Research News

Since 2013, DIMI has sponsored approximately 150 projects in the domain of deltas, infrastructures and mobility. The ultimate goal is to reduce knowledge fragmentation, in order to create integrated solutions for the sustainable development of urban deltas.

The research consortium of the European Union-funded project ADREM (Adaptable Reactors for Resource- and Energy-Efficient Methane Valorisation), led by Andrzej Stankiewicz, TUD Professor of Process Intensification, successfully developed highly innovative, economically attractive and resource- and energy-efficient reactor concepts for boosting resource and energy efficiency in process industries.

Container ships that aren’t fully loaded, congested locks resulting in long waits for vessels, suboptimal navigation of ships on rivers and fully loaded ships that cannot cope with low water levels. These are common problems on inland waterways. The Horizon 2020 programme ‘Novel inland waterway transport concepts for moving freight effectively’ (NOVIMOVE) is going to use a European grant of almost 9 million euros to conduct research on how to improve the logistics of this transport system.

NWO has awarded almost 6 million euros to nine proposals in the ‘Blue Route’ programme in the Water & Maritime top sector. Six of the nine grants are going to TU Delft, at the Department of Maritime and Transport Technology.

Titanium dioxide (titania) thin films are commonly used in various types of solar cells. The fabrication methods that are currently used to create such titania films require high temperatures, as well as expensive, high-end technologies. Researchers at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) have now developed a fully organic method to engineer porous titania thin films at relatively low temperatures.

Graphene is well-known for its remarkable electronic, mechanical and thermal properties, but industrial production of high-quality graphene is very challenging. A research team at Delft University of Technology has now developed a mathematical model that can be used to guide the large-scale production of these ultrathin layers of carbon. The findings were published this week in The Journal of Chemical Physics.

DNA in a cell can normally be compared to spaghetti on one’s plate: a large tangle of strands. To be able to divide DNA neatly between the two daughter cells during cell division, the cell organises this tangle into tightly packed chromosomes. A protein complex called condensin has been known to play a key role in this process, but biologists had no idea exactly how this worked. Until February 2018, when scientists from the Kavli Institute at Delft University of Technology, together with colleagues from EMBL Heidelberg, showed in real time how a condensin protein extrudes a loop in the DNA. Now, follow-up research by the same research groups shows that simple bundling up such loops is by no means the only way condensin packs up DNA. The researchers discovered an entirely new loop structure, which they call the 'Z loop'. They publish this new phenomenon in Nature on 4 March, where they show, for the first time, how condensins mutually interact to fold DNA into a zigzag structure.

Royal HaskoningDHV opens a branch for 800 employees in Delft, an international hub in the field of technology, innovation and knowledge development.

The use of technology is unavoidable to keep healthcare affordable and accessible, but its implementation must go hand in hand with respect for patient values, says trauma surgeon Maarten van der Elst. He has been appointed to TU Delft’s Reinier de Graaf chair for the coming five years and is holding his inaugural address on 4 March.

Going by the name H2 Coach Boat, TU Delft is joining a consortium consisting of maritime companies, the Sailing Innovation Centre and the Watersportverbond (Water Sports Federation) to develop a clean coach boat for the sport of sailing, with propulsion based on hydrogen in combination with electricity. The aim is to drastically reduce carbon emissions in the sport of sailing. Klaas Visser, researcher in Marine Engineering at TU Delft is leading the research team of maritime students who have completed a feasibility study, among other things, in cooperation with several companies from the marine sector and who are focusing on reducing boat emissions.

The European Commission has granted almost 9 million euros to the Horizon 2020 research programme ‘Novel inland waterway transport concepts for moving freight effectively’ (NOVIMOVE).

Project STEP4WIND aims at increasing the commercial readiness level of floating offshore wind energy.

Earth observation is experiencing a golden age: satellites are providing us with an unprecedented wealth of data. Climate researcher Stef Lhermitte is making good use of this, because however effective our models may be, they still contain plenty of uncertainties.