Geesteswetenschappen (SGW) mogelijk te maken. Met het onderzoeksproject Nurse Intention study wil Van der Linden een methode ontwikkelen om de "intentie om te blijven" van verpleegkundigen op te nemen in economische evaluaties van interventies in de gezondheidszorg.

They praised her for the clear structure of her teaching and innovative teaching methods. Among other things, Stijntjes develops and teaches the course Extramural Sensing and Virtual Stimulation as part of the master’s programme in Technical Medicine.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded two e-Refinery researchers a Vidi grant of up to €800,000. This will allow the laureates to develop an innovative line of research and further expand their own research group over the next five years.

The 2023 Professor of Excellence Award has been awarded to Just Herder, professor of Interactive Mechanisms and Mechatronics, for his exceptional ability to demystify complex concepts and for his special role as a mentor and an example to students and PhD students at home and abroad.

On 30 June, the Dutch government announced a new set of National Growth Fund investments, which will enable the Netherlands to gain and maintain a strong position in areas such as battery technology, 6G and sustainable steel production.

Eight researchers from TU Delft, including two from the 3mE Faculty, namely Wouter Westerveld, Remco Hartkamp and Carlas Smith, received a Vidi grant in June for their research proposals.

De Faculteit Bouwkunde heeft twee nieuwe deeltijdhoogleraren bij de sectie Urban Design aangesteld: Anne Loes Nillesen en Tess Broekmans. Met hun praktijkervaring brengen ze waardevolle inzichten naar de academische wereld én andersom. “De TU Delft speelt een cruciale rol bij het aanpakken van grote maatschappelijke vraagstukken. Daar hebben we goede ontwerpers voor nodig.”

During the Design Day of the undergraduate Maritime Engineering program, all first-year students tested their self-designed ship model. The students were instructed to make the sailing condition and heavy load condition as optimal as possible.

Henri Werij, Dean of the faculty of Aerospace Engineering, is one of the five winners of the Clean Aviation High Five Awards. This was announced by the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking research and innovation programme at a ceremony during the Paris Air Show on 20 June 2023.

Designing a precision disc thrower is an ambitious challenge. ‘A lot goes into this kind of mechanical design. It has to have sufficient power, speed and precision. The rotation of the disc around its own axis – known as the gyroscopic effect – is also important,’ says Regine Vroom, coordinator of the design project.