News articles
MOFs get long-awaited Nobel status
‘Well deserved’ and ‘Bound to happen’ summarize the feeling among the MOF community to the news that the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 is awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi for their pioneering work on metal-organic frameworks.
From sports soles to sponges: the recycling of polyurethane foam is becoming a reality
Polyurethane foam is found in mattresses, furniture and many other products, and it produces a waste stream that is difficult to recycle. However, a team from the University of Twente has now presented a sustainable method in Green Chemistry for converting this widely used material into reusable building blocks.
Shining light on post-polymerisation functionalisation
A team from Utrecht University functionalises the C-H-bonds in polyolefins using just UV light without the need for solvents or catalysts, they report in JACS.
Cat pushes carbon rings in the right direction
These essential building blocks are found in medicines and commonly used insecticides, but they are also difficult to synthesise: alkylidenecyclopropanes. In Nature, an international team presents a new method that makes producing these ring-shaped carbon structures much more efficient.
Programmable precision for peptide positions
Using triazine-thiol exchange, a group from Nijmegen was able to program cysteine modifications in peptides by varying the pH, they report in ChemistryEurope.
3D bioprinter is ‘smart baby’
The 3D bioprinting of functional tissues is a complex, step-by-step process that depends on the designer. Now, however, biomedical engineers at Utrecht University have developed new technology published in Nature that integrates advanced imaging and artificial intelligence, enabling the 3D bioprinter to observe and analyse.
Green synthesis of aromatic nitriles
Leuven researchers have found a way to transform toluene into nitriles using electrochemistry, ammonia and… water! They report on this simple and potentially environmentally friendly procedure in ChemElectroChem.
Big Money for Big Chemistry
The National Growth Fund project, ‘Big Chemistry’, has provided eight consortia with €2.8 million. The projects focus on accelerating the search for chemicals with the desired properties.
Near-infrared light drives molecular motors
In JACS, a team from Groningen and Amsterdam report that they were able to drive molecular motors with near-infrared light using upconverting nanoparticles for the first time.
ERC Starting Grants awarded
With a success rate of 12.2%, obtaining an ERC Starting Grant was no easy feat. Two KNCV- and two NVBMB-members managed to pass the selection and secure a grant.
KNCV Gold Medal 2025 awarded to Bruno Ehrler
Bruno Ehrler, head of the Hybrid Solar Cells group at research institute AMOLF in Amsterdam and professor at the University of Groningen is the recipient of the KNCV Gold Medal 2025.
Polycyclic amino acids produce a fluorescent hydrogel
In the European Journal of Organic Chemistry, researchers from the VUB and the University of the Free State (South Africa) present a new fluorescent peptide hydrogel with easily adaptable sequences. This offers possibilities for targeted, modifiable drug delivery systems.
NWO Open Competition ENW-M grants
The Open Competition ENW-M grants – intended for “creative, risky ideas and scientific innovations” – were awarded at the end of July, and several members of the KNCV and NVBMB were among the recipients.
The true gut feeling: the intestinal nervous system recognises nutrients.
According to biomedical scientists at KU Leuven, the function of the digestive system appears to be much more sophisticated than simply pumping food around. In an article published in Nature, they demonstrate how the nervous system in mouse intestines distinguishes between different nutrients.
Nanoplastics fill the North Atlantic Ocean
In a study published in Nature, Dutch researchers estimated that there are 27 million tonnes of nanoplastics in the ocean’s upper layer. This figure equals or exceeds the estimated amount of macro- and microplastics in the world’s oceans.
NWO Veni grants awarded for 2024
Two hundred early-career scientists have received up to €320,000 in the form of a Veni grant from the NWO Talent Programme.
ERC Proof of Concept grants 2025 awarded
It’s always nice to receive a gift before the holidays. Eighteen Belgian and Dutch scientists were delighted to hear that their Proof of Concept Grant proposals had been successful.
Activating ‘reserve genes’ for gene therapy
Reactivated genes can compensate for other defective genes in hereditary blood disorders, Dutch researchers show in the journal Blood.
Catalyst-substrate couple in the spotlight
With the high-tech laser facility of HFML-FELIX, researchers succeeded in capturing a catalyst ‘in the act’ of catalysing a Michael addition, as they show in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.
Open Competition ENW-M grants awarded
The ‘creative’ ENW-M grants have been awarded once again, this time to 21 researchers looking to develop scientific innovations and ‘risky’ ideas. Among the recipients are members of the KNCV and NVBMB, who are highlighted here.
