Short news

Jack Pronk in lab

Dr Jack Pronk, Professor of Industrial Biotechnology (Faculty of Applied Sciences), will receive this year’s Novozymes Prize from the Danish Novo Nordisk Foundation, worth DKK 5,000,000 (EUR 627,000).

Pronk is being awarded the Prize for his fundamental scientific work with yeast cells and their use in the industrial production of biofuels from waste streams. Pronk’s work thus prevents competition between biofuel and food production.

Yeast naturally copes well with short sugars and converts them into alcohol, a form of biofuel. Agricultural residues, such as leaves and stems, do not contain accessible simple sugars, but longer pentose sugars instead. The discovery of a fungus in elephant dung that could crack pentose sugars opened the door for a genetically modified yeast that can convert residual streams into alcohol.

Jury Chair Detlef Weigel says of Pronk: “The advances he has made, especially with using yeast, are based on an exceptionally deep knowledge of physiology and metabolism, rooted in rigorous fundamental research. He clearly is a world leader in industrial biotechnology and fermentation science, with a specific focus on developing sustainable bioprocesses that help reduce waste streams and carbon footprints.”

The Novozymes Prize is awarded every year by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, a business organisation that supports scientific, humanitarian and social causes. The projects selected are intended to benefit human life, society or the planet. They are selected from the fields of healthcare, sustainability and biotechnology.

Two years ago, Pronk’s colleague, Professor Mark van Loosdrecht (AS Faculty) also received the Novozymes Prize. And in 2017, it was bestowed on Emmanuelle Charpentier. She co-invented Crispr-Cas, the precision genetic modification instrument. Three years later, in 2020, she and Jennifer Doudna were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for it.

This year’s Novozymes Prize presentation will take place on 19 April in Bagsværd, at the north-western edge of Copenhagen.

The Indefinite Rental Contracts Act will come into effect on July 1. Then indefinite rental contracts will become the norm again. Student rooms are excluded from this Act.

The House of Representatives had asked for an exception for foreign students. They should still be able to obtain temporary contracts. But the law now applies to all students, due to European rules.

Also read: What does the new Rental Contracts Act mean for you?

According to Minister Hugo de Jonge, Dutch students should be happy that they can still get temporary rental contracts. Otherwise, international students would have an advantage, he says in response to criticism. Because if only foreign students are allowed to receive a temporary contract, landlords will prefer to choose an international rather than a Dutch student.

Sometimes landlords use temporary contracts to increase the rent in the meantime. De Jonge wants to break that pattern with another bill: the Affordable Rent Act. Interim increases will then no longer be possible, because there will be a maximum rental price.

So landlords will not actually benefit from giving a temporary contract, the minister says. A temporary contract is only of use to them if the room is actually available temporarily.

In the House of Representatives, SP and D66 in particular felt surprised by the minister’s course. But they no longer see any options to stop the measure. Too few other parties support their debate requests.

HOP, Olmo Linthorst

For the time being, DUO does not have to come up with heavier evidence if the student finance company accuses students of cheating on the basic grant for those living away from home, a majority in the parliament decided.

DUO uses home visits to check whether students who receive a grant for living away from home actually live on their own. Last year, research by news agency HOP, Investico and NOSop3 (in Dutch) showed that this almost only happened to students with a non-western migration background. Moreover, the service sometimes relies on flimsy neighbourhood interviews and sloppy home visits.

In a parliamental debate last week, parties Groenlinks-PvdA, SP and DENK called on the government ‘to adopt a new control method where the burden of proof is placed less on students and more on DUO’. The motion was rejected.

Human measure

However, a majority does believe that affected students should receive a personal letter of apology. The parliament also believes that legislation should be tested on ‘human measures’ and that anti-fraud measures should be screened for discrimination. DUO should work with scientifically based algorithms from now on. But a majority does not want to rule out ‘risk-based supervision’ in advance.

When the news from HOP, Investico and NOSop3 came out last year, now outgoing minister Dijkgraaf disabled the algorithm DUO used to determine who was to expect a home visit. That algorithm was indirectly discriminatory and never properly substantiated. In the debate, Dijkgraaf said he wants to further scrutinise the system of checks.

Alice Stäbler will become interim director of the Innovation & Impact Centre (I&IC) as of 28 March. This is stated in a message on intranet. Stäbler replaces Kemo Agović who, according to the message, ‘recently decided to step down from his position as Director I&IC to pursue a new career path’.

Since 2018, Alice Stäbler has been working as an independent consultant and coach of organisations and companies in the public and private sectors. On intranet, she explains what her ‘main goals’ are: to ‘start the process of finding a new Director for I&IC and to ensure that all positions within the organisation are properly staffed’.

A letter sent in by I&IC employee Jan Schiereck in Delta placed Agović’s departure in a new light. He wrote, and several sources confirmed this, that the outgoing Director had not been in the office since last November. The Executive Board is said to have prohibited the I&IC management team from talking about the reason why. Incidentally, in the 27 February Executive Board message about that departure, the Board wrote that Agović would not leave until June.

  • Delta is investigating what is going on at I&IC. Would you like to contribute to that? If yes, you can email us at tudelta@protonmail.com.

Violence, threats, persecution, sexual harassment, the withdrawal of research funds: worldwide, many scientists have to deal with these things, the global counts of Scholars at Risk, for instance, show. At the request of minister demissionary Dijkgraaf and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), Utrecht law professor Janneke Gerards collected more studies and they mostly point in the same direction.

