Latest News

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) announced its contribution of 15 million euros to PlantXR, a CropXR research programme into 'smart breeding' of extra resilient crops (eXtra Resilient, XR). This impulse brings CropXR's total budget to over €90 million for the next 10 years. NWO’s grant marks the start of the new Dutch institute CropXR, which integrates plant biology, computational modelling, and artificial intelligence into 'smart breeding methods'. Those will be used to develop crop varieties that are more resilient to climate change and less dependent on chemical crop protection. In CropXR, TU Delft works together with Utrecht University, Wageningen University and Research, the University of Amsterdam and dozens of plant breeding, biotech and processing companies on basic scientific research, data collection and data sharing, education, and advancing broad application of the results.

On 30 June, the Dutch government announced a new set of National Growth Fund investments, which will enable the Netherlands to gain and maintain a strong position in areas such as battery technology, 6G and sustainable steel production.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded eight TU Delft researchers from the Science (ENW) and Applied and Engineering Sciences (AES) domains, a Vidi grant of up to 800,000 euro. This will enable the laureates to develop an innovative line of research over the next five years and further expand their own research group. A total of 97 Vidi grants were awarded.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded a grant to research on more efficient production of even smaller computer chips in the KIC call ‘Demand-driven Partnerships for Consortia’. Researchers from Delft University of Technology and ARCNL are collaborating with ASML in order to inspect computer chips more precisely and faster with help of electrons. The Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) research programme stands for pioneering innovative solutions with social and economic impact. NWO funds the research with almost 2 million euros, ASML contributes with over 2.3 million co-funding.

Staff shortages and the constant desire to provide high-quality medical care. These are only two of the most important reasons for a sharp increase in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare in the coming years. By launching the first healthcare AI Ethics Lab, Erasmus MC and TU Delft put the focus on ethically responsible and clinically relevant AI that will positively impact both patient care and healthcare workers.

On Thursday 15 June, the mayor of Amsterdam (Femke Halsema) and the chief executive officers of Wageningen University & Research (Sjoukje Heimovaara) and TU Delft (Tim van der Hagen) signed a declaration of intent on behalf of the three parties for the next phase of AMS Institute.

Dimitris Dermentzoglou, PhD student in Coastal Engineering, investigates whether salt marshes can serve as a natural solution for coastal protection. It is why he mimics salt marsh vegetation at the TU Delft Waterlab. He hopes his research will yield a more sustainable alternative to the repeated raising of dikes.