The Organic Chemistry and Catalysis (OCC) group at Utrecht University is involved in the development of novel catalytic transformations to address the challenges of sustainable development. To design novel transition-metal complexes that perform specific tasks, a detailed understanding of the mechanism of the studied reactions is required. The OCC group has a long-standing tradition of addressing these questions through experimental means (synthesis, spectroscopy, kinetics, etc…). Computational methods, in particular density functional theory (DFT) methods, yield very valuable information about the atomistic details of chemical transformations. For 5 years, the OCC group has had access to the SurfSARA facilities (2 years on LISA, 3 years on Cartesius) in the frame of the pilot project “Improving green catalysts through computational design”, for which we are applying for a renewal here. DFT in now routinely used in the OCC group as a tool to i) give insight into the electronic structure of the organometallic compounds and intermediates under study, ii) provide deep understanding of reaction mechanisms, and iii) guide the design of novel catalysts. Dr Marc-Etienne Moret (MEM), assistant professor in the OCC group, has a strong background in computational chemistry and leads this effort. We believe that the tight interaction between theory and experiment within the group will lead to valuable insights and accelerate the discovery process.

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With the loss of kidney function, the removal of unwanted solutes becomes inefficient. Bioartificial kidney (BAK), an extension to current dialysis therapy, aims at using specialized cells to cover hollow fiber membranes as functional units of a device to remove solutes not eliminated by conventional dialysis. By applying a highly multidisciplinary approach, we will use the experimental data and in silico numerical modeling to predict BAK performance. Iteratively, the digital designs will be transferred into a microphysiological systems and tested for efficacy of solutes removal. The integrated approach will enable designing an optimal BAK.

People with migration background still score alarmingly low on the Dutch labor market compared to Dutch natives. However, this is much less so for migrants who hold social relationships with Dutch natives. The literature assumes that Dutch natives transfer system knowledge about the Dutch labor market to people with migration background which is crucial for their job-seeking process. However, this assumption has never been empirically tested. In this project I examine if contact to Dutch natives indeed increase migrants’ knowledge of the Dutch labor market, thereby positively influencing migrants’ chances on the labor market.

Dit project ontwikkelde een methode om satellietradar-altimeterwaarnemingen van de Groenlandse ijskap te verwerken. Radargolven dringen door in de sneeuwlaag, wat voor meetambiguïteit zorgt. Een nieuw adaptief retracker (de vorm van het gereflecteerde signaal)-algoritme werd ontworpen om dit penetratie-effect te verminderen. De promovendus testte verschillende retracker-varianten met ICESat-2 laseraltimetriegegevens, waarbij optimale parameters werden geïdentificeerd om de hoogtemetingen te verbeteren. Het onderzoek bestudeerde ook de relatie tussen hoogte- en massaveranderingen van de ijskap, wat inzichten bood om onzekerheden in altimetrisch afgeleide massaveranderingen en hun bijdrage aan de zeespiegelstijging beter te beperken.