The increasing competition in the automotive industry requires the tailored, swift development of technologically sophisticated vehicles. Therefore, the computationally expensive state-of-the-art simulation technologies are combined with optimization algorithms. An example of a real-world optimization…

All life on earth contains DNA, which is used to store biological information. Organisms compact their DNA in order for it to fit inside their cell(s).

Plant diversity is essential for us and our planet as it sustains the stability of our ecosystems, provides vital materials and food to us and supports many ecosystem services.

Promotor: P.J.J. Hooykaas, Co-Promotor: E.J. van der Zaal

Promotor: S.M. Verduyn Lunel, Co-promotoren: M.F.E. de Jeu, S.D. Silvestrov

This thesis manuscript explores the use of video games as tools for conceptual exploration and academic research.

Acute cardiovascular clinical events such as myocardial infarction and cerebral stroke represent the major cause of death in Western societies. These pathologies are primarily resulting from atherosclerosis, a progressive condition characterized by the accumulation of lipids, immune cells, and fibrous…

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most pressing challenges that humanity faces in the coming decades.

Supervisor: P.J.J. Hooykaas Co-Supervisor: R. Offringa

This thesis examines the link between simple molecules and the underlying structure and chemistry within protoplanetary disks - the birthplaces of planets.

There are many interpretations of quantum mechanics, and ultimately experiments are needed to verify or falsify these interpretations.

An interdisciplinary collection of the best international scholarship on Muslim youth.

This Thesis describes a strategy to synthesize 1,2-cis-oligosaccharides modulated by additives, such as dimethylformamide (DMF), triphenylphosphine oxide (Ph3P=O) and N-methyl(phenyl)formamide (MPF), using building blocks that carry solely benzyl type protecting groups and are therefore of uniform r…

This Thesis focuses on the design and synthesis of ADP-ribosylated compounds that can be applied in biological studies.

In populations with a seed-bank, individuals can temporarily become dormant and refrain from reproduction until they can become active again. The repository of all dormant individuals in the population is called the seed-bank. Seed-banks are observed in many taxa, including plants, bacteria and other…

Op 21 oktober 2021 verdedigde Frederik Behre het proefschrift 'A European Ministry of Finance?'. Het promotieonderzoek is begeleid door promotor prof.dr. S.C.G. Van den Bogaert.

Thermodynamics is one of the founding scientific pillars that has helped us better understand heat engines, biology, ecosystems, and even black holes. While it fundamentally describes large systems by examining the bulk behavior of their constituents, it is anchored in the statistical equivalence of…

Promotor: G.R. de Snoo, Co-promotor: C.J.M. Muster

We developed the bitterling as a unique, well-studied model organism in the area of the evolutionary ecology of brood parasitism. The bitterling-mussel relationship, interspecific mussel host preference, and mussel gill structure are studied in detail, to help understand the developmental adaptation…

A complex community of microbes develops in the infant gut shortly after birth. We call this community the infant gut microbiota. The microbiota influences the health of the infant, which makes the composition and function of the infant gut microbiota an important topic to study.

The work described in this dissertation contributes to a better mechanistic understanding of nanoparticles in vivo. To achieve that goal, we used the zebrafish as a highly predictive pre-screening model of nanoparticles.

Promotor: J.A. Bouwstra Co-promotor: A. El Ghalbzouri

Antibiotic resistance, caused by widespread use of antibiotics, leads to bacterial infections that are difficult, if not impossible, to treat and is a major worldwide health concern.

Taking as a point of departure the Italian American community in Boston and its process of collective remembrance surrounding Saint Anthony’s Feast, we addressing the limits and potential of montage.

Promotor: P.J.J. Hooykaas, Co-Promotores: P.B.F. Ouwerkerk, M. Wang

Nowadays, it is well known that hydrogen and helium (and small traces of lithium and beryllium) were created shortly after the Big Bang, while the heavier elements are created in the cores of stars at different evolutionary stages. When these stars explode as supernovae, they expel metals synthesised…

Promotor: P.D. Grünwald

Epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity (EMP) and tumor cell migration play an important role in cancer progression, and an improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying these concepts is essential for developing new targeted approaches.

Inverse problems are problems where we want to estimate the values of certain parameters of a system given observations of the system. Such problems occur in several areas of science and engineering. Inverse problems are often ill-posed, which means that the observations of the system do not uniquely…

In this work, I explore the creation of new methods that optimize simulations of the gravitational N-body problem. Specifically, I take advantage of the recent popularity of Machine Learning methods to find tools that can suit this problem.

Promotor: Prof.dr. B. van de Water

By growing in a soil plants change the biotic and abiotic properties of the soil in which they grow.

Promotors: Prof.dr. P.J. Punt, Prof.dr. C.A.M.J.J. van den Hondel

In this thesis, the role of plant-mediated soil legacy effects in shaping aboveground plant-insect interactions was investigated.

In this thesis unconventional tools based on fluidic interfaces were developed to study the surface and interfacial chemistry of graphene, to characterize the intrinsic properties of graphene, to disentangle the effects of substrate and of the environmental factors, and to improve handling protocols…

In this thesis it is posed that the central object of preference discovery is a co-creative process in which the Other can be represented by a machine. It explores efficient methods to enhance introverted intuition using extraverted intuition's communication lines.

Promotores: H.A. Udo de Haes, H.H.T. Prins, Co-promotor: H.H. de Iongh

In this thesis I highlight the applications of Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) sequencing. This technique is a relatively new approach in the sequencing field, where nanopores are embedded in a membrane, DNA molecules are pulled through nanopores and an electrical current serving as the sequencing…

This thesis examines enzyme domain architecture and engineering to improve the breakdown of lignocellulose and starch, abundant biopolymers crucial for sustainable biofuel and biochemical production. Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) facilitate this degradation, but the structural complexity of…

Regeneration is the ability of an organism to restore damaged or lost tissue with a functional replacement, and without scarring. Many lizards can regenerate their tails.

Op 17 november 2021 verdedigde Cyril-Igor Grigorieff het proefschrift 'The Regime for International Air Carrier Liability'. Het promotieonderzoek is begeleid door prof.dr. P. Mendes de Leon en prof.dr. V. Correia (University Paris Saclay).

The rapidly increasing commercial application of metallic nanoparticles within products will inevitably enhance the amount of NPs being released into soil.

The endocannabinoid receptors CB1R and CB2R are involved in a plethora of processes, and consequently are involved in many pathological conditions. Their wide distribution makes the CBRs both an interesting therapeutic target and hard to study.

Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) has become the standard for business processes diagrams.

This thesis focuses on using liposomes in two different treatment strategies; vaccination (or immunotherapy) and delivery of a small molecule, and in two different disease models; cancer and atherosclerosis.

The soil-dwelling, filamentous bacteria of the genus Streptomyces are renowned for their production of useful secondary metabolites including antibiotics. The work described in this thesis provides new insights on the role and regulation of antibiotic production and resistance in these bacteria.

The energy system is at the heart of two of the greatest challenges of the 21st century: decreasing CO2 emissions to meet the ambitions of the Paris agreement while fulfilling the growing energy demand associated with the economic aspirations of a growing world population.

Promotores: C. J. ten Cate; M. A. Ainslie. Co-promotor: W. Slabbekoorn

Promotor: Prof.dr. R. Verpoorte, Co-Promotor: Dr. Young Hae Choi

Solute carrier (SLC) transporters are a large and diverse class of relatively understudied transmembrane proteins.