News

News

ENI Renewable Energy Prize 2012 for Albert Polman

The prestigious ENI Renewable and Non-conventional Energy Prize 2012 has been awarded jointly to UvA professor Albert Polman and Harry Atwater (CalTech) for their research on high-efficiency solar cells based on nanophotonic design.

Jan van Maarseveen receives ECHO grant for molecular lassos

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded chemist dr. Jan van Maarseveen of the Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences an ECHO project grant of 260,000 euros. Van Maarseveen will use the grant for the study of so-called lasso peptides.

E-MRS Young Scientist Award for Saba Saeed

Saba Saeed, a PhD student in the Optoelectronic Materials group of the Institute of Physics, received the Young Scientist Award during the 2012 spring meeting of the European Materials Research Society.

VU and UvA give impetus to cooperation

The Executive Boards of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the VU University Amsterdam (VU) are going to further develop cooperation between the two universities. On 16 May 2012, both Boards signed a declaration of intent to this end.

University profile and performance agreements

On 9 December 2011, the Ministry for Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) drew up a general agreement. This accord identified the areas in which performance agreements for Dutch universities will be made for the period 2012 to 2015.

Universitas 21 Ranking: Dutch universities in top 10

Universitas 21, an international network of research universities including the University of Amsterdam, has presented a new ranking for international higher education. The Netherlands has secured ninth place in the Universitas 21 Ranking.

Three UvA professors appointed members of KNAW

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has appointed three professors from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) as members of the Academy. These UvA professors are Carsten de Dreu, André Nollkaemper and Eric Opdam.

UvA researchers show abrupt climatological effects of a solar minimum

In a recent publication in 'Nature Geoscience', a team of researchers including Bas van Geel of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) show new evidence pointing to an important role of the variable Sun in regulating climate change.

Amsterdam Science & Innovation Award 2012 finalists announced

Last week, a jury chaired by Prof. (Louise) Fresco came together to determine the finalists for the Amsterdam Science & Innovation Award 2012. A record number of innovative and applicable ideas were sent in this year. The jury has decided to select six finalists.

Hubble photographs spectacular star-forming region in the Tarantula Nebula

A spectacular photograph of the turbulent star-forming hotspot called 30 Doradus in the heart of the Tarantula Nebula was released on 24 April 2012 to mark the 22nd anniversary of NASA/ESA’s space telescope Hubble. The photograph was taken by a team of international astronomers, among them Alex de Koter and Hugues Sana at the University of Amsterdam.

Simultaneous imaging and photodynamic therapy of cancer

UvA scientists have developed a multifunctional nanoplatform for photodynamic therapy of cancer that can be activated by absorption of near-infrared light.

Professor Gary Shiu appointed to Van der Waals chair

Theoretical physicist prof. Gary Shiu of the University of Wisconsin will be appointed professor by special appointment to the ‘Johannes Diderik van der Waals’ chair. Shiu has many important contributions to his name, in particular regarding the phenomenology of string theory.

Physicists observe the splitting of an electron

An electron has been observed to decay into two separate particles, each carrying a particular property of the electron. This result is reported in a paper published in Nature by an international team of researchers including theoretical physicist prof.dr. J.-S. Caux from the UvA.

CO2 is messing with coral skeletons

For her master research project, Lotte Huisman (graduate Limnology and Oceanography, Section Computational Science, IvI), was part of an international scientific team that carried out the world’s first analysis of the impact of ocean acidification on every gene in the coral genome.

UvA Library’s EndNote license expires: switch to RefWorks

Do you use EndNote bibliographic software to manage your citations? As of July, EndNote will no longer be available at the UvA. However, there is an excellent alternative: RefWorks.

New Faculty of Science Director of Operations appointed

Maaike Lürsen has been appointed the new director of operations at the Faculty of Science effective 1 March 2012.