Laatste nieuws

Imagine: you start up your laptop and see that hackers have struck and demand a ransom. That's not all, they have left a customer service phone number to assist with the ransom transfer. That sounds absurd, but to make big money, cybercriminals cannot do without this helpline. In this episode of Universiteit van Nederland cybercrime expert Rolf van Wegberg explains what is happening here (in Dutch)

Fresh water is scarce in the Dutch coastal area. Climate change and salinisation are putting freshwater availability under even more pressure. This is a problem for agriculture and horticulture in coastal areas, especially in dry summers. In the AGRICOAST project, led by Boris van Breukelen of TU Delft, a consortium of knowledge institutions, companies and social organisations aims to increase the availability of fresh water in the Dutch coastal area. The project has been awarded a grant of 1.5 million euros from NWO to appoint five PhD students.

The European Commission appointed 15 new members of the new European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE). Jeroen van den Hoven, professor in Ethics and Technology at TU Delft, has been reappointed.

The Executive Board appointed dr.ir. Laurens de Vries as professor of 'Complex Energy Transitions' as of 27 January 2022.

At the request of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, researchers from TU Delft, UMC Utrecht and Populytics investigated the extent to which the various types of COVID certificates (coronatoegangsbewijs, CTB) can help to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in society. The 3G (vaccinated, recovered, tested) and 2G (vaccinated, recovered) rules are currently a lot less effective in curbing the spread of the virus than they were two months ago. A 1G policy (only people who have recently tested negative are given access) is much more effective. But, even if a 1G policy were to be introduced today, the reproduction number would not drop below 1.0.

On Friday, 14 January, we will celebrate TU Delft's 180th anniversary. From that day onwards, everyone can participate in a 180-day lustrum programme entirely dedicated to the energy transition. A number of TPM scientists is closely involved in the organisation of the lustrum. Kornelis Blok is chairman of the lustrum committee and Gerdien de Vries and Andrea Ramirez Ramirez are members of the Energy Accelerator Team.

Tina Comes has recently become a member of the prestigious Academia Europaea (The Academy of Europe). She was elected for her excellent research into decision theory and her “outstanding achievements as a researcher” at the interface of decision theory, data and information & communication technology. The review committee appreciates her interdisciplinary approach and her engagement for societal resilience, especially in the context of risk and crises.

The interactive e-book Building with Nature & Beyond of TPM researcher Jill Slinger has been published via TU Delft Open Publishing. It explores the use of natural materials and ecological processes in achieving effective and sustainable hydraulic infrastructure designs and also looks at social design principles.

In addition to the nomination for TU Delft's Best Graduate, TPM's education management team has also chosen and put in the spotlight one best graduate for each master's program.

The climate is changing, not only in the Netherlands, but far beyond as well. The UN climate conference in Glasgow in 2021 had a clear message: climate adaptation is required of everyone; from governments to individuals around the world. Researchers from Delft University of Technology and Twente University investigated the drivers of what motivates or hinders people in different cultures in climate adaptation. The results were published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change.