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Minnaard's team will convert renewable raw materials such as sugars and fatty acids into industrial semi-finished products using hydrogen.

Ice rain is forecast for Friday 23 January. A weather code orange has been issued for this. Public transport is currently running as scheduled. We therefore see no reason to cancel exams.

For decades, traffic psychologist Dick de Waard has been studying how people act in traffic. He studies everything thoroughly: from texting cyclists and drunk students to speed differences and e-bikes. Moreover, his advanced bicycle simulator allows him to safely replicate even the most high-risk situations.

In the search for extraterrestrial life, we generally look at planets that are more or less similar to Earth. Astrophysicists Inga Kamp and Floris van der Tak explain how the international LIFE-mission will search for life in new ways, and that planets that appear similar, might actually be composed of entirely different molecules.

Digital inclusion is rarely a free choice for adults with limited basic skills. This can present difficulties for disadvantaged citizens. On the other hand, such people exercise a great deal of resilience to stay afloat. These are the conclusions of Alex Smit’s doctoral research.

Two promising PhD graduates from the University of Groningen will be able to conduct research at top institutes abroad for two years thanks to the Rubicon programme organized by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The NWO Rubicon programme enables talented, young researchers to acquire international research experience to help kick-start their academic careers.

University of Groningen researchers Jacqueline Stefels and Maria van Leeuwe are joining an expedition to Antarctica on the icebreaker Polarstern. They investigate the influence of sea ice and algae on the regional climate in Antarctica. This contributes to the protection of the Weddell Sea.

Mechanical engineer Francesco Maresca and his team from the University of Groningen have worked out how memory metals change shape at the atomic level. ‘Based on our model, better shape memory crystalline materials could be designed for applications that require reversible deformations, vibration damping, or impact absorption.’

Professor by special appointment at the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences Lonneke Lenferink joins The Young Academy (De Jonge Akademie, DJA) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, KNAW).