News

  • Robotlab
    International

    Big Money for Big Chemistry

    2025-09-10T07:59:00Z

    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.

  • rood-blauw shutterstock_2435527373
    International

    Near-infrared light drives molecular motors

    2025-09-09T11:20:00Z

    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.

  • housebuilding-1005491_1920
    International

    ERC Starting Grants awarded

    2025-09-08T12:37:00Z

    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.  

  • AMOLF_portret op locatie_LD_hr_20231122-9019
    International

    KNCV Gold Medal 2025 awarded to Bruno Ehrler

    2025-09-03T09:43:00Z

    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.

  • shutterstock_2621352647
    International

    Polycyclic amino acids produce a fluorescent hydrogel

    2025-08-27T13:09:00Z

    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.

  • ENW-M grants
    International

    NWO Open Competition ENW-M grants

    2025-08-18T12:05:00Z

    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.

  • Stitched 10x HuCD_AMCA Calb_AF594 nNOS_AF647 d
    International

    The true gut feeling: the intestinal nervous system recognises nutrients.

    2025-08-18T11:41:00Z

    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.

  • shutterstock_2274449481 (1)
    International

    Nanoplastics fill the North Atlantic Ocean

    2025-08-18T11:24:00Z

    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.

  • Veni
    International

    NWO Veni grants awarded for 2024

    2025-07-17T10:27:00Z

    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
    International

    ERC Proof of Concept grants 2025 awarded

    2025-07-16T11:34:00Z

    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.

  • blood cells
    International

    Activating ‘reserve genes’ for gene therapy

    2025-07-07T13:50:00Z

    Reactivated genes can compensate for other defective genes in hereditary blood disorders, Dutch researchers show in the journal Blood.

  • Graphical abstract catalyst in the spotlight
    International

    Catalyst-substrate couple in the spotlight

    2025-07-07T07:56:00Z

    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.

  • Money abstract
    International

    Open Competition ENW-M grants awarded

    2025-07-02T09:18:00Z

    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.

  • toc sn2 vs e2
    International

    SN2 vs. E2: Competition Clarified

    2025-06-27T13:44:00Z

    For organic chemists (in training), the question of how to determine whether a chemical reaction follows the SN2 or E2 route is timeless. A group in Amsterdam summarized its 25 years of research in Chemistry: A European Journal, offering concrete, simple concepts to overcome this dilemma.

  • Gram Negative Cell Wall Shutterstock
    International

    Sweet victory: sugar molecule disrupts bacterial cell wall

    2025-06-20T11:34:00Z

    Researchers in Groningen have synthesised a variant of a sugar molecule that is incorporated in the cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria. However, as reported in JACS Au, they did not achieve the desired effect.

  • ERC Adv Grant 2024
    International

    ERC Advanced Grants 2024 awarded

    2025-06-19T14:21:00Z

    This year, a total of €721 million will be awarded to 281 European scientists through prestigious ERC Advanced Grants. This is an increase of €69 million and 26 scientists on last year’s figures. Two members of the KNCV and one member of the KVCV have been awarded a grant.

  • blokken shutterstock klein
    International

    Peptide-like oligomers with much more information

    2025-06-19T07:42:00Z

    Researchers from Wageningen have synthesised peptide-like oligomers for which the chirality of each monomer can be determined. They write in Nature Synthesis that there is huge potential for information storage.

  • MIT-Microneedle-Delivery-02-press
    International

    Nutritional Needles

    2025-06-18T09:59:00Z

    Although pest control is important for agriculture, it can also create environmental problems. Micro-needles can offer a way to apply pesticides and nutrients more precisely. 

  • Figure EurJIC expanding the chemical space of allyl palladates-revised
    International

    ‘Metal next door’ is a successful anti-cancer agent.

    2025-06-16T11:27:00Z

    The recent success of palladium-based anticancer drugs has prompted an international team to search for molecules in the chemical space with even greater efficacy. As a bonus, they report in the European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry that the synthesis does not even require solvents.

  • hydrogel shutterstock klein
    International

    Perfect PIC gels with a perfect protocol

    2025-06-13T07:47:00Z

    After years of answering questions, the group of scientists from the Radboud University who invented polyisocyanide hydrogels decided to draw up a protocol that describes absolutely everything.