Archive

Nick ter Veer, a PhD student at the Delft University of Technology, has recently synthesized a promising thorium chloride salt, that can be used to fuel a new generation of nuclear reactors. Thorium has great potential, in combination with an uranium or plutonium based fuel, for a more sustainable nuclear fuel cycle, thereby producing less long lived radioactive waste. Together with the Reactor Physics & Nuclear Materials research team, he is now looking at this salt’s properties, to assess its suitability for use in the so-called Molten Salt Reactors.

The European Research Council has awarded an ERC Advanced Grant to Sander Otte, professor of Atomic Quantum Technology at the faculty of Applied Sciences at TU Delft. The European subsidy enables internationally established research leaders to carry out a five-year research project. With his research proposal HYPSTER (Hyperfine-coupled Spins with Time Evolution Readout), Otte will investigate the exchange of information between the electrons and the nucleus within a single atom.

On 30 June, the Dutch government announced a new set of National Growth Fund investments, which will enable the Netherlands to gain and maintain a strong position in areas such as battery technology, 6G and sustainable steel production.

Through our annual Educator of the Year election, we highlight excellence in education. On 27 June during the AS Education Afternoon, Paulien Herder, dean of AS, announced the Educators of the Year by AS programme and the overall winner: Dr. Greg Bokinsky.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded eight TU Delft researchers from the Science (ENW) and Applied and Engineering Sciences (AES) domains, a Vidi grant of up to 800,000 euro. This will enable the laureates to develop an innovative line of research over the next five years and further expand their own research group. A total of 97 Vidi grants were awarded.

Sustainable rose smell that can be produced on a large scale. Tobias Fecker made this into a possibility during his thesis, which was a collaboration between the Institute of Biology Leiden and Delft University of Technology. He wins the fourth edition of the Krijn Rietveld Memorial Innovation Award.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded a grant to research on more efficient production of even smaller computer chips in the KIC call ‘Demand-driven Partnerships for Consortia’. Researchers from Delft University of Technology and ARCNL are collaborating with ASML in order to inspect computer chips more precisely and faster with help of electrons. The Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) research programme stands for pioneering innovative solutions with social and economic impact. NWO funds the research with almost 2 million euros, ASML contributes with over 2.3 million co-funding.

Pieter Swinkels was presented with the 4TU.SAI Stan Ackermans Medal by Paulien Herder, dean of the faculty of Applied Sciences, during the symposium for Engineering Doctorate (EngD) trainees on 9 June 2023. Pieter Swinkels is managing director of the post-MSc EngD designer programmes in Chemical Product Design and Process and Equipment Design (CPD and PED) at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). He is also TU Delft’s coordinator within the 4TU.SAI (Stan Ackermans Institute) representing all EngD programmes in the Netherlands. There was a double cause for celebration, as the programme also celebrated the 500th EngD graduate.

The Innovative Health Initiative has awarded a EUR 24 million grant to the IMAGIO consortium of clinical partners coordinated by Philips, with additional resources and funding by industry partners. The consortium will carry out research into improving clinical outcomes through less invasive treatments for lung cancer, liver cancer and soft tissue sarcomas.

Demand for affordable biopharmaceuticals such as vaccines and cancer drugs is steadily increasing. Researchers from the Department of Biotechnology at TU Delft's Faculty of Applied Sciences are now set to join forces with pharmaceutical company Janssen to develop a solution. The official project launch took place on 16 June 2023. The aim of the project is to replace manual operations in order to design automated, continuous biotech processes with higher yields.