Vlieland 2026 – Conference Recap

29 June 2026

Between Sunday, 7 June, and Tuesday, 9 June, the biennial scientific meeting of the research staff of the Zernike Institute NRC took place on the beautiful island of Vlieland. The Zernike Institute NRC was a national research centre under the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science from 1998 to 2021. It was the advanced materials research program of the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry and the Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute. A programme built over 56 years—and one that continues to look towards many more.

During the three-day event, the full breadth of materials science was represented, primarily by junior researchers, including PhD students and postdocs. This year’s keynote lecture was delivered by Assistant Professor Christopher Künneth from the University of Bayreuth, Germany, on “(Generative) Polymer Informatics Accelerates and Improves Polymer Science.”

The meeting provided an excellent opportunity to engage with experts outside one’s own field in an informal setting: a true kaleidoscope of materials science from the Stratingh, GBB, and Zernike Institutes. With 180 participants, it was a lively event and an excellent continuation of a tradition established in 1970.

In addition to scientific talks, 45-second flash presentations, and poster sessions, the programme also included plenty of opportunities for informal interaction and fun: early-morning running, martial arts, and beach walks, as well as late-evening pub quizzes and dancing.

Flash Presentation Prize

The juries selected the best three flash presentations, as well as the winners of the Bert de Boer Poster Prize and the Bart van Wees Presentation Prize. The laureates for the best flash presentations were Julia Kraft (Protesescu Lab), Fleur Veen (Hoekstra Lab), and Ayush Gupta (Banerjee Lab). Their prize was an invitation to join the Zernike Institute director, Professor Moniek Tromp, for dinner.

Bert de Boer Poster Prize

The “Bert de Boer Poster Prize”, awarded for the best poster presentation, comes with a €1,500 award to support attendance at a scientific conference. This year’s prize was awarded to Angeliki Nikolaou, a PhD researcher in the lab of Caspar van der Wal.

The jury stated:

“The jury of the Bert de Boer Poster Prize was impressed by the many very good posters, and once more by the interactive setting in front of all posters during each poster session. For the prize, the jury selected the contribution by Angeliki Nikolaou, who gave an excellent and clear presentation of her poster on a complex topic - a promising platform for future quantum communication and quantum networking applications. The poster titele was: Optimizing a Gold Fabry-Pérot System for Electrical Control of Spins in Silicon Carbide.”

Bart van Wees Presentation Prize

The “Bart van Wees Presentation Prize” was established this year in honour of the tenth anniversary of the Spinoza Prize awarded to van Wees in 2016. The award also comes with a €1,500 prize to support attendance at a scientific conference.

The jury was impressed by the high level of all the oral presentations and selected the contribution by Gustavo Chavez Ponce de Leon. His presentation was entitled “Switching Places: Unexpected Anisotropic Mn-Sb Anti-site Distribution in Magnetic Topological Insulator MnSb₂Te₄.”

The jury praised the clear explanation of this challenging topic to a diverse audience. It also appreciated the intuitive illustrations showing the switching of atomic sites and its effect on the material properties. Despite the challenging scientific content, the presentation was delivered in a clear and accessible manner.

Wouter Roos Dancing Award

Continuing the somewhat younger tradition, we also awarded the Wouter Roos Dancing Award. This year, Sytze Tyrion (postdoc, van Wees lab) was recognised as the most active dancer, while Yiulia Kreminska (postdoc, van Wees lab) received the award for best dancer.

Career Corner and PI Meeting

A new element of this year’s Vlieland meeting was the Career Corner, where staff members offered a space for PhD students and postdocs to discuss future career opportunities and orientation. The sessions were very well attended and generated a kaleidoscope of questions and discussions. We will certainly continue this activity at future events.

Another new element was a PI meeting, held after dinner and before the pub quiz. The meeting was well attended and provided an opportunity to address important strategic issues that we will focus on in the coming weeks. These included both internal organisational matters and forward-looking discussions, particularly concerning grant schemes. The island atmosphere clearly helped spark many good ideas.