Faculty of Science
Awards and Grants 2023
On this page you will find an overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2023, as well as special appointments at Leiden University and other institutions.
Grants 2023
- The Dutch NL-ELT Consortium has been awarded a NWO grant to develop instrumentation for the biggest telescope in the world, the Extremely Large Telescope.
- Anne Wentink got a Vidi from NWO for her research in proteinfibers.
- Sjoert van Velzen got a Vidi from NWO to solve the ‘mystery from the universe’.
- Mariska Kriek got a Vici from NWO for het research in the origin of the solar system.
- AI-program ROBUST got a NWO grant.
- Ludwig Hoffmann got a Rubiconbeurs from NWO and ZonMw for his research in biological materials.
- Erin Faught got a Veni from NWO for her research in cortisol.
- Peter Koymans got a Veni from NWO for his research in arithmetic statistics.
- Pavel Mancera Piña got a Veni from NWO for his research on the evolution of galaxies and the nature of dark matter.
- Nathaniel Martin and his team received an NWO grant to examine how blocking a specific enzyme in our body, NNMT, could be helpful in the treatment of some cancers.
- Lennart Schada von Borzyskowski and Lars Jeuken received an NWO XS grant for their research on bioplastics made with artificial photosynthesis.
- Daniel Rozen and his team received an NWO XS grant for their research on cleaning up chemicals (PFAS) using aquatic sponge microbiomes.
- Michelle Spierings received an NWO XS grant for her research on the melodic sense of parrots.
- An NWO-KIC grant will allow researchers from the CML, IBL, FGGA, LUMC and other partners to conduct research on the influence of the soil quality in which crops grow on our intestines.
- Daniel Rozen received a NWO M1 grant for his research on evolutionary changes in the size and complexity of organisms.
- Matthieu Schaller received an NWO Open Science grant to make simulation data more accessible.
- Margaret Gold received with the Psycology Lab on Wheels a NWO grant for communication science.
- Semonti Bhattacharyya received a NWO XS grant for her research in creating the tiniest electrically-switchable magnetic memory.
- Alireza Mashaghi Tabari received a NWO XS grant for his research in targeting inter-macrophage junctions to fight tuberculosis.
- Jan Aarts received a NWO XS grant for his research on superconducting Van der Waals materials.
- Suruchi Nepal received a NWO XS grant for her research on antibiotic treatment strategies for urinary tract infections.
- Han de Winde received an NWO XS grant for his research on recycling plastics.
- Sylvia Le Dévédec recieved a NWO Open Science Fund-grant to improve the integration of RSpace and iRODS.
- Wouter Weeda recieved an NWO Open Science Fund-grant to develop open-source software and improved guidelines for a new statistical method used to analyze data from brain research.
- Laura Zwep, Coen van Hasselt and Tingjie Guo recieved a NWO Open Science Fund-grant to develop software and training materials to facilitate the use of copula models of patient data.
- Roxanne Kieltyka received an NWO grant through the Merian Fund and the São Paulo Research Foundation to develop a bioinspired tracheal stent inspired by cellular structures, which can mitigate the issues associated with biofilm formation seen in current silicone-based implants used in patients with central airway disease.
- Dirk Bouwmeester received an NWO grant in collaboration with Quantum Delta NL for research on superfluid quantum computing.
- Peter Bruin received an NWO grant in collaboration with Quantum Delta NL for research on quantum algorithms for mathematical problems.
- Patrick Emonts received an NWO grant in collaboration with Quantum Delta NL for research on topological data analysis.
- Martin van Exter received an NWO grant in collaboration with Quantum Delta NL for research on quantum internet.
- Bas Hensen & Kaveh Lahabi received an NWO grant in collaboration with Quantum Delta NL for research on quantum readout by quantum sensors.
- Alfons Laarman & Vedran Dunjko received an NWO grant in collaboration with Quantum Delta NL for research on quantum algorithms.
- Yamila Miguel got an ERC Consolidator Grant for her research in giant- and exoplanets.
- Jacqueline Hodge got an ERC Consolidator Grant for her ERC-CoG project.
- Tomer Fishman got an ERC Starting Grant for his research in building materials in the south of the world.
