KNAW Early Career Award 2024 for twelve promising researchers

Behavioural Sciences, Social Sciences and Law

Lonneke Lenferink
Assistant professor, University of Twente, Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Lonneke Lenferink studies grieving and symptoms of disturbed grief in adults and children. Her research focuses on people who experience the loss of a loved one due to natural causes, but also bereavement in exceptional circumstances, for example a loved one’s disappearance or death by homicide, a traffic accident, in the downing of flight MH17 or the COVID pandemic. Lenferink has introduced original perspectives and new research methods to the field. For example, she is the first in her discipline to adopt a methodology in which participants keep track of their thoughts and feelings with a view to assessing and treating prolonged grief in everyday life. She also explores the interaction between grief in parents and in their children. She has shared the results of her studies on the public website www.rouwbehandeling.nl, which she developed in cooperation with the Netherlands’ Victim Support Fund.
 
Tine Molendijk
Associate professor, Netherlands Defence Academy, Faculty of Military Sciences
What psychological damage might military personnel suffer if their moral or ethical convictions are violated? Tine Molendijk studies the social and psychological impact of violence and moral dilemmas in the armed forces. The essence of her work is to better understand how war and military operations impact people’s lives, in part by reflecting on the moral, psychological and social implications of all forms of violence, from superhuman resilience to inhumane destructiveness. Molendijk’s research is helping to reveal the true cost of war.  
 
Alberto Quintavalla
Assistant professor, Erasmus University, Erasmus School of Law
Alberto Quintavalla studies the impact van artificial intelligence (AI) across the entire spectrum of human rights. He also researches the environmental risks associated with AI. Integrating these key areas of study with the law has led him to valuable insights concerning the European and wider international context. He does this by connecting the theoretical and practical aspects of EU policy, an essential factor in effective legislation and policymaking that addresses AI, environmental issues and human rights. He also makes his insights accessible to legal scholars, rendering his work invaluable to academics and legal practitioners alike.

Humanities

Trude Dijkstra
Assistant professor in the History of the Book, University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Humanities
What role did printwork play in early encounters between Europe and Asia? Trude Dijkstra has developed an innovative approach to studying printwork in seventeenth-century Europe. By combining the history of the book with the history of medicine and science, Dijkstra examines the role of printwork in cultural encounters and intellectual history. Her research reveals how knowledge was disseminated and gradually embedded in different cultures,  leading to groundbreaking new insights into the intercultural encounters between China and Europe in the early modern period. Dijkstra's innovative ideas push the boundaries of her field of study, the History of the Book.
 
Anna Moles
Assistant Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology and Human Osteoarchaeology, University of Groningen, Faculty of Arts
What impact does massive social change have on individual lives and groups of people? Examples from history include a conquered people’s integration into the Roman Empire and the advent of Christianity. To answer this question, archaeologist Anna Moles investigates human skeletal remains, combining methods common in the natural sciences with archaeological and historical data. She specialises in the archaeology of the Mediterranean, and more specifically Ancient Greece, but she has also studied the Dutch Middle Ages and the Mayans. Her research spans the natural sciences and the humanities and offers an historical perspective on current social issues, such as the relationship between health, diet, age, gender and social standing.
 
Marthe Stevens
Assistant professor, Radboud University, Department of Ethics and Political Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Hub on Digitalization and Society (iHub)
From health apps on smartphones to pupil tracking systems in primary schools, digitalisation is seemingly unstoppable in the fields of healthcare and education. Marthe Stevens studies the use of new technology in society. Her research combines insights from Philosophy of Technology, Science and Technology Studies (STS) and critical data studies to reflect on the impact of technological innovations on society. Her work helps researchers better understand how digitalisation works, but it also shows the general public the risks involved in allowing Big Tech to amass too much power. Stevens’ efforts help promote responsible digitalisation and limit the influence of Big Tech on our lives.

