Open Competition Domain Science funds curiosity driven fundamental research form all the disciplines of the Science Domain. M-grants are intended for innovative, high-quality, fundamental research and/or studies involving matters of scientific urgency.

The UvA Faculty of Science projects that receive a grant are:

Revolutionizing Lymphoma Treatment: 3D Models and AI for Personalized Care

Prof Dr Eric Eldering & Prof  Dr Vivek Muniraj (AUMC/UvA-IvI)

For over 2 decades, the standard treatment for aggressive lymphoma’s is chemo-immunotherapy, which is rather ineffective, immunosuppressive, and prone to relapse/resistance. Current lab models fail to reflect the complexity of this group of diseases. This project will develop a pipeline of advanced 3D laboratory models that mimic the tumor microenvironment, subsequently leveraging AI for feature extraction of biophysical characteristics, and driving simulations to predict dynamics and drug responses. This state-of-the-art approach seeks to improve treatment accuracy, reduce animal testing, and bring personalized medicine closer to reality for lymphoma patients.

Shaping Light with Memory: Multistable Optical Metasurfaces

Dr Jorik van de Groep & Dr Corentin Coulais (UvA-IoP)

The researchers will develop nanoscale surfaces that can steer light by changing their shape, like the chameleon’s skin. These surfaces “remember” different forms and functions and use tiny electric signals to switch between them. This research will lead to energy-efficient optical devices for future technologies in optical communications, augmented reality, and autonomous vehicles.

Foliate and conquer

Dr Peter Hochs & Dr Hessel Posthuma (RU/UvA-KdVI)

The places on earth where days have the same length form the circles of constant latitude, and the north and south poles. This forms a foliation of the earth’s surface: a subdivision into lower-dimensional parts inside which points are related in some relevant way. Foliations encode crucial information on many different problems, and have therefore been studied and applied extensively over the last 80 years. Until recently, however, it was not possible to study foliations with singularities, like the poles in the example above. In this project, we develop new techniques to study and apply such singular foliations.