How can climate policy lead to behavioural change? ChangeAble develops new knowledge aimed at accelerating behavioural change, provides insight into which individual, social and contextual factors stimulate sustainable behaviour, and how and when policy can effectively leverage them. ChangeAble also provides insight into how tipping points can be reached by improved policy timing for more widespread and faster sustainable behavioural change. ChangeAble identifies, develops and tests interventions to promote changes in social conventions in five policy areas. In this way, ChangeAble contributes to more effective, efficient, acceptable and just climate policy by making better use of behavioural knowledge in policy.

In SMiLES stellen we de oprichting van een ‘living lab’ voor waarin we de Noordelijke regio gebruiken als testcentrum voor de kansen van logistieke deelsystemen. Tegelijkertijd proberen we te begrijpen welke barrières er zijn hoe we ze kunnen aanpakken. Samen met zeven faculteiten van de Rijksuniversiteit en enkele van de belangrijkste Publieke en Private partners uit de regio bekijken we zo de economische, technische, juridische, ethische en psychologische kansen en barrières van verschillende logistieke deelsystemen. We willen dat het living lab een plek is waar wetenschap, praktijk en opleiding samen komen om samen te werken aan een duurzame toekomst.

Metamaterials – man-made complex-structured materials – have exceptional properties highly needed in industry, medicine, and engineering. They enable super-resolution, can attenuate aircraft noise, and even mitigate seismic waves. However, their practical use is scarce due to insufficient knowledge on material-architecture interplay. This project will fill in this gap by studying 3D-printed polymer metamaterials. 3D-printing is becoming a versatile technique to provide solutions for multiple sectors with polymers covering about 80% of its manufacturing needs. We will uncover how to 3D-print metamaterials with expected functionalities by properly composing base components. This will enable its real-world applications and new advanced metamaterial designs.

This new research infrastructure will enable researchers to understand how (smart) materials and biological processes behave and function on the molecular level. Combining light and microwaves together with a form of molecular MRI scanning allows for new insights of how molecules move and interact. A central focus is on seeing processes on surfaces of materials, such as catalysts and solar panel materials. These new abilities will be deployed in studies of molecular machines, ‘green’ materials, drug carriers, and ageing-associated diseases.

Copper salts are commonly used in (organic) agriculture to combat bacterial and fungal pests, but accumulate in soil and have detrimental effects on crops and soil. In this project sustainable pesticides including microgel delivery technology for their application will be developed and tested in the field. Their effectiveness to protect against plant disease and their impact on the soil will be evaluated. The work will be carried out by a consortium of Dutch and Brazilian scientists together with agronomic companies and a research institute dedicated to citrus fruit cultivation. The end product should be a more sustainable agriculture practice.