Laureate HYSA

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences has awarded the Heineken Young Scientists Award in the Natural Sciences 2020 to Freddy Rabouw, a physicist/chemist at Utrecht University. Rabouw is receiving the prize for his research on new materials to generate light, for example for solar cells or display screens.

The jury describes Freddy Rabouw as a highly productive researcher who is already an inter­nationally respected authority in his field. He is an inspiration for the master’s degree and PhD students in his group and a gifted instructor, who has already received a prize from his students for his teaching.

Research on materials for light
Rabouw investigates new materials to generate light, for example for solar cells or display screens. The materials he studies are mainly nanocrystals of only a few thousand atoms in size. What he is attempting to understand is how such a nanocrystal can efficiently convert one colour of light into another. This is fundamental research, but with various applications. For example, semiconductor nanocrystals, also known as “quantum dots”, are used in the latest generation of televisions. The challenge, for example, is to narrow down the colour spectrum of the light that is emitted so that the television can display more highly saturated colours, which then appear clearer and brighter. It is difficult, however, to narrow down the colour spectrum if the various nanocrystals are only very slightly different and therefore all emit a slightly different colour light. Dr Rabouw is attempting to identify such differences in properties between nano­crystals, and thus understand what causes these differences.
His work may also have applications in the search for sustainable energy solutions. A certain type of nanocrystal is based, for example, on rare-earth metals, making possible highly exceptional colour conversions. Some can absorb infrared light and then emit visible light. This is exceptional, because infrared light contains less energy per photon than visible light. This property is very useful in the case of solar cells because sunlight contains a large amount of infrared light, which solar cells cannot use to generate electricity. By first using nanocrystals to convert the infrared light into visible light, the solar cell can generate more electricity.

About the laureate
Freddy Rabouw studied chemistry at Utrecht University, receiving his master’s degree (on Nanomaterials: Chemistry & Physics) cum laude. He also gained his PhD in Utrecht cum laude for his research on nanomaterials, after which he spent two years at ETH Zurich with the aid of a Rubicon grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). He returned to Utrecht University as an assistant professor in 2017.
Rabouw has received a number of awards and grants for his work, for example a VENI grant from NWO in 2017 and in 2019 an NWO “KLEIN” fundamental research grant (ENW-KLEIN).

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences has awarded the Heineken Young Scientists Award in the Social Sciences 2020 to Anna van Duijvenvoorde, a developmental psychologist at Leiden University. Van Duijvenvoorde is receiving the award for her research on the development of the brain and behaviour in adolescents.

The jury describes Anna van Duijvenvoorde as an outstanding researcher who is able to make her work accessible to a wider group of interested parties. She is curious and innovative, but also a bridge-builder who is part of an impressive network of top researchers. She inspires and supports young scientists. Above all, she is a researcher who dares to steer her own course, qualities that are indispensable for carrying out challenging top-class research and training young researchers.

Research on development of the brain
Van Duijvenvoorde’s research investigates how the brain and behaviour of teenagers change. During teenage years, the brain undergoes an important development. In this phase we learn to empathise better with others, and our peers become more important. Van Duijvenvoorde wants to know how these changes affect the choices that teenagers make. She attempts
to answer such questions as: Why teenagers do find unfamiliar risks interesting? How do they discover who they can trust? And what motivates them? Her work involves fundamental research but can have important social applications. For example, her research on how young people learn can help understand the impact of online education during the corona crisis.

About the laureate
Anna van Duijvenvoorde studied psychology at the University of Amsterdam, graduating cum laude in 2007. She also completed her PhD research in developmental psychology cum laude. While working on her PhD, she spent several months in New York, doing research at Colombia University and at the Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology. Since 2019, she has been an associate professor in the Developmental and Educational Psychology Unit at Leiden University.
Van Duijvenvoorde has received numerous major grants for her research, including a Sara van Dam project grant from the Academy and an Open Research Area grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

Dr Joost Snijder received the Heineken Young Scientists Award in the Medical/Biomedical Sciences 2018 for using advanced microscopic techniques to study the molecular mechanisms of viruses.
The jury regarded Joost Snijder as an exceptionally talented, creative researcher who thinks and acts independently with great vision and daring. Although young, he has already published a great many articles in prestigious journals and initiated partner projects with the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, the Scripps Institute and other respected international organisations.
Joost Snijder is an independent researcher and research consultant who advises on biochemistry and molecular biology. He works with Utrecht University, the University of Washington in Seattle (USA) and other partners.
Snijder studied biomolecular sciences at Utrecht University. He received his PhD there in 2015 for his work using mass spectrometry to study the molecular mechanisms of viruses.

