News overview 2020

Organic self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are very versatile, but also chemically unstable. Exposure of these monolayers to air will lead to oxidation and breakdown within a single day. University of Groningen scientists have now created SAMs using buckyballs functionalized with ‘tails’ of ethylene glycol which remain chemically unchanged for several weeks when exposed to air.

Science LinX zal samen met 10 basisscholen in de gemeente Westerkwartier een meetnetwerk opzetten voor het meten van fijnstof in de lucht.

Scientists at the University of Groningen and the University Medical Center Groningen used molecular motors to manipulate the protein matrix on which bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells are grown.

RUG-onderzoekers Davide Grosse, Jacolien van Rij en Lambert Schomaker legden het uit aan de hand van recente ontwikkelingen in de Kunstmatige Intelligentie.

University of Groningen physicists have visualized hydrogen at the titanium/titanium hydride interface using a transmission electron microscope. Using a new technique, they succeeded in visualizing both the metal and the hydrogen atoms in a single image.

Science LinX newsletter for February 2020

Science LinX newsletter for March 2020

Scientists at the University of Groningen created a plasmon-exciton hybrid device that is promising for use in integrated nanophotonics (light-based electronics) at room temperature.

Scientists at the University of Groningen turned a non-enzymatic protein into a new, artificial enzyme by adding two abiological catalytic components. This is the first time that an enzyme has been created using two non-biological components to create an active site.

By creating neatly spaced slits in a clay mineral, University of Groningen Professor of Experimental Solid State Physics Petra Rudolf was able to filter water to remove a toxic herbicide.

On 14 February, researchers from the UG and the Czech Academy of Sciences, in association with the Municipality of Westerkwartier, laid a Piezo tile connected to a prototype of a new low-energy computer close to Zuidhorn railway station.

The structure of a transport complex used by bacteria to import aspartate has been mapped in unique detail by University of Groningen scientists. The results reveal that the transporter works very efficiently, which is interesting as a similar transporter is vital for signal transduction between human brain cells.

Actin filaments have several important functions inside cells. For one, they support the cell membrane by binding to it. Simulations performed at the University of Groningen, supported by experiments, provide a molecular view on this very fundamental process.

Op de Huishoudbeurs 2020 stonden drie containers van Expeditie NEXT-On Tour in het midden van één van de hoofdhallen vol in het zicht. In de containers worden korte experimenten en mini-colleges aangeboden, onder meer door Science LinX.

The spread of antibiotic resistance is partly due to the ability of bacteria to pick up DNA from their surroundings. A new study, which started at the University of Groningen, showed that drugs blocking this ability (which is called ‘competence’) in the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae can indeed stop the spread of resistance in mice.

University of Groningen microbiologists discovered that Lactococcus lactis cells growing in a clonal population can differ in the uptake system they use. Furthermore, the choice for either system is maintained over many generations. It is the first time that such stable heterogeneity is observed in an amino acid uptake pathway.

Het Kasteel te Groningen vormde donderdag 5 maart het decor voor de inmiddels traditionele wedstrijd in de wetenschapscommunicatie, FameLab. Elf onderzoekers stonden te popelen om hun wetenschappelijk onderzoek uit te leggen in een drie-minuten-presentatie zonder PowerPoint.

An overview of measures taken by Science LinX to prevent the spread of the corona virus

Ajay Kottapalli is a scientist who turns to nature for inspiration to build new sensors. Two years ago, hejoined the University of Groningen as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the ENgineering and TEchnology institute Groningen (ENTEG).

Researchers of the University of Groningen and the Max Planck Institute have found that starlings sleep five hours less per night during the summer. Compared to winter, the birds take more mid-day naps and live under higher sleep pressure. During full-moon nights, starlings sleep around two hours less than usual.

A transport protein that is used by the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis to import vitamin B12 contains a huge water-filled cavity, in which hydrophilic substances are transported across the cell membrane. This discovery, which changes our understanding of bacterial physiology, was made by imaging the transport protein using cryo-electron microscopy.

Homecoming-cam at Zernike Campus

Science LinX newsletter for April 2020

University of Groningen scientists observed the characteristics of a single enzyme inside a nanopore. This revealed that the enzyme can exist in four different folded states, or conformers, that play an active role in the reaction mechanism. These results will have consequences for enzyme engineering and the development of inhibitors.

Lead-based perovskites are very promising materials for the production of solar panels. They efficiently turn light into electricity but they also present some major drawbacks: the most efficient materials are not very stable, while lead is a toxic element. University of Groningen scientists are studying alternatives to lead-based perovskites.

Katja Loos, Professor of Polymer Chemistry at the University of Groningen, is conducting science while industry representatives are looking over her shoulder. Loos does not consider this scary. On the contrary, it inspires her and her colleagues from six other Dutch universities.

A promising method for delivery of DNA for gene therapy genes involves the use of DNA/lipid complexes (lipoplexes). Scientists at the University of Groningen have now used advanced simulations to investigate how these lipoplexes deliver DNA fragments into cells. The results can be used to improve their efficiency.

To find out more about birds such as the black-tailed godwit, ecologists have been conducting long-term population studies using standardized information on reproductive behaviour—such as dates of egg laying or hatching. New information gathered using geolocators on godwits in the Netherlands shows that traditional observation methods can lead to inaccurate data.

Normaal is de Bernoulliborg op de Zernike Campus het kloppend hart van de Bèta Battle finale, nu vond die door de omstandigheden online plaats. Vijf scholen hebben de finaleronde gespeeld. Eindwinnaar is het Rudolph Pabus Cleveringa Lyceum uit Appingedam

Two students from the University of Groningen traveled to Cambodia with the 'Your Future Energy' solar cell practical to make thousands of secondary school students enthusiastic about clean energy.

Technicians from the Kapteyn Institute of Astronomy have been asked to build another 66 detectors for the ALMA radio telescope in Chile, together with partners in Sweden and Italy.

Dit voorjaar testen leerlingen van 3 en 4 vwo van het Leeuwarder Lyceum en de Lindenborg de lesmodule Voedselweb structuren in een agrarisch landschap die ontwikkeld is vanuit het Europese project over duurzame landschappen SUSTAIN.

Science LinX newsletter for April 2020

Scientists from the University of Groningen have developed a method that combines different resolution levels in a computer simulation of biological membranes. Their algorithm backmaps a large-scale model that includes features, such as membrane curvature, to its corresponding coarse-grained molecular model. This has allowed them to zoom in on toxin-induced membrane budding and to simulate a full-sized mitochondrial lipid membrane. Their approach, which was published in the journal Nature Communications on 8 May, opens the way to whole-cell simulations at a molecular level.

Photosynthetic systems in nature transport energy very efficiently towards a reaction centre, where it is converted into a useful form for the organism. Inspired by Nature, Physicist Richard Hildner from the University of Groningen and his colleagues have investigated energy transport in an artificial system made from nanofibres.

Some light-emitting diodes (LEDs) created from perovskite, a class of optoelectronic materials, emit light over a broad wavelength range. Scientists from the University of Groningen have now shown that in some cases, the explanation of why this happens is incorrect.

During the lockdown scientists cannot visit the university. How do they manage to keep on working? Aditya Iyer (33) shares his story with us.

Science LinX newsletter for june 2020

Some metal oxides, such as nickelates, have a tuneable resistivity, which makes them an interesting material for adaptable electronics and cognitive computing. Scientists from the University of Groningen have studied how these materials can change their nature from metallic to insulating.

We know how important bacteria and fungi are for the health of plants. In marine environments and in our own gut, bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) are important in regulating the microbiome. Yet, their effect on bacteria living around the roots of plants has hardly been studied

During the lockdown scientists cannot visit the university. How do they manage to keep on working? Melanie König (29) shares her experiences with us.

A summer internship in Bilbao, Spain, has led to a paper in the prestigious journal Physical Review Letters for Jack Mayo, a Master’s student in Nanoscience at the University of Groningen. He has helped to create a universal model that can predict the number distribution of topological defects in non-equilibrium systems.

On 21 June, the longest day of the year, the online kick-off of the ‘De Donkerte van het Waddengebied’ (the darkness of the Wadden area) programme took place. The programme aims to allow residents, recreational users and tourists to experience the darkness of the Wadden area.

Dit voorjaar zijn 3 en 4 vwo leerlingen van het Leeuwarder Lyceum en De Lindenborg aan de slag geweest met de lesmodule “voedselweb structuren in een agrarisch landschap”. Wegens de Coro-na maatregelen, hebben ze een online variant van de lesmodule gevolgd.

Science LinX newsletter for summer 2020

Chemists from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, together with colleagues at the University of Milan (Italy) have created a soft porous aromatic framework containing light-sensitive molecular switches.

