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Remote, close-knit communities in ecologically unique environments are some of the defining characteristics of many islands. This makes them particularly well-suited for research. The Islands & Sustainability Lab at the University of Groningen is an interdisciplinary knowledge network that conducts research and shares knowledge about islands across faculty and national borders.

The XR Hub on 21 May 2026 will focus on the use of VR in aphasia: how VR can help people with aphasia to participate in everyday life again, the use of VR to ensure safe handling of radioactivity in laboratories, and a VR game that enables dental students to practise dealing with acute medical situations.

In the spring issue of RUG magazine Broerstraat 5, you’ll find: Allette Smeulers on war criminals and perpetrators of genocide | Birds in early spring | The fruit fly’s spring fever | Groningen: Hip-Hop Capital | The self-sufficient plant | The GenAI bubble, and much more.

In this VR game, you control an owl with head movements: just tilt your head forward and the owl makes a nosedive. Meanwhile, you’re actually doing neck exercises. Elisabeth Wilhelm and her PhD-student Luís Felipe García Arias developed this game together with Marina de Koning-Tijssen, a neurologist at the University Medical Center Groningen. The game was developed for patients who experience abnormal movements and postures of the neck due to a neurological disorder called cervical dystonia.

Vaccination, bicycle helmets, tobacco, alcohol, healthy eating, abortion, preconception care and an open-door policy in care homes: all hot issues in the Netherlands where the balance between health and freedom comes into play. Professor of Health Law Brigit Toebes has written a book on the subject: 'Dat bepaal ik zelf wel - reflecties op gezondheid, vrijheid en recht', that will be published by Boom on 1 April.

Francesco Picchioni is the new guest in our In Science Podcast and talks about the development of new technologies for recycling rubber and plastics.

CERN has been selected to host a new phase of Open Research Europe (ORE), supported by a new funding consortium of European national funding agencies and research organizations, among which NWO. With NWO joining ORE, this will mean that the platform will be available as a publication channel for researchers affiliated with a Dutch research organisation, regardless of whether they have an NWO grant or not.

Research from the KNMI in collaboration with the University of Groningen shows that, after more than 25 years of decline, the ice mass in Antarctica has been increasing again since 2020. The cause: an increase in snowfall, mainly due to ‘atmospheric rivers’ transporting extra moist air to the ice sheet.

Seals rely on their highly sensitive whiskers to detect tiny water movements left behind by swimming fish. New research by University of Groningen scientists shows that active whisking improves sensing, helping seals accurately follow underwater trails.