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

We investigate the buildup of galaxies from various vantage points. The first two chapters focus on the stellar content of galaxies, especially the distribution of stellar masses at birth and potential variations therein in various galactic environments.

The prevalence of obesity (BMI >40 kg/m2) has increased rapidly over the recent years, not only in adults, but also in children and adolescents.

One of the key discoveries in exoplanet research over the past decade is the abundance of small planets in our Milky Way. Despite their high numbers, our understanding of their atmospheres remains limited, and it is unknown if they possess atmospheres at all.

Promotor: Prof.dr. K.J. Batenburg

Promotor: C.A.J. Knibbe, Co-promotor: J.J. Boelens, R.G.M. Bredius

The external tissues of plants and animals are colonized by microbial communities termed microbiota. When organisms are exposed to environmental pollutants, these substances will therefore encounter microbiota at the exposure interface.

In light of climate change, it is crucial to determine whether plant species can adapt to future climates to avoid extinction. Plants adapt to various conditions by altering their functional traits, such as leaf size or photosynthetic rate. Some traits appear linked and vary together between species,…

The CC chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, is widely involved in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. However, no drugs for this receptor have made it to the pharmaceutical market yet.

Promotor: E. Gittenberger, Co-promotor: B.W. Hoeksema

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.

In this thesis, I focused on studying the above- and belowground interactions of J. vulgaris from a plant-soil feedback (hereafter, PSF) perspective. I investigated the temporal variation of negative PSF and examined the effects of root-associated bacteria on plant performance and aboveground herbiv…

A modern ship design process is subject to a wide variety of constraints such as safety constraints, regulations, and physical constraints.

This thesis describes the role of pollution, specifically neonicotinoid insecticides, as an actor of the ongoing biodiversity decline.

Throughout the history of computer science, a major challenge has been how to assert that software is free of bugs and works as intended. Software bugs can lead to serious negative impacts on any software system. Throughout the main body of the thesis, we implemented a series of studies on exploring…

Promotor: W. Jaffe, Co-promotor: K. Meisenheimer

Promotores: G.W. Canters, T.J. Aartsma

Promotor: Ed F. Deprettere, Co-promotor: Todor P. Stefanov

The overall theme of this thesis is to complement the electrochemical data acquired in fuel cell research with in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS).

Promotor: G.A. van der Marel, Co-promotor: J.D.C. Codée

Promotor: Jelle S. Kaastra Co-promotor: Jelle de Plaa

To limit the effects of climate change, global average temperature since pre-industrial measurements are to be kept well below 2 °C preferably even at 1.5 °C.

Over the last decades, aviation safety has improved strongly. As a downside, airline pilots do not have as many opportunities to develop through experience the competencies that they need in critical situations.

Understanding the formation and evolution of planetary systems is one of the most fundamental challenges in astronomy. To directly image and study young exoplanets and the circumstellar disks they form from, dedicated high-contrast imaging instruments are built.

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

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

Interactive exploration of large volumes of data is increasingly common, as data scientists attempt to extract interesting information from large opaque data sets. This scenario presents a difficult challenge for traditional database systems, as (1) nothing is known about the query workload in advance,…

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

Promotores: Prof.dr. A.G.G.M. Tielens, Prof.dr. L. Kaper (UvA)

Tomography is a powerful technique to non-destructively determine the interior structure of an object.Usually, a series of projection images (e.g.\ X-ray images) is acquired from a range of different positions.

Promotor: Prof.dr. P.G.L Klinkhamer, Co-promotor: K. Vrieling

Promotor: P.G.L. Klinkhamer, Co-Promotores: K. Vrieling, P.P.J. Mulder

In this thesis, the research focuses on the properties of dark matter and dark matter haloes and how they connect with the galaxies we can observe in the Universe.

Promotor: S.M. Verduyn Lunel, Co-promotor: S.C. Hille

The experiments described in this thesis employ local lentiviral knockdowns in brain areas of female zebra finches followed by behavioural assays consisting of preference and Go/Nogo tasks.

Filamentous Actinobacteria, such as Streptomyces, produce a plethora of chemically diverse bioactive metabolites that have found applications across medicine, agriculture and biotechnology.

Op 7 december 2021 verdedigde Georgina Kuipers het proefschrift 'Beschadigd vertrouwen'. Het promotieonderzoek is begeleid door prof.mr. W. den Ouden en prof.dr. M.A. van der Steen (EUR).

Pharmaceutical companies, governments and the general public have become increasingly aware that animal models used in drug testing lack vital aspects to serve as an accurate representation of human biology. As models of the human body should become more physiologically relevant, animal models no longer…

Humans perceive the real world through their sensory organs: vision, taste, hearing, smell, and touch. In terms of information, we consider these different modesalso referred to as different channels of information or modals.

The main research question of this thesis was: Can nitrogen cycling on dairy farms on peat soil in the Dutch Green Heart area be improved by adapting management to the nitrogen supply from soil and by using other grassland species and crops without affecting milk production?

Including modelling as part of software development appears to have various benefits.

The ongoing increase in antimicrobial resistance combined with the low discovery of novel antibiotics is a serious threat to our health care.

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel, Co-Promotor: E. Vijgenboom

Gibbs measures, as used in Statistical Mechanics, have a definition that is remarkably similar to the definition ofg-measures, used in dynamical systems.

Promotor: Prof.dr. D. Bouwmeester

Promotor: Prof.dr. R. Verpoorte, Co-Promotores: N.R. Mustafa, A.E. Schulte

Promotor: Prof.dr. E Gittenberger, Co-Promotores: C.H.J.M. Fransen, B.W. Hoeksema

The invention of neural networks marks a critical milestone in the pursuit of true artificial intelligence. Despite their impressive performance on various tasks, these networks face limitations in learning efficiently as they are often trained from scratch.

Promotor: Prof.dr. K.H. Kuijken, Co-Promotor: H.Hoekstra

Continuous optimization is never easy: the exact solution is always a luxury demand and the theory of it is not always analytical and elegant.