Features

  • Katarina Cankar
    International

    Podium: Katarina Cankar

    2025-07-11T13:14:00Z

    Our members form the beating heart of our societies. Here, we regularly highlight one of them. This time, it’s NBV-member Katarina Cankar. 

  • CLEAR winnaar NOP 2025 foto 2
    International

    Systems thinking approach wins major education award

    2025-07-10T12:13:00Z

    The CLEAR initiative at the University of Twente won the Dutch Education Award 2025. The jury was impressed by the systems thinking approach, which creates chemists that are well-suited for the challenges of tomorrow. So, what’s next?

  • C2W_ColumnIsabelle_2025-07-09_SummerBreak
    International

    Recalibrating your academic compass this summer

    2025-07-08T07:15:00Z

    The summer break offers academics more than rest – it’s a rare opportunity to pause, reflect, and realign. Isabelle Kohler shares how a quieter pace can help you recalibrate your academic compass and make intentional choices for the year ahead.

  • C2W_ColumnIsabelle_2025-06-25_Communication
    International

    Science communication: your pathway to broader impact

    2025-06-25T07:04:00Z

    Isabelle Kohler shares why science communication – in whatever format works best – might be one of the most rewarding parts of any professional journey.

  • Lab onderwijs
    International

    How to: Precision Fermentation

    2025-06-11T10:00:00Z

    In the Netherlands, big steps are already taken in terms of the protein transition and precision fermentation. However, education is needed to ensure these major developments can continue. The English courses offered by Wageningen University & Research are a good start. ‘Training people to lead the field is important.’ 

  • Opiumwet
    International

    Opium Act

    2025-06-11T08:20:00Z

    Sjoerd Rijpkema recognises the merits of amending the Opium Act, but believes that this is only one side of the coin.

  • C2W_ColumnIsabelle_2025-06-11_Identity
    International

    When your PhD becomes your identity

    2025-06-09T12:01:00Z

    As academic work increasingly shapes personal identity, early-career researchers are especially vulnerable to over-identifying with their PhD. Isabelle Kohler shares how this dynamic affected her own journey and offers practical strategies to help PhD students and postdocs build a broader sense of self. 

  • H2-fairytale
    International

    The hydrogen economy is a fleeting fairy tale

    2025-06-04T12:26:00Z

    According to scientists at the University of Amsterdam, simple calculations show that the idea of a hydrogen economy emerging in the 21st century is completely unrealistic. They wrote about this in Green Chemistry.

  • 200233f8-5b45-4d3c-aaee-bbfaf551ad01
    International

    Puzzles make chemistry tangible (and fun)

    2025-06-04T05:56:00Z

    By incorporating game-based learning in his courses, Michael Lerch provides his students with a new perspective on chemistry. ‘Turning complex concepts into something hands-on and fun like a puzzle, helps them to really understand the material.’  

  • C2W_ColumnIsabelle_2025-05-28_DutchCourses
    International

    Cutting language support is cutting the future of the Dutch research landscape

    2025-05-26T11:17:00Z

    Isabelle Kohler contemplates how local decisions, like cutting language support, risk undermining national goals for integration and long-term talent retention. She calls on institutions and policymakers to invest in those people already committed to building their careers in the Netherlands.

  • Lugdunomycin
    International

    Intermolecular Diels-Alder is last step in super complex natural product

    2025-05-15T14:07:00Z

    A close collaboration between teams from the universities of Leiden and Groningen succeeded in the total synthesis of the very complex molecule lugdunomycin and clarified its biosynthetic pathway, which included an intermolecular Diels-Alder reaction. 

  • C2W_ColumnIsabelle_2025-05-14_CareerPrep
    International

    Is there a real-world gap in PhD training?

    2025-05-13T05:27:00Z

    Isabelle Kohler highlights the disconnect between academic training and real-world readiness. She calls for a systemic shift to better equip early-career scientists for a job market that extends far beyond academia.

  • Always_Has_Been
    International

    ChatGPT

    2025-05-12T12:17:00Z

    After a reviewer carelessly left a ‘please let me know if you’d like some other questions!’, Sjoerd Rijpkema knew they had used ChatGPT for the reviewing process.

  • 20250327-c2wmarthe-082
    International

    Awareness dawned in Botswana

    2025-05-07T10:02:00Z

    Scientist Marthe Wens (32) is active in Scientist Rebellion. She learned to protest step by step. ‘At first, I watched from the sidelines until I was ready to take action myself.’

  • C2W_ColumnIsabelle_2025-04-30_WomeninSpace
    International

    Women in science: still invisible, even in space

    2025-04-28T12:31:00Z

    Isabelle Kohler reflects on the recent all-female space flight and the media’s focus on celebrities over scientists. She shares actionable steps researchers can take to foster a more inclusive and equitable academic culture.

  • BvOF 2019_0424_LJ license TUe - SPE - QWIN spinning disc reactor
    International

    Une nouvelle approche de la photocatalyse

    2025-04-25T09:17:00Z

    Les réactions photocatalytiques sont un sujet d’actualité, mais passer de l’échelle du laboratoire à l’échelle industrielle reste un défi. Le consortium PhotoScale concevra un photoréacteur à disque rotatif qui permettra de réaliser des réactions photocatalytiques intéressantes sur le plan pharmaceutique à une échelle relativement grande.

  • Machinelearning_shutterstock_375417610
    International

    Machine Learning pour la chromatographie

    2025-04-25T09:05:00Z

    Ceux qui développent des méthodes de séparations chromatographiques le savent bien : séparer des mélanges (complexes) demande beaucoup de travail. Mais avec la naissance de du machine learning, un groupe de l’Université de Louvain parvient à accélérer efficacement le processus. Les personnes sont souvent bloquées par leurs propres méthodes.

  • shutterstock_1126283537
    International

    Nouvelle arme contre la résistance bactérienne : un ennemi des bactéries devient un allié

    2025-04-25T08:44:00Z

    Obulytix, une spin-off de l’UGent et de la KU Leuven, voit dans les protéines issues des bactériophages un moyen de résoudre le problème croissant de la résistance aux antibiotiques. « Cela nous permettrait de créer un antibiotique optimal contre toute infection bactérienne possible. »

  • shutterstock_642489319
    International

    Plastique recyclé vs plastique neuf : comment changer la norme ?

    2025-04-25T08:37:00Z

    Pour véritablement progresser dans la lutte contre la pollution causée par les matières plastiques, le recyclage doit se réinventer. 

  • transfarm_Rob Stevens_MG_1758 s_def
    International

    Biocon révolutionne la biomasse

    2025-04-25T08:20:00Z

    En décembre 2023, le Sustainable Catalysis and Engineering (CSCE)  de la KU Leuven a inauguré une nouvelle installation pilote pour la transformation des résidus de bois en matières premières pour l’industrie chimique. La scale-up Biocon utilise un nouveau processus catalytique pour ces transformations.