The study of orchid flowers, fruits, and inflorescences is crucial due to the remarkable diversity of orchid species and their unique adaptations to pollinators and seed dispersers. However, our understanding of the evolution and development of these organs within the orchid family remains limited.

Despite the fact that gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are one of the most studied nanoparticles, there is still a necessity for new approaches allowing for effective protective coating to enable wider use of GNPs in biomedical applications.

The prevalence of obesity (BMI >40 kg/m2) has increased rapidly over the recent years, not only in adults, but also in children and adolescents.

Image segmentation is a fundamental task in computer vision, with applications ranging from medical diagnostics to archaeological research.

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel

Promotor: Prof.dr. M. Danhof, Co-Promotor: J. de Jongh

For centuries astronomers studied the Universe by collecting light. Nowadays, we are living in times of great technological advancements, which allow us to explore our Universe in a new way - though gravitational wave radiation.

This thesis examines enzyme domain architecture and engineering to improve the breakdown of lignocellulose and starch, abundant biopolymers crucial for sustainable biofuel and biochemical production. Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) facilitate this degradation, but the structural complexity of…

Op 13 oktober 2021 verdedigde Ross Spence het proefschrift 'Collateral Transactions and Shadow Banking'. Het promotieonderzoek is begeleid door promotoren prof.mr. M. Haentjens en prof.dr. A.M. Pacces (UvA).

Promotor: Prof.dr. M. de Jong

This dissertation presents the results of the importance of creativity for ICT-students of Dutch universities of applied sciences (in Dutch: hogescholen), and the functioning of training courses that aim to promote creative abilities is highlighted.

Promotor: H.P. Spaink, Co-Promotor: A.H. Meijer

More than 5,000 exoplanets have been found over the past couple of decades. These exoplanets show a tremendous diversity, ranging from scorching hot Jupiters, common super-Earths, to widely separated super-Jupiters on the planet/brown dwarf boundary.

Anthropogenic noise negatively affects wildlife in a wide range of taxonomic groups.

The endocannabinoid receptors CB1R and CB2R are involved in a plethora of processes, and consequently are involved in many pathological conditions. Their wide distribution makes the CBRs both an interesting therapeutic target and hard to study.

Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) has become the standard for business processes diagrams.

Promotor: P.J.J. Hooykaas, Co-Promotores: P.B.F. Ouwerkerk, M. Wang

Green hydrogen is produced via a process called water electrolysis. During electrolysis water is split into oxygen and hydrogen.

By growing in a soil plants change the biotic and abiotic properties of the soil in which they grow.

Promotor: Prof.dr. M. Danhof

A key step in the synthesis of oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates is the formation of the glycosidic bond.

Neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), are increasing in prevalence due to the aging population. Despite extensive study, these diseases are still not fully understood and the lack of personalised treatment options that can target the cause of the diseases, rather than the symptoms,…

Promotor: M.K. Richardson, Co-Promotor: F. Witte

This thesis describes the role of pollution, specifically neonicotinoid insecticides, as an actor of the ongoing biodiversity decline.

In this work, I explore the creation of new methods that optimize simulations of the gravitational N-body problem. Specifically, I take advantage of the recent popularity of Machine Learning methods to find tools that can suit this problem.

In this thesis it is posed that the central object of preference discovery is a co-creative process in which the Other can be represented by a machine. It explores efficient methods to enhance introverted intuition using extraverted intuition's communication lines.

Antibiotic resistance, caused by widespread use of antibiotics, leads to bacterial infections that are difficult, if not impossible, to treat and is a major worldwide health concern.

Taking as a point of departure the Italian American community in Boston and its process of collective remembrance surrounding Saint Anthony’s Feast, we addressing the limits and potential of montage.

Nowadays, it is well known that hydrogen and helium (and small traces of lithium and beryllium) were created shortly after the Big Bang, while the heavier elements are created in the cores of stars at different evolutionary stages. When these stars explode as supernovae, they expel metals synthesised…

Epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity (EMP) and tumor cell migration play an important role in cancer progression, and an improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying these concepts is essential for developing new targeted approaches.

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…

Control of infectious diseases poses continuous challenges for human health.

Supervisor: P.J.J. Hooykaas Co-Supervisor: R. Offringa

Thermodynamics is one of the founding scientific pillars that has helped us better understand heat engines, biology, ecosystems, and even black holes. While it fundamentally describes large systems by examining the bulk behavior of their constituents, it is anchored in the statistical equivalence of…

This Thesis describes a strategy to synthesize 1,2-cis-oligosaccharides modulated by additives, such as dimethylformamide (DMF), triphenylphosphine oxide (Ph3P=O) and N-methyl(phenyl)formamide (MPF), using building blocks that carry solely benzyl type protecting groups and are therefore of uniform r…

Promotor: Prof.dr. P.G.L. Klinkhamer, Co-Promotor: T.J. de Jong

Promotor: Prof.dr. C.W.J. Beenakker

Drug development critically depends on preclinical models that mimic human physiology, yet traditional two-dimensional cultures and animal models often lack predictive power.

Dissolution processes – next to aggregation processes - play an important role for fate prediction and environmental risk assessment of metal-based nanoparticles (MNPs). It is challenging to predict the kinetics of the dissolution process of MNPs in complex systems such as we can find in in vivo and…

Promotores: P.G.L. Klinkhamer, P.M. Brakefield, Co-Promotor: M. Bruinsma

In the early universe, the dynamics of the Higgs field can give rise to many interesting phenomena.

A sustainable resource management is an essential aspect to satisfy the current human needs without compromising the needs of future generations.

Promotor: Prof.dr. A. Achucarro

This Thesis focuses on the design and synthesis of ADP-ribosylated compounds that can be applied in biological studies.

This thesis examines the link between simple molecules and the underlying structure and chemistry within protoplanetary disks - the birthplaces of planets.

Promotor: G.R. de Snoo, Co-promotor: C.J.M. Muster

Op 13 januari 2022 verdedigde Pie Habimana het proefschrift 'Harmful Tax Competition in the East African Community'. Het promotieonderzoek is begeleid door prof.dr. H. Vording en prof.dr. S.C.W. Douma (UvA).

This thesis presents insights from our study of various correlated electron systems with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). In ordinary metals, electron-electron interactions exist, but get substantially screened due to the sheer number of electrons.

Promotor: G.F.A. Kersten, W. Jiskoot, Co-promotor: B. Metz

The name ‘Jambi flora’ refers to fossil plants found as part of a rock formation from the Early Permian (296 million years old), located in the Jambi Province of Sumatra, Indonesia.