Research News

“The way we construct our buildings needs to change.” says Arjan van Timmeren professor of Environmental Technology & Design at TU Delft. Over 35% of our global greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to the built environment. A third of that amount is specifically related to the production of abiotic (non-renewable) materials such as concrete, metals and plastics. The associated challenges are not only climate related, but also concern resource scarcity, health and housing provision.

Nineteen consortia receive funding to work on scientific and societal breakthroughs. Of these, two NWA-ORC awards go to TU Delft scientists. Active collaboration between different research disciplines, different knowledge institutions and with public sectors and industry are at the core of the projects. The projects have received funding in the fourth round of the Dutch Research Agenda programme Research along Routes by Consortia (NWA-ORC).

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.