Research
During and after his PhD research, Joost Snijder became extremely knowledgeable about and skilled in the use of advanced microscopic techniques, including atomic force microscopy, cryo-electron microscopy, mass spectrometry and molecular modelling. His expertise allows him to explore a range of different macromolecular mechanisms, for example virus assembly and the molecular ‘biological clock’ of cyanobacteria.

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— Interview with Joost Snijder in De Groene Amsterdammer (Dutch)

Professor Maartje van der Woude received the Heineken Young Scientists Award in the Humanities 2018 for investigating the interplay between the law and public debate concerning such issues as terrorism, migration, and cross-border crime.
Maartje van der Woude focuses our attention on such issues as ethnic profiling and the reception of refugees. The jury praised her as an exceptional and inspiring research talent, a unique, passionate scientist who also seeks to connect with the public, for example in debates and a blog.
Maartje van der Woude is professor of Law and Society at Leiden University. She is also affiliated with the Centre International de Criminologie Comparée at the University of Montreal (Canada) and the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law at the University of Oslo (Norway).
Van der Woude studied criminal law and criminology at Leiden University and received her PhD there in 2010 for her dissertation on the drafting of Dutch counterterrorism legislation.

Research

Maartje van der Woude’s work focuses on the interplay between the law and real life in a changing society. She examines different facets of the law – for example terrorism and counterterrorism, border control, migration, public order and security – to study how political and public debate on the one hand and the law on the other influence each other and to explore how essentially separate policy domains such as migration and security become intertwined.
For example, in her VIDI-funded research project she is studying how the various EU member states deal with the Schengen agreements on open internal borders and the free movement of persons in a social and political climate in which the fear of ‘dangerous others’ is an overriding concern.

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— Interview with Maartje van der Woude in De Groene Amsterdammer (Dutch)

Dr Peter Bijl received the Heineken Young Scientists Award in the Natural Sciences 2018 for researching the relationship between atmosphere, oceans and ecosystems in the Antarctic over the past 80 million years.
The jury praised Peter Bijl for his impressive list of publications but also for his ability to communicate with the general public about his wide-ranging research and inspire new generations of researchers, for example by appearing in the media, maintaining a vlog, and lecturing at secondary schools.
Peter Bijl is an assistant professor in the Earth Science department at Utrecht University. He is also the director of the LPP Foundation, an advisory body that facilitates research in the fields of marine and terrestrial palynology, organic and inorganic geochemistry and limnology.
Bijl studied earth sciences at Utrecht University and received his PhD there in 2011 for his study of the environmental and climatological evolution of the Southern Ocean in the Palaeogene Period (approximately 66 to 23 million years ago).

Research
Peter Bijl was still a young researcher when he began combining his knowledge of fossils with chemical and physical techniques to develop a new, now widely used method to determine the age of sedimentary rocks in the Antarctic. The key to this method lies in organic fossils (‘dinoflagellates’) and molecular fossils.
Using these methods, Bijl is now studying the climatological history of the Antarctic over the past 80 million years. His reconstructions show how greenhouse gases and changing patterns of circulation in the oceans during this period had a major impact on the development of the Antarctic ice sheet, the global climate, sea levels, and life on land and in the sea.
In his VENI-funded research, Bijl is now integrating his models of ice sheet dynamics and ocean circulation. His work has put him at the forefront of international research on Antarctic paleoclimate research.

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— Interview with Peter Bijl in De Groene Amsterdammer (Dutch)

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Dr Marie-José van Tol received the Heineken Young Scientists Award in the Social Sciences 2018 for studying the many factors that contribute to depression and other psychiatric disorders.
The jury recognised Marie-José van Tol as a talented, creative and passionate researcher who not only combines many different disciplines but also makes connections in other respects. She is one of the founders of the Young Academy Groningen and its current chairperson.
Dr Marie-José van Tol is assistant professor and principal investigator in the Neuropsychology faculty, part of the Department of Neuroscience at University Medical Center Groningen.
Van Tol studied clinical and medical psychology at Utrecht University. She received her PhD from Leiden University in 2011 for her MRI study of patients suffering depression or anxiety disorders.

Research
Marie-José van Tol is interested in unravelling the many factors that make people vulnerable to depression, anxiety, suicide, schizophrenia and other major psychiatric disorders. Her work is interdisciplinary in nature and combines knowledge and methods from clinical psychiatry, neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, neuroradiology, neuroscience and other fields.
In her quest to identify the underpinnings of psychological vulnerabilities, Van Tol explores a wide range of different influences. For example, her analyses allow for the presence of other psychiatric disorders, the course of the illness, the effects of treatments, genetic risk factors, personality factors and early trauma. She also makes use of innovative neuro-imaging techniques and analytical methods.