Medical, Biomedical and Health Sciences

Jonne Doorduin
Technical physician and assistant professor, Radboud University Medical Centre, Department of Intensive Care
Jonne Doorduin studies respiratory disorders and artificial ventilation in the intensive care unit and in patients with neuromuscular disorders. One of his key findings is that respiratory muscle strength in patients with congenital neuromuscular disorders can differ markedly from muscle strength in the limbs. This means that frequent checks on respiratory function are essential for these patients. Doorduin’s knowledge of both medicine and technology allows him to develop innovative ideas that can be applied in clinical practice. One example is his use of ultrasound to track respiratory muscles. Doorduin has also drawn attention to his field, for example by joining forces with the Dutch Association for Neuromuscular Disease to inform patients with neuromuscular and respiratory disorders.
 
Suzanne Fustolo-Gunnink
Researcher, Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation, Clinical Epidemiology and Medicine, Amsterdam
Suzanne Fustolo-Gunnink studies how best to undertake platelet transfusion in preterm infants. Some premature infants have a platelet deficiency, which can be treated by administering platelet transfusions to prevent bleeding. Fustolo-Gunnink has shown that, surprisingly, low platelet counts in transfusions lead to better outcomes than higher counts. Her findings have led to changes in the treatment strategy for this vulnerable group of patients. Fustolo-Gunnink as since set up an international network that undertakes research across Europe and develops guidelines. She also leverages complexity theory in connecting experts in a range of disciplines to work together on practical methods for application in medical research and guideline development.
 
Kak Khee Yeung
Vascular surgeon, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, VU University Amsterdam
Kak Khee Yeung combines clinical expertise with groundbreaking medical research on aortic aneurysms. An aortic aneurysm is a bulge in the body’s main artery, the aorta. The bulge can rupture, unfortunately leading to death in more than eighty per cent of cases. It is not currently possible to predict whether an aneurysm will rupture and there are no drugs available to treat a ruptured aneurysm. Yeung’s research focuses on finding biomarkers (quantifiable indicators) in the body that can predict disease progression in patients with an aortic aneurysm. She explores many different methods in her research, from establishing a national biobank containing the vascular tissues and cells and clinical data of thousands of patients to creating in-vitro 3D models and using artificial intelligence for imaging.

Natural Sciences and Technology

Christian Büll
Assistant professor in Biomolecular Chemistry, Radboud University, Institute for Molecules and Materials
Christian Büll has developed an innovative method for producing and studying human mucins, large proteins covered with complex sugar molecules known as glycans. Mucins protect the lining of the intestines and various other organs and play a key role in the interaction with the gut microbiome, a collection of bacteria and microbes that live in the intestines. Until now, it was difficult to study these molecules because their complex structure made them hard to replicate. Büll discovered that glycans form special patterns that are recognised by certain immune cells. His discovery allows researchers to examine how these structures transmit information to our immune system and in doing so, influence our health. Büll hopes to develop biologics with this technology that will interact with the gut microbiome and the immune system to improve human health.
 
Antoni Forner-Cuenca
Associate professor, Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry
Antoni Forner-Cuenca studies the storage and conversion of electrochemical energy. He is interested in the design, engineering and application of new functional materials and systems, in particular electrodes, i.e. materials that conduct and transduce electricity in electrochemical systems and processes. One of Forner-Cuenca’s most important breakthroughs was the creation of special porous electrodes, materials with tiny holes that conduct current and facilitate more efficient chemical conversion. He developed a new technique to produce these electrodes, something that had previously been impossible. Forner-Cuenca is committed to applying the findings of his fundamental research in real-world applications for energy storage and conversion.
 
Tijs Karman
Assistant professor in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Radboud University, Institute for Molecules and Materials
Tijs Karman thought it must be possible to use microwaves to prevent the loss of molecules in molecular collisions. A microwave is an electromagnetic radiation. Kareman’s theory is now being used in research into molecules cooled down to near absolute zero. He himself studies these ultracold molecules at a temperature of around 1 nanokelvin. At nanokelvin temperatures, particles in a substance move so slowly that the effects of quantum mechanics become noticeable, making it possible to gain full control over the molecules. These findings are being used in quantum technology applications and in advanced physics research.

Award and award ceremony

The KNAW Early Career Award consists of a monetary prize of EUR 15,000 and the artwork “Extended Jewellery” by Laura Klinkenberg. The laureates are free to spend this award on their research careers as they see fit.

 The KNAW Early Career Awards 2024 will be presented during a celebratory event at the Trippenhuis Building on Tuesday 26 November 2024. If you would like to attend, please register here. (in Dutch only)