International
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InternationalUnWastor takes on mountain of waste
Landfill or incineration. That’s what often happens to discarded plastics these days. But the startup UPPACT in Delfzijl sees greater value in recycling. To do this, they use an ingenious machine from Australia. They’re already turning the mixture into useful boards and sheets. As far as they’re concerned, these UnWastors ...
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InternationalHow’s it going with the mentoring program?
The pilot phase of the KNCV mentoring program, which kicked off in November 2025 with a short introductory session and a speed-matching event, is now well underway.
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InternationalInternational at heart
From Poland to Austria to the UK to the Netherlands. PhD student Jadwiga Poniatowska has moved country multiple times since the age of seventeen, and has thoroughly enjoyed the international environments in which she has studied. ‘You can gain a lot from happily working together.’
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InternationalPodium: Joice Kaschuk
Our members form the beating heart of our societies. Here, we regularly highlight one of them. This time, it’s KNCV-member Joice Kaschuk.
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InternationalYour weekend is not a luxury – protect it
Working through the weekend seems to be treated as a badge of honour in academia. Isabelle Kohler argues that protecting your weekends is not a sign of weakness or lack of ambition – it is one of the most important decisions you can make for your long-term career and well-being.
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InternationalClubbing the molecular jungle, part 2
Second edition of chemistry-themed club night on Friday 10 April
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InternationalYou’re not supposed to know everything
Every early-career researcher knows the dread of standing on the podium: what if someone asks a question they can’t answer? Isabelle Kohler argues that this discomfort is the very essence of research – and that learning to cope with uncertainty might be the most important skill a PhD student can develop.
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InternationalFrom hobby project to high-quality tool
With 3D printers, you can create advanced, custom-made equipment at an affordable price. This is not only achieved by printing parts and components entirely to your own specifications, but also by converting the printer itself into a lab robot. ‘In the past, researchers used to build the equipment for their experiments themselves.’
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InternationalTires’ silent killer: The toxic dust that kills salmon
Each year, Europe’s roads produce approximately half a billion kilograms of ‘tyre wear dust’, releasing a large amount of 6PPD-Q into the environment. This substance, a by-product of a common tyre additive, has been found to be lethal to coho salmon. A case is underway in the US to enforce a ban, with the Dutch RIVM and the Austrian UBA working towards a ban in the EU.
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InternationalNailing MOF synthesis every time with MPIF
A new tool enables researchers to easily document exactly how they have prepared and synthesised metal-organic frameworks, allowing their peers to replicate results more consistently. The EU4MOFs consortium published the open-access tool in Advanced Materials.
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InternationalGentle transfection
Introducing large molecules into a cell can be done using brute force, but this often causes damage to the cell. The Ghent-based start-up Trince focuses on photoporation, a unique transfection method that not only leaves cells in good health but is also suitable for high-throughput applications.
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InternationalSafety
The safety culture in academic laboratories differs greatly from that in industry. Sjoerd Rijpkema, former safety steward and Meme & Molecule columnist, identifies a fundamental problem.
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InternationalAu-delà de la lentille
Les techniques de microscopie à super-résolution repoussent les limites fondamentales imposées par les lentilles optiques. À la TU Delft, Carlas Smith étudie où se situe réellement cette limite inférieure, avec pour objectif de la déplacer encore.
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InternationalThe scaffolding is the new career ladder
What if choosing the ‘wrong’ career path wasn’t really possible? Isabelle Kohler replaces the old metaphor of the career ladder with something more honest: a scaffolding, multidirectional and open-ended – and a space to explore for early-career researchers.
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InternationalFinding the gap in electrochemical processes
Scientists at Utrecht University have developed an optical method for visualising electrochemical processes at the nanoscale. The technique uses nanogaps and scattered light to track reactions in attolitre volumes without labelling, as the researchers demonstrate in PNAS.
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InternationalSmall molecule transport of copper(I) effective against cancer
For the first time, it has been possible to transport Cu⁺ through cell membranes using a small biomimetic molecule, without the aid of proteins. According to an international team in JACS, this completely unexpected development has the potential to become a potent anti-cancer strategy.
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InternationalUn nouveau graduat comble le manque de profils en laboratoire
Trois hautes écoles flamandes ont uni leurs forces pour lancer un nouveau graduat destiné aux assistants de laboratoire. La formation en assistance de laboratoire s’appuie sur les anciens graduats en biotechnologie et en chimie. Le programme a été actualisé et renommé afin de mieux correspondre aux réalités du terrain. « ...
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InternationalEndosser deux rôles
Pour Filip Van Lijsebetten (29 ans), le passage était presque naturel : durant son doctorat, il s’est senti de plus en plus attiré par le rôle d’agent de brevets. « Parfois, il s’agit d’inventions pour des boîtes à gâteaux, parfois pour du papier toilette. »
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InternationalDu projet amateur à l’outil de haute précision
Les imprimantes 3D permettent de concevoir des équipements avancés et sur mesure à un coût accessible. Cette approche englobe aussi bien l’impression de composants spécifiques que la transformation de l’imprimante elle-même en robot de laboratoire. « Autrefois, les chercheurs construisaient eux-mêmes les dispositifs nécessaires à leurs expériences. »
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InternationalTransfection en douceur
Introduire de grosses molécules dans une cellule peut se faire de manière brutale, mais cela endommage souvent la cellule. La start-up gantoise Trince mise sur la photoporation, une méthode de transfection unique qui préserve la santé des cellules tout en étant adaptée aux applications de criblage à haut débit.