Promotor: G.R. de Snoo

Carbon dioxide capture and utilization technologies are necessary to create a truly circular economy. The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to formate is an appealing carbon utilization method as it can be performed at room temperature and pressure, it only requires two electrons, and it has…

We explored the Universe using weak gravitational lensing, a phenomenon that occurs when light from distant galaxies is bent by the gravitational fields of closer cosmic objects, much like how a lens distorts light.

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.

Promotores: H.A. Udo De Haes, P.M. Brakefield

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 availability of indicators based on social media has opened the possibility to track the online interactions between social media users and scholarly entities.

This dissertation is organised into three parts, each addressing a distinct research area related to Gibbs measures.

Promotores: Prof.dr. W.J.G.M. Peijnenburg & Dr. M.G. Vijver

The molecular mechanisms that instigate a healthy cell to become malignant are fueled by (epi)genetic alterations in so-called driver genes.

Promotor: A. Achúcarro, Co-promotor: A. Boyarsky

Promotor: Prof.dr. J.M. van Ruitenbeek, Prof.dr. R.M. Tromp

The long-held desire - to link structure directly to function and to explain molecular mechanisms based on basic chemical or physical principles - is finally coming closer, satisfying not only our scientific curiosity but also offering new solutions to the many challenges in the field of health, energy…

While ecosystems have concrete benefits for human society, these benefits are typically overlooked in decision-making.

Multiple stars, that is two or more stars composing a gravitationally bound system, are common in the universe.

Vast, often populated, areas in dryland ecosystems face the dangers of desertification.

The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics states that a measurement collapses a wavefunction onto an eigenstate of the corresponding measurement operator.

Protein–protein complexes are formed via transient states called encounter complexes that greatly influence the formation of the stereospecific complex.

Schistosomiasis is an acute and chronic disease caused by blood dwelling parasitic trematodes of the genus Schistosoma, and it is classified as the second most socioeconomically devastating parasitic disease, second only to malaria.

Dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries of the Universe. Its properties cannot be explained with the known laws of physics and elementary particles.

Promotor: Prof.dr. A.W. van der Vaart

Enzymes are innately sensitive to changes in the amino acid sequence, which largely constrains their evolutionary potential, i.e., evolvability. This evolutionary burden can be alleviated in the presence of stabilizing mutations, which increase the buffering capacity of enzymes to tolerate mutations…

Astronomical observations of cold regions in the universe show a rich inventory of ices. Part of these ices may end up on planets like our own, but in that journey they will be exposed to considerable amounts of radiation.

Promotor: J.G.E.M. Fraaije, Co-Promotor: A. Kros

Promotor: Prof.dr. J.N. Kok, Co-promotor: A.J. Knobbe

Promotor: K.J. Batenburg

Promotor: Christoph U. Keller, Co-promotores: Matthew A. Kenworthy, Frans Snik

Balsaminaceae is a diverse plant family characterized by a huge floral morphological diversity.

Dit proefschrift onderzoekt de noodzaak van het creatief denken en experimenteren in het uitvoeren van complexe muziek in de late twintigste- en vroege eenentwintigste eeuw.

Promotor: J.N. Kok, P.E. Slagboom Co-promotor: J.F.J. Laros

In this dissertation iron-based homogeneous catalysts were synthesized, characterized and investigated for water oxidation activity.

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).

Utilizing the polymeric platform of polypept(o)ides, this thesis describes synthesis and investigation of novel triblock copolymers to obtain carrier systems with multiple compartments for efficient siRNA delivery. Although the individual microstructure of nanoparticles differs depending on the polymeric…

In this work, we illustrate unconventional approaches towards the fabrication of edge functionalized graphene nanostructures and bidimensional architectures in polymeric and metallic supports, with an outlook towards molecular sensing devices.

Vancomycin is a last-resort antibiotic for the treatment of many Gram-positive bacterial infections, while remaining inactive against Gram-negative strains.

Stochastic resetting is simple enough to be approached analytically, yet modifies stochastic processes in a non-trivial way.

This thesis considers multi-prover commitment schemes whose security is based on restrictions on the communication between the provers.

Promotor: Prof.dr. I.A.G. Snellen, C.U. Keller

Promotores: Prof.dr. G.A. van der Marel, M. van Heel

Promotor: J.N. Kok, Co-promotor: C.M. Soares, A.J. Knobbe

Promotor: W.Th.F. den Hollander Co-Promotor: F.M. Spieksma

Atherosclerosis is the most important underlying process that drives cardiovascular disease, and is characterized by an accumulation of cholesterol which triggers an inflammatory response in the vessel wall.

The overarching goal of this thesis is to set the foundations, but also make the first essential steps towards establishing a comprehensive, mesoscopic, hydrodynamic theory of epithelial tissues. The stage is set by an exhaustive study of topological defects in passive p-atic liquid crystals, singularities…

Outflows are crucially important for the gas budget and evolution of luminous star-forming galaxies and AGNs, with observed mass outflow rates of the same order as the star formation rate. Greater star formation and black hole growth lead to more intense feedback and outflows, resulting in self-regulated…

Anthropogenic noise has been shown to affect marine animals in various ways, this may have fitness consequences at individual and population level. This thesis aims to increase insight into the quantification of sound-induced behavioural responses that are relevant to fitness, and into factors that…

Promotor: H.W. Lenstra

Three major cosmology-focused missions are planned for the next decade: the Euclid space telescope, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

To an algebraic curve C over the complex numbers one can associate a non-negative integer g, the genus, as a measure of its complexity.

Promotor: T. Hankemeier, Co-promotor: T.H. Reijmers