NWO Open Competition grants for two research projects
Research grants
Two research projects from Leiden University have been awarded funding within the NWO (Dutch Research Council) Open Competition Domain Science programme. This funding finances innovative, fundamental research of high quality within the domain of Exact and Natural Sciences.
A total of 17 projects received funding from the NWO. The awarded research projects from Leiden University both receive an amount of around 800,000 euros.
A short summary of the two projects is given below.
Flexible and user-adaptive statistical inferenc
Applicants: Jelle Goeman (Leiden University) and Rianne de Heide (University of Twente)
Jelle Goeman and Rianne de Heide want to use the NWO grant to develop a mathematical theory that allows many hypotheses at the same time. Goeman: 'Researchers use statistical methods to guarantee that their research results are reliable. However, the usual methods require scientists to determine in advance exactly how they are going to collect their data and what questions they are going to ask. For example, the number of test subjects and the precise research questions. If a researcher revises these choices at a later stage, the reliability of the research is no longer guaranteed. This puts a brake on scientific efficiency and creativity.'
Goeman and De Heide are developing new statistical methods that should ensure that researchers can handle their data more freely without losing the necessary reliability. This allows them to add more data and hypotheses halfway through their research, or to focus on only the most promising hypotheses. They are no longer tied to one specific model.
Best-of-both-worlds theoretical treatment of dissociative chemisorption reactions on metal catalyst
Applicants: Geert-Jan Kroes (Leiden University) and Jörg Meyer (Leiden University)
Dissociative chemisorption is a reaction of a molecule with a solid surface, which is important for the production of chemicals by the chemical industry. It is therefore important to be able to predict the rate of these reactions accurately. This is not yet possible if the reaction takes place on a metal surface that easily gives off an electron and a molecule easily accepting electrons. Geert-Jan Kroes and Jörg Meyer propose to develop and test two new methods that should enable more accurate predictions for these reactions, which could also be important to the energy transition.