News & updates
Latest developments from our institute
Stay informed about new research results, awards, events, and collaborations across our scientific community.
These structures shrink when pulled
Discovery unlocks new exotic properties for soft robotics, smart devices, and more. When you pull something—like a rubber band—you expect it to get longer. But what if it did the…
Max Kerr Winter receives Ammodo Fellowship for fungi research project
On April 3rd, the Ammodo foundation announced that AMOLF/VU researcher Max Kerr Winter is one of the five recipients of the Ammodo Fellowship. The Ammodo Foundation stimulates the development of art, science and architecture. With this new fellowship they want to enable early-career researchers to expand their international networks and to carve out a clear vision for their future academic career. Each fellow receives between 100.000 and 200.000 euros. As an AMOLF/VU postdoctoral researcher, Max will work on getting a better understanding of fungal behavior.
Bruno Ehrler Receives 2025 Energy Lectureship Award at ACS Spring Conference in San Diego
We’re very proud to share that AMOLF Group Leader Bruno Ehrler received the 2025 Energy Lectureship Award at the ACS Spring 2025 conference in San Diego!
AMOLF PhD student Tom Aarts: Faces of Science representative
Today, the KNAW presented the new Faces of Science, and AMOLF researcher Tom Aarts (Physics of Cellular Interactions) is one of them.
Said Rodriguez new Professor of Emergence and information in light
We are honored to announce that AMOLF group leader Said Rodriguez has been appointed Professor of ‘Emergence and information in light’ as of 1 April 2025. His Chair by special appointment is embedded in the Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science of the University of Utrecht.
Postdoc Fanny Thorimbert wins prize for PhD thesis
AMOLF postdoc Fanny Thorimbert (Nanoscale Solar Cells) received the prize for best PhD thesis from the French C’Nano, which is a national competency cluster in Nanoscience that is part of the CNRS research organization. The announcement was made at the annual C’Nano conference, held in Paris, on the 20th of March.
Moving massive amounts of CO2 underground: research shows how plant-fungal networks drive nutrient flows that support ecosystems
A study published online in Nature on February 26th has revealed how plants and fungi construct networks that operate as hyper-efficient ‘supply chains,’ moving billions of tons of CO2 underground. By building a robot (Aretha), which tracks over half a million fungal ’roadways’ simultaneously, researchers Tom Shimizu (AMOLF/Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Toby Kiers (SPUN/Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Howard Stone (Princeton University) and collaborators succeeded in mapping and tracking these nutrient-exchange networks that help regulate Earth’s ecosystems and carbon cycles. With atmospheric CO2 levels rising, the collected data is becoming increasingly important.
Three months – Three PhD celebrations
In the past three months, three AMOLF PhD students successfully defended their thesis at a Dutch university. Their names are Christiaan van Campenhout, Susan Rigter and Balázs Antalicz.