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Bacteria that power themselves using electricity and are able to send electrical currents over long distances through highly conductive power lines. It almost sounds like the way we charge our TVs and refrigerators, and may seem hard to believe, but it is a recent discovery by a team of scientists from the University of Antwerp (Belgium), Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) and the University of Hasselt (Belgium). Centimeter-long bacteria from the seafloor contain a conductive fiber network that operates in comparable way to the copper wiring that we use to transport electricity. The highly conductive fibers enable a completely new interface between biology and electronics, providing a prospect for new materials and technology.

Last Saturday, the 7th of September, the Bataafsch Genootschap der Proefondervindelijke Wijsbegeerte (Batavian Society of Experimental Philosophy) awarded Norbert Kalb the Stevin Hoogendijk Prize 2019. With this prize, the society rewards the writer of the best TU Delft dissertation over a period of two years. Kalb was selected as the winner for his excellent research into quantum networks based on the so-called 'nitrogen vacancy centre' in diamond.

Five TU Delft researchers have been selected to receive an ERC Starting Grant. Three of these researchers work at the Faculty of Applied Sciences, the other two are affiliated with QuTech. The grants (1,5 million euros for a five-year programme) are intended to support scientists who are in the early stages of their career and have already produced excellent supervised work.

Researchers from QuTech have achieved a world’s first in quantum internet technology.

Andrea Caviglia (Quantum Nanoscience), Associate Professor at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, will be awarded a Proof of Concept grant by the European Research Council. He is one of sixty ERC grant holders that are set to receive top-up funding to explore the commercial or innovation potential of the results of their EU-funded research.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded a Veni grant worth up to 250,000 euros to twelve highly promising young scientists from TU Delft, four of whom are from the Faculty of Applied Sciences. The grant provides the laureates with the opportunity to further elaborate their own ideas during a period of three years.

As our life expectancy increases, more and more people are confronted with different types of dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease. How these brain diseases arise and develop is still unclear, complicating the search for effective treatment.

An operational quantum computer will require a quick, reliable and scalable read-out of the state of the qubits, the building blocks of this computer of the future.

During the Science Day of the Faculty of Applied Sciences, on Thursday 27 June, Dean Lucas van Vliet announced the Teachers of the Year for 2019.