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Amina Helmi, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Groningen, has been awarded the prestigious 2026 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics. Helmi will receive the prize alongside Vasily Belokurov (University of Cambridge) and Rodrigo Ibata (Université de Strasbourg). The international award is being presented for ‘uncovering fossil evidence of past mergers that demonstrate the Milky Way was formed through mergers with other galaxies.’

On Tuesday 9 June, the Ben Feringa Impact Award 2026 was presented. The 6th edition of the annual award ceremony took place at Forum Groningen. Sasha Ivashchenko won the award in the researcher category and Thijs van der Laan was presented with the prize in the student category.

The 2026 Heineken Young Scientists Award for Natural Sciences has been awarded to Dr. Ayushi Rastogi of the University of Groningen. Rastogi receives the prize for her research on ways to develop reliable and future-proof software, thereby making the digital sector more accessible to a broader group of people. She focuses on the human side of software development by investigating how developers collaborate and deploy AI.

How can wildlife, people, and livestock thrive in the iconic ecosystems of East-Africa? This question is at the core of CoCoST, an international research programme co-funded by the Ubbo Emmius Foundation. Researcher Yuhong Li focused on how livestock and wildlife can coexist, while Michael Kimaro studied the effectiveness of a fence that protects crops from elephants. They both are defending their PhD theses at the RUG on 9 June.

The University of Groningen (UG) aims to reduce its dependence on large commercial tech companies in the coming years. To this end, the Board of the University has approved a programme running until 2030.

Francesco Maresca leads a €400,000 EUR NWO work package in META-SMA, advancing shape memory metamaterials for defence and civil applications.

Prof. Vassilis Kyriakou and Prof. Edwin Otten of the Faculty of Science and Engineering receive 1.03 mln EUR to develop innovative technologies for sustainable production routes of ammonia and other nitrogen-based chemicals. They are partner in the new research project HyNITROGEN that brings together more than 40 clean-tech companies, universities and research institutes.

ForensifAI has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with the University of Groningen, marking an important milestone in the commercialization of its AI-based image authenticity verification technology.

UCG students present at Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam

Every year, the University of Groningen presents the Ben Feringa Impact Award to UG researchers and students who have made outstanding achievements in the field of knowledge utilization, i.e. who have connected their research to the professional (non-academic) world and/or societal (including economic) practice.