TU Delft

“Up to 40 per cent of scientists doing climate research have been threatened at one time or another,” Gerards says in a press release (in Dutch). “The same goes for scientists who did research on COVID-19. Such threats lead to scientists not daring to publish their research, engaging in self-censorship, or even quitting. Female scientists and scientists from certain minority groups are particularly at risk in this regard.”

Outgoing minister Dijkgraaf, among others, points to the problems in the Netherlands. His ministry’s news release says: “Recently, the education inspectorate drew firm conclusions about social safety at TU Delft. Safety is essential for scientists to do their important work. Dijkgraaf therefore thinks there should be more focus on this. This is a problem that concerns everyone. From government to knowledge institutions, to departments.”

HOP, BB

  • Also read how Dijkgraaf reacted earlier to the inspectorate’s report on the lack of social safety at TU Delft.

Last academic year, more women than men were awarded a PhD. The difference was bigger than ever: 182 PhDs. This is mainly thanks to the medical sciences. How about at TU Delft?

It happened once before that more women than men completed their PhDs at the Dutch universities. This was in 2020/2021 and the difference back then was a mere five PhDs.

© HOP. Source: CBS.

Last academic year, 2,651 women were awarded PhDs, which is a record number. Even in the peak year 2020/2021, when PhD candidates in the medical sciences in particular caught up after falling behind due to the COVID pandemic, there weren’t this many women that obtained a PhD.

TU Delft

At TU Delft, the number of women obtaining PhDs is still in the minority. That number has fluctuated between 26 and 30 % for at least a decade.

Internet via glass fibre is just the beginning. Photons (particles of light) are expected to gradually take over the role of electrons as information carriers. Electronics becoming Photonics. Photo Integrated Circuits (PICs) are expected to be faster and more energy-efficient in transporting and processing data than the ICs we know today.

The 4TU programmes in Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering are responding to this trend with a new MasterPlus programme in optics and photonics (MPOP) starting in September this year. In this constellation, 4TU works with stimulation platform PhotonDelta and promotion initiative Optics Netherlands.

The technical universities will offer their own specialised courses in optics and photonics and facilitate inter-university activities and training, giving students the flexibility to take courses on different university campuses. In addition, students will gain practical experience in industry.

Programme director for Applied Physics (Faculty of Applied Sciences, AS) Dr Aurèle Adam says: “By providing students with in-depth knowledge and practical skills in optics, the programme not only ensures the competitiveness of Dutch universities. It also stimulates Dutch industry in terms of cutting-edge research and applications.”

Some members of the Utrechtsch Studenten Corps drew up a sexualising ‘banga list’ on 30 female students last week. Their parents are demanding action.

The powerpoint ‘Chick presentation year 23’ contains (bikini) pictures of female students of the female student union UVSV. The students are mentioned by name. Pictures are accompanied by comments of the calibre ‘Must get laid quick’. Some of the women are called dragons.

Suspended

The list is said to be widely circulated among students. The two creators are said to have since been suspended. The Utrecht Student Corps USC, where only men can become members, calls the action shameful and repulsive.

USC explains to the AD newspaper that the action is incompatible with the cultural improvement that is said to have begun in recent years. ‘Much attention is paid to sexual well-being and sexual safety, such as the Are-you-okay campaign conducted in the Woolloomooloo bar and through various workshops offered to our student houses and members throughout the year,’ the statement said.

Removal

Meanwhile, the Utrecht city council and Mayor Dijksma have expressed their dismay and shock. The public prosecutor’s office has also launched an investigation into the corps.

Parents of the female students engaged lawyers on Friday and demanded that Utrecht University and student associations ensure removal of the list from all student houses on pain of a fine ‘to responsible persons’.

HOP, Bas Belleman | Delta

With 144 HBO (university of applied sciences) credits in his pocket, a student asks for an exemption. He wants to start his final thesis at Leiden University for his bachelor’s degree in Public Administration Sciences right away, but the university does not approve. Nor does the judge.

The law speaks of ‘Bachelor level’, says the student. So what difference does it make whether you get the credits at a university of applied sciences or a university? He brings in 144 HBO credits he has accumulated from various institutions. According to him, that is equivalent to almost the entire university programme in Public Administration Sciences at Leiden University.

If it were up to the student, he would start writing his thesis right away. By doing so, he says he can demonstrate that he can “work and think at an academic level”.

Council of State

That is a bit too fast for the examination board of the study programme. It thinks there is indeed a difference in level between HBO and university. And in this, the committee is vindicated by the Examinations Appeals Board of Leiden University.
The student also fell short at the Council of State. The judges are not dealing with the substance of the case and do not want to discuss the difference in educational level. What they do say: in the Public Administration Sciences programme, a student may never apply for more than 30 credits of exemptions anyway. (HOP, OL)

Can we look differently at our place in the universe? And how do we learn to treat our planet with more respect? These and other questions are the main focus of the festival For Love of the World on Saturday 23 March in Theater de Veste.

During the event, organised by Studium Generale, participants will take part in various activities reflecting on the future. The programme includes (interactive) lectures by scientists Heinrich Päs, Andreas Weber and Elisa Giaccardi. There are also various art installations, workshops, theatre and dance performances and discussions on, among other things, meat consumption through the eyes of a frog.

  • Festival For Love of the World
  • Saturday 23 March from 15.00-21.00 in Theater de Veste
  • Tickets for the festival cost EUR 12.50 for students and EUR 24.50 for other visitors.
  • Click here for more information on the event.