Browse news

The Netherlands is taking a major step toward energy-efficient computing with a €9 million grant from the NWO Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) Long-Term Programme, awarded to the 10X-Factor(y): Towards a Dutch ecosystem for neuromorphic technologies project. The KIC-LTP programme is aimed to promote the development of a scientific field in the Netherlands that is expected to lead to impactful innovations, with a long-term and sustainable outlook. KIC-LTP projects will build consortia that will jointly develop knowledge and innovation that will lead to impact for the economy, people and society.

Four UG/UMCG projects receive NWO funding to reduce the environmental impact of scientific research and drive more sustainable practices.

Millions of products are still being destroyed every year: customer returns, unsold stock, and items that are cheaper to replace than to repair. Europe is eager to counter such wasteful practices but cannot do so without adequate laws and regulations. Charlotte Pavillon discusses the legal complexities surrounding the circular economy.

Luuk de Boer has been awarded an NWO Veni grant within the NWO Talent Programme. With this grant, he will conduct research into a striking and internationally growing phenomenon: sovereign citizens who reject existing legal systems and develop their own alternative rules and ‘laws’.

In a laboratory in the Linnaeusborg, an American kestrel can be seen ‘hanging’ motionless in front of a wind tunnel from which air is being blown. He appears to be coping effortlessly with the actively generated turbulence he faces. He is nicely coloured, elegant, and relatively small for a bird of prey. Next to him in the flying area are biotechnician (and bird trainer) Josien Janssen and Professor in Biomimetics David Lentink. Lentink’s ambition is to use knowledge about birds’ flight behaviour to improve the flight performance of aeroplanes and drones.

Professor Jakob de Haan has been appointed as Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion. He received the Royal Decoration from Mayor Marco L.J. Out of the municipality of Assen.

On Friday 24 April 2026, Jakob de Haan, Professor of Political Economy at the Faculty of Economics and Business, was awarded a royal decoration. He was appointed Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, taking receipt of the accompanying insignia from the Mayor of the municipality of Assen.

For many people in the Netherlands, the flea market is synonymous with bargain hunting, haggling and unexpected finds. But anyone who truly wants to be sustainable should start with a different question, says consumer researcher Marijke Leliveld: do I actually need this?

Bayu Jayawardhana controls robots with mathematical formulas. He does this, for instance, in the new project FARMLAB, in which various types of agricultural robots work together to monitor crops in real time.