- Hans Slabbekoorn received an Horizon Europe Pillar II Grant for his research on declining fish populations in lakes and rivers due to light and noise pollution.
- Ewa Snaar-Jagalska received an Horizon Europe Pillar II Grant for her research on ruthenium-based photoactivated chemotherapy against eye cancer.
- Vedran Dunjko received an ERC Consolidator grant for his research into machine learning algorithms for quantum computers.
- Victor Carrion Bravo, Salma Balazadeh and Jos Raaijmakers received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions-Staff Exchange Grant for research on microbial consortia who are compatible with different crop types and are alleviating the adverse effects of different stress conditions.
- Alexander Kros received an ERC Synergy Grant for research in braincancer.
Prizes 2023
- Xiaoyang Zhong won the Stans Award for best paper for his research: 'Increasing material efficiencies of buildings to address the global sand crisis.'
- Kevin & Marvin Groen won the outreach Stans Award for their book 'The Wild Wild East' about their journey in Eastern Europe.
- Paul Behrens and his team won the Frontiers Planet Prize for their research in the effects about the transfer to a vegan diet.
- Auke-Florian Hiemstra won Person of the Year.
- Ester van der Voet got the International Society Award in Industrial Ecology.
- Gerard van Westen won the KNCV Gold Medal for his research in AI in drug development.
- Nienke van der Marel received the New Horizons Prize for her research in planet formation.
- Ionica Smeets won the Iris Medal for Excellent Science Communication.
- Tobias Fecker received the Krijn Rietveld Memorial Innovation Award for his research into the production of sustainable rose smell.
- Maurijn van der Zee, Gerda Lamers and Shixiong Cheng received an Honorable Mention at the Nikon Small World Competition for their research on depth encoded embryonal development of a red flour beetle.
- Auke-Florian Hiemstra and Liselotte Rambonnet recieved the NWO Communication Initiative Award for founding the Canal Watch.
- Eva Sievers won the student Stans Award for her research in Environmental Biology
- Tobias Fecker won the Krijn Rietveld Memorial Innovation award for his research for producing enviromental friently rose scent.
- Nicole ter Laak won the KNMP Studentenprijs 2023 for her research project on dosing guidelines of antibiotics in newborn babies with a very low birth weight.
- The iGEM team won multiple awards at Grand Jamboree. The biology students came second in the Overgraduate category with their project PHAse Out. They also won the awards for Best Biomanufacturing Project, Best Wiki, Best Entrepreneurship and a Gold Medal.
- Matthias Flór won the KHMW Graduation Prize in Theoretical Physics for his master's thesis on exotic superconductors.
- Aukje Beers won the Unilever Research Prize for her master's project where she discovered two protein inhibitors that could contribute to the development of a new cancer drug.
- Rozita Abdolrahimi Raeni won the KNMP Student Award voor her excellent study results, motivation and commitment in the master Pharmacy.
- The MSc Life Science & Technology received a bronze medal in EW Best Studies 2023 for the satisfaction of the prgramme quality under students.
Appointments 2023
- Gianne Derks was appointed Scientific Director of the Mathematical Institute.
- René Kleijn was appointed professor of Future proof raw material supply.
- Rawi Ramautar was appointed Programme Director of the bachelor Bio-Farmaceutical Sciences.
- Marcello Bonsangue was appointed Scientific Director of the LIACS institute.
- Michiel Hogerheijde was appointed Programme Director at the bachelor Astronomy.
- Michel Mandjes was appointed professor of Probability and Operations Research.
- Suzan Verberne was appointed professor of Computer Science.
- Ákos Kovács was appointed professor of Microbiome Ecology.
- Koenraad Schalm was appointed Programme Director of the master Physics.
- Vedran Dunjko was appointed professor of Quantum Computing.
- David Holmes was appointed professor Pure Mathematics.
- Jan Vonk was oppointed professor Mathematics.
- Jos Raaijmakers was appointed to KNAW-member.
- Jan Reedijk was appointed a honorary doctorate at the Nicolaus Copernicus university in Poland.
- Arnold Tukker was appointed as a guest professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business of Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD).