Professor Caputi and Professor Hoekstra receive Vici grant

Prof. Karina Caputi of the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute and Prof. Steven Hoekstra of the Van Swinderen Institute for Particle Physics and Gravity have received a Vici grant of EUR 1.5 million from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). This allows them to develop and build up an innovative line of research for a period of five years.

Karina Caputi | 'The First Steps of Galaxies'

For many years astronomers have studied galaxies, but their formation and growth after the Big Bang remain largely unknown. This Project will investigate the first steps of galaxy evolution as it has never been possible before, with the largest space telescope ever built: the James Webb Space Telescope.

Steven Hoekstra | 'Searching for missing antimatter with trapped molecules'

By performing a precision measurement on a cloud of molecules, captured and held by electric fields, we can test the Standard Model of particle physics. This is needed because it fails to explain how we (and all the matter around us) have emerged from the Big Bang.

Read this recent article: Trapping molecules to find new physics

About Vici

Vici is one of the largest personal academic grants awarded in the Netherlands and is aimed at experienced researchers who are free to put their own research projects forward for funding. Alongside the Veni and Vidi grants, the Vici grant is part of the NWO Talent Programme (formerly known as the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme). Vici grants are intended for highly experienced researchers who have successfully proved that they are able to develop their own innovative lines of research, and who also act as coaches for younger researchers.