Laatste nieuws

Kornelis Blok has devoted himself to the energy transition for many years. On the 24th of May, he says farewell to the TU Delft before his retirement, although he certainly will not sit still. We spoke with him about the past and the future. How does he look back on his career and his years at TU Delft?

In the coming months, Özge Okur, Geertje Bekebrede and Anneke Zuiderwijk will become programme manager and directors of studies at our faculty. As of May 1st, Özge Okur has been appointed as program manager MSc EPA. Geertje Bekebrede will take on the role of director of studies of MSc CoSEM as of July 1st, and Anneke Zuiderwijk becomes director of studies of BSc TB as of September 2023.

The energy transition is not only technically challenging, there are also complex geopolitical interests at play. TU Delft Gamelab, together with the University of Stavanger, Technical University of Munich and the University of Ghent, developed a serious game for students in which all these challenges come together: the Geopolitics game.

Road accidents cause more than 1.35 million fatalities per year globally. The UN and European Union want to eliminate these traffic fatalities. The newly awarded Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network ‘IVORY’ addresses this goal and will kick-off in September 2023. It will set up an industrial doctorates network to develop a new framework for optimal integration of AI in road safety research, and train a new generation of leading researchers in the field. Eleonora Papadimitriou of the TPM faculty of TU Delft is the leading scientist and will be coordinating the network. Other TPM researchers that are involved are Amir Pooyan Afghari, Filippo Santoni de Sio and Pieter van Gelder.

On the recommendation of Minister Jetten for Climate and Energy, the Dutch government has approved the appointment of nine new members of the Scientific Climate Council (WKR). Among them are TU Delft researchers Kornelis Blok and Behnam Taebi. The council advises the government on climate policy, based on independent scientific expertise.

Dikes protect the Netherlands from flooding. To keep the Netherlands safe in the future, several dikes are being reinforced in the High Water Protection Programme. The traditional way of strengthening dikes involves 'hard' (asphalt) revetment, but this is at the expense of the natural environment. Therefore, the 'Living Dikes' project looks at dike reinforcement using 'building-with-nature' methodologies. Various parties, including TU Delft, are investigating how 'living dikes' can play an important role in climate-proof coastal protection while preserving nature and landscape.

From March 9, 2023 to April 21, 2023, all Dutch citizens can advise politicians on climate policy through the National Climate Consultation. Through the so-called Participatory Value Assessment (PWE in Dutch), researchers will enable Dutch citizens to provide the House of Representatives with advice.

Today Ammodo announced that Tatiana Filatova is one of eight winners of the Ammodo Science Award for fundamental research 2023. The laureates each receive a cash prize of 350,000 euros which they can use in the coming years to explore new avenues of fundamental scientific research.

The MSCA4Ukraine consortium has provided fellowships support to 111 post-doctoral and 13 doctoral researchers from Ukraine. This enables them to continue their research in their host country. Amongst them is Natalia Prozorova a post-doctoral researcher at the faculty of TPM, TU Delft. Her 2-year research project will focus on the topic: ‘Improving the resilience of Ukrainian agriculture for post-war soil restoration and carbon mitigation’.

Record temperatures, floodings and melting sea ice: radical weather events are becoming more frequent and have a devastating effect on our planet and our lives. By accelerating the energy transition and climate action TU Delft, together with its partners, tries to prevent climate change and contain its consequences. With the election of the Best Climate & Energy Paper, TU Delft is highlighting a number of large and small innovations that contribute to this.