Research

Lezing

In deep reinforcement learning, searching and learning techniques are two important components. They can be used independently and in combination to deal with different problems in AI, and have achieved impressive results in game playing and robotics. These results have inspired research into artificial…

This thesis presents the results of a study on the interfaces of insulating oxides with and without the insertion of a magnetic layer.

Cardiovascular disease is a major global burden and atherosclerosis is the main underlying pathological process.

Promotor: K.E. Schalm, Co-promotor: S.S. Lee

Promotores: J. Zaanen, A. Parnachev

Freshwater and brackish water ecosystems are arguably the most vulnerable ecosystems on earth, due to concentrated human developments in and around them. The Pontocaspian (PC) region located at the border of Europe and Asia contains a variety of brackish water ecosystems and unique inhabitants, known…

The progressive loss and degeneration of dopaminergic neurons is a major pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD). The onset and progression of PD can be triggered by multiple risk factors, for instance, genetic mutation, environmental exposure, and aging.

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…

Mechanical forces are known to play an important role in bacterial colonies. In this dissertation, we study the self-organization at various stages of growing bacterial colonies, and focus on the mechanical effects of cell growth.

Promotores: Prof.dr. G.F.A. Kersten, W. Jiskoot, Co-promotor: J-P. Amorij

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 subject of this thesis, ‘Approach to Markov Operators on Spaces of Measures by Means of Equicontinuity’, combines an analytical and probabilistic approach to Markov operators.

Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are mechanical waves that travel along the surface of a material and find many applications in modern technologies due to the ease of excitation on piezoelectric substrates via interdigital transducers (IDTs).

Promotor: W. Jiskoot, Co-promotor: A. Hawe

Inactivating mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes predispose to several types of cancer.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is a major cereal crop that millions of subsistence farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) rely on. However, the scourging impact of the root parasitic weed Striga (Striga hermonthica, a.k.a. “witch-weed”) has remained a major constraint hampering the productivity of sorghum in…

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

SDN (Software-Defined Networking) represents a revolutionary approach to network architecture that enables the dynamic and flexible management of network resources through software-based control. This dissertation introduces the idea of SDN and its southbound protocol OpenFlow, then presents the formal…

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

n this PhD thesis, the recombination of different atomic lattices in stacked 2D materials such as twisted bilayer graphene is studied. Using the different possibilities of Low-Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM), the domain forming between the two atomic layers with small differences is studied.

Geometric phases lead to a nontrivial interference result when an electron's different quantum mechanical paths choices encircle a magnetic coil in an Aharonov-Bohm experiment.

Promotor: Prof.dr. F.S. de Boer, Co-promotor: D. Clarke

This dissertation presents new cryptographic protocols, which can be divided into two families.

Modeling and analysis of cyber-physical systems are still challenging. One reason is that cyber-physical systems involve many different parts (cyber or physical), of different nature (discrete or continuous), and in constant interaction via sensing and actuating.

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…

Viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) is a group of acute diseases caused by highly infectious viruses including Ebola, Lassa, Dengue viruses. Its high mortality rate poses high risk to public health, however, studies on VHF have been hampered due to the non-availability of proper models and incomplete knowledge…

Promotor: J. Zaanen, Co-Promotor: V. Juricic

Organic molecules in interstellar space are important as they influence the structure of galaxies and star formations. Studying catalytic processes in space allows us to understand how molecular species are formed and chemically evolved in the interstellar medium and solar system objects.

Promotor: Prof.dr. T. Hankemeier, Co-promotor: Theo Reijmers

Promotores: J. Jonkers, K.E. de Visser

Promotor: Prof.dr. B. van de Water

Freshwater is an important resource, but at a great risk of species decline due to habitat loss, pollution and over-exploitation, and invasive alien species.

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world. One of its symptoms is the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta.

Fungal food spoilage often starts with a contamination with spores. Experimental data strongly indicate the existence of subpopulations of spores with different levels of resistance to preservation methods.

In summary, the collective results described in this thesis show that nanoparticulate vaccines can be delivered intradermally by coated and hollow microneedles and evoke antigen-specific immune responses.

The aim of the research presented in this thesis was to develop new methods forchallenging systems in liquid-state NMR using paramagnetic effects generated by thetwo-armed probe CLaNP-5.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Metastasis, the process by which cancer cells spread to other parts of the body, makes treatments less effective. It is important to unravel the mechanism of metastasis.

Large areas of space are filled by molecular clouds that consist of gas and dust grains that are the remnants of dead stars. When these clouds start collapsing, the decreasing temperature and increasing density cause gas particles to start accreting onto dust grain surfaces.

Producing green energy has become the main goal in our society in the search of reducing or eliminating the carbon emission from fossil fuels.

Promotor: Prof.dr. J.P. Abrahams, Prof.dr. M. van Heel

Material circularity and energy efficiency are highly relevant and intertwined issues for the transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular built environment. In the Netherlands, the building sector has been rendered a priority towards a circular and low-carbon society.

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is one of the main reasons for drug attrition during pre-clinical and clinical phases of drug development as well as for drug withdrawal post-marketing.

Promotor: Prof.dr. B. van de Water, Co-promotores: L.T.M. van der Ven, A.S. Kienhuis

Plastics have become an integral part of modern society due to their versatility and durability.

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…

Developing new medicines is one of modern science's most significant hurdles, a process marked by high costs, long timelines, and frequent failures of promising candidates.

The ultimate aim of this project (initiated by the European Law Institute) is to design a framework that will enable the further development of coherent and functional rules for business rescue in Europe.

In this dissertation (titled: Exploring the Synergies between Transfer in Reinforcement Learning and Procedural Content Generation) we explore how the two research fields named in the title, namely Transfer in Reinforcement Learning (TRL) and Procedural Content Generation (PCG) can synergize togethe…