During the lockdown scientists cannot visit the university. How do they manage to keep on working? PhD student Chris van Ewijk shares his experiences.

Conducting protein-based material could be used in fuel cells, batteries or act as sensor.

A group of theoretical physicists, including two physicists from the University of Groningen, have proposed a ‘table-top’ device that could measure gravity waves. Their design could also answer one of the biggest questions in physics: is gravity a quantum phenomenon?

Hoe zou je wereld eruitzien als jij een pissebed bent, of een vlinder? Dat hebben nieuwsgierige kinderen woensdag 12 augustus ontdekt tijdens de OntdekDag op het Suikerterrein.

Ecologist Britas Klemens Eriksson from the University of Groningen and his colleagues from Stockholm University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden have now shown that stickleback domination moves like a wave through the island archipelagos, changing the ecosystem from predator-dominated to algae-dominated.

During the summer, scientific journals continued to publish papers. In this overview we highlight a number of summer papers from FSE staff.

Science LinX newsletter for September 2020

In China, approximately 10 billion online food orders were served to over 400 million customers in 2018. Together with colleagues from China and the UK, Yuli Shan, an environmental scientist at the University of Groningen, found that reusable tableware can substantially reduce packaging waste and life cycle environmental emissions.

A team of physicists and biophysicists from the University of Groningen discovered that individual light-harvesting nanotubes with disordered molecular structures still transport light energy in the same way. By combining spectroscopy, molecular dynamics simulations and theoretical physics, they discovered how disorder at the molecular level is effectively averaged out at the microscopic scale.

Science LinX heeft in samenwerking met docenten van het Leeuwarder Lyceum en Lindenborg en de Provincie Friesland de lesmodule 'Voedselwebstructuren in agrarische landschappen' ontwikkeld, over verlies van biodiversiteit in agrarische landschappen door intensief landbouwgebruik. De module is nu beschikbaar voor scholen.

Op 26 en 27 september was er in het Klokgebouw in Eindhoven weer een Maker Faire. Ook Science LinX was van de partij, met de bouw-opstelling GEN.ERATE.

Science LinX gaat met scholieren en andere geïnteresseerden onderzoeken hoe spinnen zich aanpassen aan het leven in de stad.

Science LinX newsletter for October 2020

Bacteria in the small intestine can deaminate levodopa, the main drug that is used to treat Parkinson’s disease. Bacterial processing of the unabsorbed fractions of the drug results in a metabolite that reduces gut motility.

When going in circles helps you stay put: how spin-orbit coupling leads to stable spins in color centers in materials

Chemists at the University of Groningen designed a rotary molecular motor that is efficiently powered by near-infrared light, through adding an antenna to the motor molecule. The design and functionality were presented in the journal Science Advances on 28 October.

Science LinX newsletter for November 2020

Science LinX newsletter for December 2020

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus RNA genome structure was studied in detail by researchers from the University of Groningen, the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, and Leiden University. The RNA structures are potential targets for the development of drugs against the virus.

Thermoelectric materials can turn a temperature difference into electricity. Organic thermoelectric materials could be used to power wearable electronics or sensors; however, the power output is still very low. An international team led by Jan Anton Koster, Professor of Semiconductor Physics at the University of Groningen, has now produced an n-type organic semiconductor with superior properties that brings these applications a big step closer.

A high concentration of salt or sugar in the environment will dehydrate microorganisms and stop them from growing.  Scientists from the University of Groningen elucidated the structure of a transport protein OpuA, that imports glycine betaine to counter this.

Scientists are working on new materials to create neuromorphic computers, with a design based on the human brain. Materials scientists from the University of Groningen analysed the behaviour of strontium titanium oxide, a platform material for this type of application, and used the 2D material graphene to probe it

Theoretical studies of the dynamics of photoinduced processes require numerous electronic structure calculations, which are computationally expensive. Scientists from the University of Groningen developed machine learning-based algorithms, which reduce these computations significantly.

Is gravity a quantum phenomenon? Together with colleagues from the UK, Anupam Mazumdar, a physicist from the University of Groningen, proposed an experiment that could settle the issue. In a new paper, which has a third-year Bachelor’s student as the first author, Mazumdar presents a way to reduce background noise to make this experiment more manageable.

Science LinX newsletter for Christmas 2020

The observation of nonlinearity in electron spin-related processes in graphene makes it easier to transport, manipulate and detect spins, as well as spin-to-charge conversion.This brings spintronics to the point where regular electronics was after the introduction of the first transistors.