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— Interview with Marie-José van Tol in De Groene Amsterdammer (Dutch)

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Dr E.R. Westra is a research fellow at the Environment and Sustainability Institute and a member of the Biosciences department in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter (United Kingdom). He received the Heineken Young Scientists Award for Biochemistry and Biophysics 2016 for his cross-disciplinary study of CRISPR-Cas, a natural adaptive immune system in bacteria.
Edze Westra studied molecular life sciences at Wageningen University, where he obtained his PhD in microbiology in 2013. He has received awards for his doctoral thesis from both the Netherlands Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Netherlands Society for Medical Microbiology. Shortly after completing his PhD, he accepted a position at the University of Exeter, where a number of major grants ensured him a permanent appointment in 2015.
Westra is a rising star in the fast-growing field of CRISPR-Cas, a molecular system in bacteria that allows them to recognise and disable viral DNA. It is now also being used for precision genome editing in living organisms.
Edze Westra is studying the role of the CRISPR-Cas system in nature. His research combines structural, biochemical, biophysical, evolutionary and ecological aspects, all of which are usually pursued within separate subdisciplines.
He has published or co-published many highly cited articles in such prestigious journals as Science and Nature. In addition to an EU Marie Curie research grant, he has received major stipends from the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council and the Wellcome Trust.
His enthusiasm is infectious and inspired the majority of his students to pursue a career in science. He is also a passionate ambassador for science with the general public.

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— Interview with Edze Westra in De Groene Amsterdammer (Dutch)

Dr M.R. Boon is a post-doctoral researcher at the Endocrinology department of Leiden University Medical Centre. She received the Heineken Young Scientists Award for Medicine 2016 for her research on ‘brown fat’, a type of fat cell that – unlike ‘normal’ fat cells – metabolises glucose and lipids and converts them into body heat.
Mariëtte Boon studied medicine and biomedical sciences at Leiden University. She received her PhD in 2014 at the same university for her study of the role of brown fat in Dutch individuals prone to obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, especially those of South Asian (Hindustani) descent. Her research showed that they carry relatively little brown fat, respond differently to cold, and expend little energy when at rest.
In experiments involving animals, Boon discovered ways to activate brown fat, which may point the way to new treatments for obesity and associated disorders.
Despite her youth, Boon has authored/co-authored dozens of scientific publications, some appearing in high-impact journals. She has received nine awards and seven research grants. She is also one of the founders of the ‘Young Dutch Society for Endocrinology’.

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— Interview with Mariëtte Boon in De Groene Amsterdammer (Dutch)

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Dr K.J. Fatah-Black is an assistant professor at the Institute for History, Leiden University. He received the Heineken Young Scientists Award for History 2016 for his study of Dutch formal and informal transatlantic trade in the Golden Age, especially the trade in slaves.
Karwan Fatah-Black studied history at the University of Amsterdam and received his doctorate from Leiden University in 2013. Slavery, smuggling and illegal trade are important themes in his work. For example, he helped calculate the profits gained by the Dutch from transporting and trading in African slaves. The outcomes were much higher than previously thought because he looked beyond official Dutch West India Company figures to include the extensive network of ‘informal trade’ that operated alongside it.
Fatah-Black is regarded as an expert on the history of slavery. He was awarded an NWO VENI grant to explore agency and empowerment among Surinamese slave families who cleared a path through slavery to freedom. He was also one of the founders of the Leiden Slavery Studies Association, which supports research on the role of slavery in general.
Karwan Fatah-Black is eager to engage in public discussion of the history of slavery. For example, he gives public lectures, makes media appearances, and is a quiz master at the Kwaku Festival in Amsterdam’s Bijlmer district and the Keti Koti (‘broken chains’) Festival, an annual celebration of the abolition of slavery in Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles.

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— Interview with Karwan Fatah-Black in De Groene Amsterdammer (Dutch)

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Dr W. Halfwerk is an assistant professor with the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences at VU University Amsterdam. He received the Heineken Young Scientists Award for Environmental Sciences 2016 for his creative research on how humans alter communication between animals in nature.
Wouter Halfwerk studied biology at Utrecht University and received his PhD in 2012 at Leiden University for his research on the evolution and ecology of birdsong. He was especially interested in the influence of human noise pollution on communication between great tits.
He spent the next three years working outside the Netherlands and grew interested in other senses and species. For example, while he was stationed at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, he used robotic frogs to study calling male túngara frogs and how predatory bats and parasitic midges perceive the associated cues and signals. A male frog that makes more sound and also generates more ripples on the surface of the water not only attracts more females but also more enemies.
Halfwerk is currently studying whether the sexual signals of male túngara frogs in urban settings differ from those of their counterparts in the jungle.
Wouter Halfwerk has published in such prestigious journals as Science. He has received an NWO VENI grant, an EU Marie Curie research grant, and a Smithsonian Fellowship. He is also actively involved in popularising science, for example by giving lectures and cooperating on television documentaries.

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— Interview with Wouter Halfwerk in De Groene Amsterdammer (Dutch)

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