News & updates
Latest developments from our institute
Stay informed about new research results, awards, events, and collaborations across our scientific community.
Huib Bakker re-installed
AMOLF director Huib Bakker has been re-installed by the NWO-I Foundation Board for a period of five years.
Cum laude for Federica Burla
On Friday, June 19th Federica Burla defended her PhD thesis Tailoring Extracellular Matrix Mechanics online at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Burla obtained the cum laude degree for her doctorate research. This degree is reserved for the top 5% of the students. Gijsje Koenderink was the promotor. Until recently, Burla was a PhD student in the AMOLF research group of Gijsje Koenderink who left AMOLF to become full professor at TU Delft.
Rubicon grant for Hugo Doeleman
Former PhD student Hugo Doeleman has received a Rubicon grant from NWO to carry out his research proposal at ETH Zurich. At AMOLF Doeleman was a group member of the Resonant Nanophotonics group led by Femius Koenderink. His doctoral research was done in close collaboration with Ewold Verhagen (AMOLF) and Robert Spreeuw (UvA). Doeleman left AMOLF after defending his thesis ‘Hybrid Resonators for Light Trapping and Emission Control’, for which he obtained a cum laude degree.
Bela Mulder appointed at Utrecht University
As of 1 January, Bela Mulder (Theory of Biomolecular Matter) has been appointed Professor by Special Appointment in Theoretical Biophysics at Utrecht University.
AMOLF 70th year anniversary
This year September 15th is a special day for AMOLF. On this day exactly 70 years ago the Netherlands established AMOLF as a new research institute. At the time the task of the institute, which was called FOM Laboratory for Mass Spectrography, focused on finding out how to separate uranium isotopes. The research concentrated on the construction of a large electromagnetic isotope separator. The first sample (10 mg) of enriched 235U was made in 1953. In 1955 as a result of the Dutch developments, the American Congress decided to ‘declassify’ electromagnetic uranium separation technology.
Under our skin: how hyaluronan regulates the stiffness of tissue
Our skin can switch from being soft to stiff if necessary. Other tissues, such as muscle tissue and cartilage, can likewise change their stiffness in a way that is tailored to their function in the body. Scientists from AMOLF and Wageningen University recently discovered that these stiffness changes are regulated by a crucial biomolecule known as hyaluronan. The researchers published their findings on 25 February in the prestigious journal Nature Physics.
AMOLF pleased and proud about results portfolio evaluation
AMOLF is very pleased about the conclusions of the committee that evaluated all NWO and KNAW institutes in the past months on their national role and added value to the Dutch scientific landscape. The committee chaired by Prof. Daan Frenkel (Cambridge University) concluded that AMOLF clearly has added value to the Netherlands.
SEP committee refers to ‘the magic of AMOLF’
Every six years the NWO institutes are evaluated by a panel of independent experts according to the so-called Standard Evaluation Protocol (SEP). An international committee chaired by Søren Keiding (Aarhus University, Denmark) came to Amsterdam in October and gave AMOLF the highest score of ‘excellent/world leading’ for all three assessment criteria (scientific quality, societal relevance and viability). AMOLF director Huib Bakker: “The visit was very inspiring and we are proud of getting the highest score for all three criteria. The committee was especially interested in our research model and described AMOLF as “a jewel for fundamental research in the Netherlands.”