Latest RUG news

Lung doctor Sander de Hosson has been elected Alumnus of the Year 2019 by the University of Groningen. He is receiving the award for the incisive way in which he calls for attention for the emotional side of palliative care and for making death a topic for discussion amongst medical staff, starting during their training.

The 2020 Gratama Science Award has been awarded to Dr Ymkje Anna de Vries of the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences of the University of Groningen. De Vries followed degree programmes in the fields of neuroscience, clinical science and psychosocial sciences at three UG faculties as well as the University of California. Her research takes an innovative approach, linking pharmacological results to adolescent behaviour. She studies depression in young people, and in particular the effectiveness of antidepressants and the consequences of administering them.

The Wierenga-Rengerink Dissertation Prize for the best PhD thesis of the year 2019 has been awarded to Dr Arpi Karapetian. Her 502-page thesis is entitled Bestuurdersaansprakelijkheid uit onrechtmatige daad: Civielrechtelijke en strafrechtelijke normen voor bestuurders van noodlijdende ondernemingen. [Directors’ liability based on tort law: civil law and criminal law norms for directors of ailing companies] During the summer ceremony, Karapetian will receive a prize of € 7,500 to spend on her continued academic development. The prize money was made available by UG alumni via the Ubbo Emmius Fund (UEF).

Health disparities reduced for Groningen residents with multiple cases of earthquake damage

Genetisch onderzoek wijst uit dat er plekken in het DNA zijn die mede bepalen hoe ziek iemand wordt van een coronavirusinfectie. Dat blijkt uit een groot internationaal onderzoek, waaraan ook het onderzoeksproject van het UMCG, de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen en biobank Lifelines aan heeft bijgedragen. De resultaten van het onderzoek zijn vandaag gepubliceerd in het gerenommeerde wetenschappelijke tijdschrift New England Journal of Medicine. “Deze bevindingen kunnen bijdragen aan het ontwikkelen van een medicijn voor COVID-19”, vertelt Lude Franke, hoogleraar Genetica in het UMCG.

While Northerners were frequently stressed at the beginning of April, they began to experience less worry and tension by the end of May. Now, they are sleeping better than they were at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and fewer people are afraid of losing their jobs.

The CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), Professor Patrick Verkooijen, was appointed Chair of the Climate Adaptation Programme at the faculties Campus Fryslânand Spatial Sciences at the University of Groningen on 14 May 2020.Verkooijen will be involved in setting the curriculum for the upcoming Climate Adaptation and Global Governance Masters programme as well as supervising doctorate students. He will also help connect students and researchers to a global network of climate adaptation institutions.

This year, Groningen revolves around dealing with the effects of climate adaptation, culminating in the Climate Adaptation Week from 19 to 25 January 2021.

The Board of the University has appointed Prof. Dr. Petra Rudolf as Dean of Graduate Studies UG. Rudolf, Professor of Experimental Solid State Physics at the Faculty of Science and Engineering, has started in March with the new job. She followed Prof. Dr. Lou de Leij who held the position since 2009.

Prof. Eize Stamhuis of the University of Groningen, together with industrial partners EmpowerMi and RG-projecten, has received a grant of over EUR 1 million from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. The grant is for the modification and testing of a wind turbine according to Stamhuis's Albatrozz principle. This wind turbine, located in the Noordoostpolder, will have blades with partially oscillating ends. The research and testing on an existing commercial-scale wind turbine (850 kW) will take approximately two years. With the special oscillating blades, an efficiency increase of 5 to 25% at low wind speeds is envisaged. This unique technological concept can therefore have a major impact on making energy management more sustainable.