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Quota-based publishing agreements: 2026 caps expected to be reached for Springer, Taylor & Francis, Oxford University Press, LWW and Emerald

Once they leave our bodies, medicines enter the sewer system and eventually end up in rivers and other surface waters. This is harmful to aquatic life. As part of a major European project, Eelko Hak and his colleagues from the Department of Pharmacy work to reduce and remove pharmaceutical residues.

The Ubbo Emmius Foundation (UEF) is pleased to announce the next edition of M20 PhD grants, taking place in 2027. The M20 PhD Programme is an initiative of the UEF in collaboration with the University of Groningen Schools for Science and Society aiming to provide opportunities for young researchers to make their way into academia.

Organic chemist Michael Lerch is fascinated by ‘engineering solutions’ that can be found in nature. He is working on smart materials, and wants to make robots that move more smoothly by using smart materials that can act as a chemistry-based operating system.

The Young Academy Groningen is welcoming seven members. During their five-year membership, they will collaborate with our current members in projects focusing on science policy, interdisciplinarity, public engagement, and diversity and inclusion. The seven researchers will be installed officially as members of the YAG on Wednesday, 16 September 2026. You are very welcome to join us for the festive ceremony.

The UG awarded several prizes to outstanding researchers and students during the Ceremony of Merits on 3 July 2026. The Nicolaas Mulerius Fund Thesis Prize was awarded to Sanne Smith-Apeldoorn (UMCG). Jonas Bornemann (Faculty of Law) received the Gratama Science Award. In addition, the best student of each faculty was presented with a GUF-100 prize worth €2,500, intended for study or research purposes.

Researchers at the University of Groningen have shown that the difficult-to-predict behaviour of 3D-printed metamaterial structures is not due to structural defects, as was commonly believed, but that the material simply needs to be properly characterized to obtain accurate models.

Ninah Tiemersma has been named the University of Groningen’s Alumnus of the Year 2026. Tiemersma, a teacher in classical languages, receives the award for the exceptional way in which she approaches her profession, employing her own unique pedagogical approach. ‘In everything she does, the central theme is that stories and literature can become meaningful at existential moments,’ the jury stated in their report.

Even in extreme circumstances, the green sulfur bacterium can still convert light into energy – and that could be a source of inspiration for a new generation of solar cells. Physicist Thomas La Cour Jansen of the University of Groningen studies how the structure of this unique bacterium allows it to harvest energy from light so efficiently.

The number of people with obesity in the Netherlands is rising. The government and many health organisations view this as a major problem: it affects people’s quality of life and costs society a great deal of money. It’s high time we did something about it, because with weight-loss medications like Ozempic, we can all choose to be a healthy weight, can’t we? Arie Dijkstra, Professor of Applied Psychology at the University of Groningen, disagrees: obesity is not a choice.