Promotor: J. Schaye

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 theoretical explanation of cosmic acceleration is nowadays one of the biggest puzzles in cosmology.

A large diversity of exoplanetary systems has been found, but it is still unclear what drives this diversity.

To study how planetary systems come into existence we study much younger systems still in formation.

Lipid formulations have demonstrated strong potential for nucleic acid delivery,particularly with the success of COVID-19 vaccines. Despite these advances, manyaspects of lipid formulations remain unclear.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a major health threat. Addressing this challenge requires among others the development of new antibacterial compounds. The research described in this thesis focuses on discovering novel antibiotics from soil bacteria, specifically Streptomyces and Paenibacillus.Despite…

Promotor: Prof.dr. J.A. Bouwstra, Co-promotor: A. El Ghalbzouri

Bij de Onderzoeksgroep Geweld en Geweldpreventie (Violence and Violence Prevention) wordt onderzoek gedaan naar de complexiteit van hedendaags geweld, de uiteenlopende verschijningsvormen ervan en strategieën voor preventie.

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

The effects of anthropogenic noise on interactions between predators and their prey are still little understood.

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.

Heart failure is a major health care problem with high mortality.

This thesis is a collection of theoretical works aiming at adjusting quantum algorithms to the hardware of quantum computers.

Plant exudates appeared long time ago in the history line of life in the early Devonian. They are typical saps produced by specialized cells.

Throughout the history of computer science, a major challenge has been how to assert that software is free of bugs and works as intended. Software bugs can lead to serious negative impacts on any software system. Throughout the main body of the thesis, we implemented a series of studies on exploring…

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most prevalent cancer in males.

Promotores: Prof.dr. E.F. van Dishoeck, Prof.dr. C.P. Dullemond

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

The function of TLRs in innate immunity has aroused worldwide attention soon after its discovery. Because of the broad functions of TLR2 in innate immunity, the drive for the development of TLR2-targeted vaccines or therapeutic treatments has accelerated in the last decades.

Promotor: Prof.dr. P.G.L Klinkhamer, Co-promotor: K. Vrieling

In this thesis, the research focuses on the properties of dark matter and dark matter haloes and how they connect with the galaxies we can observe in the Universe.

To address the fundamental questions of how life on Earth emerged and how common life may be in the Universe, it is crucial to know the chemical composition of the planet-forming material.

Promotor: Prof.dr. E.F. van Dishoeck

We present an extensive study of methods for exactly solving stochastic constraint (optimisation) problems (SCPs) in network analysis. These problems are prevalent in science, governance and industry.

Increasing the efficiency of gene targeting (GT) as a genome editing tool in plants has been an important goal in plant biotechnology.

Building a Deep Cross-media Transfer Network to extract visual relations that relieve the problem of insufficient training data for visual tasks.

Promotor: M. Danhof Co-promotor: O.E. Della Pasqua

The aromatic infrared bands (AIBs) seen throughout the interstellar medium (ISM) are generally thought to be carried by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their nitrogen analogues (PANHs).

Promotor: P.D. Grünwald

The radio sky harbours both galactic and extragalactic sources of arcminute- to degree-scale emission of various physical origins. To discover extragalactic diffuse emission in the Cosmic Web beyond galaxy clusters, one must image low–surface brightness structures amidst a sea of brighter compact fore-…

Promotores: W. Th. F. den Hollander, M.O. Heydenreich

Promotor: S.M. Verduyn Lunel

Electrocatalysis allows for storing electricity or converting it into chemical bonds, producing chemical building blocks and fuels using renewable resources.

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,…

LCA has become an important method to study environmental impacts of human activities. Still, there are several methodological issues in LCA that can adversely affect the results reliability.

Until the 1990s, the only known planets were those in our Solar System. Three decades later, several thousand exoplanets have been discovered orbiting stars other than the Sun, and substantial efforts have been made to explore these strange new worlds through spectroscopic analyses of their atmosphe…

Promotor: Prof.dr. J. Kuiper

Promotor: P. J. J. Hooykaas, Co-promotor: R. Offringa

In some condensed matter systems, such as the surface of a 3D topological insulator, the electrons are effectively massless and we must necessarily use the massless Dirac equation to describe them.

Promotor: Prof.dr. W.Th.F. den Hollander, Co-promotor: R. Fernandez.

Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. E. Deprettere

Acidobacteria is a widely distributed phylum but their functional roles in ecosystem processes are still largely elusive.

Plants and soils from natural ecosystems harbor great diversity of soil microorganisms, which could potentially contribute to the sustainability of horticulture. The knowledge about using wild plant species and soil from natural ecosystem to improve the crop health will advance the application of ecological…

With increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and their detrimental effect on the global climate, modern society needs to push for more renewable energy sources. Storing widely accessible and abundant solar energy in chemical bonds in the form of molecular fuel via artificial photosynthesis…

This thesis focuses on the X-ray spectral analysis of merging galaxy clusters and the plasma code development for future high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy observations.

I have studied the hot, diffuse gas around and between galaxies. Specifically, I have used the EAGLE numerical simulations of galaxy formation to predict the properties of this gas, and I have used those properties to predict specific observables: soft X-ray absorption and emission lines.

A common method to solve expensive function evaluation problem is using Bayesian Global Optimization, instead of Evolutionary Algorithms.

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

The ultimate goal of cosmologists is to find a cosmological model able to explain the current observational data.