Vidi grant for Dr Klein, Dr Martynchuk and Dr Quax

Dr Johannes Klein (Stratingh Institute), Dr Nikolay Martynchuk (Bernoulli Institute) and Dr Tessa Quax (GBB) have received a Vidi grant from the Dutch Research Council (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NWO). With the Vidi grant, worth EUR 800,000, they can develop their own innovative line of research and expand their research group in the coming five years.

Dr Johannes Klein (Stratingh Institute for Chemistry) | Gold and oxygen: Turning foes into friends
This project investigates the troubled relationship between the elements gold and oxygen and how this relationship can be remedied to develop new tools for the modification of organic compounds. These new tools will use two gold atoms to create new catalysts and use light to activate them. In these catalysts the two gold centers will communicate with each other to jointly convince oxygen-based ligands to participate in new reactions.

Dr Nikolay Martynchuk (Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence) | Finding monodromy in perturbations of classical and quantum integrable systems
Various systems in physics, chemistry, and mechanics are perturbations of integrable models. Geometrically this means that the system exhibits approximately regular dynamics, while its quantum properties can locally be modelled on a lattice. The project of Martynchuk focuses on the following question: which part of the geometry of an integrable model is stable under small perturbations and can therefore be found also in the original system? This question will primarily be investigated in the context of the so-called ‘quantum monodromy’ phenomenon and its generalizations, which are very frequently observed in concrete examples of integrable models.

Dr Tessa Quax (Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, GBB) | How viruses change the function of archaeal cells
Archaea are the most recently discovered domain of life. These micro-organisms thrive in many environments, from hydrothermal vents to our gut. Viruses infect archaea. During infection, viruses change the behavior of micro-organisms, for example by altering the cell surface. This results in increased attachment to materials or an escape from the human immune system. These changes are hardly mapped for archaeal viruses. This project will unravel the underlying mechanisms, stimulating the development of methods to characterize and manipulate the virus-induced changes in archaea. It will thus contribute to application of archaea in bioenergy-production and restoring the balance in our gut.

NWO Talent programme
Vidi is aimed at experienced researchers who have carried out successful research for a number of years after obtaining a PhD. Together with Veni and Vici, Vidi is part of the NWO Talent Scheme. Researchers in the NWO Talent Scheme are free to submit their own subject for funding. NWO thus encourages curiosity-driven, innovative research.