Rubicon: ‘I’m bringing my own funding with me’

Doe mij maar Nederlands

Loeff found a place in the laboratory of Martin Jinek at the University of Zurich (UZH). Jinek became well-known through his work at the lab of Jennifer Doudna (USA), one of the discoverers of the CRISPR-Cas system that enables researchers to make highly precise modifications of cells. UZH is thus an attractive place for a biochemist who has thrown himself into CRISPR.

“In Delft, I studied under Chirlmin Joo and examined the interaction of proteins under the microscope only using molecular fluorescence,” says Loeff on the telephone. “You can use this technique to see the interactions that a protein undergoes in real time. UZH is very strong in structural biology and use another technique to look at proteins at atomic level. I hope to couple these two techniques so that I can carry out functional structure studies in the future.”

‘We hope to discover new tools such as CRISPR’

“We will research the different immune systems of bacteria and, in doing so, hope to discover new tools such as CRISPR. There are probably dozens of CRISPR-like genetic tools that we do not yet know about.”

The granting of the Rubicon had nothing to do with Loeff’s choice of the UZH – that was decided earlier. But it does give him the chance to stay there for at least two years. On top of this, he says that “I am bringing my own funding with me. This gives me more freedom.”

21% honoured 

Seventeen young doctors received a Rubicon to go abroad. This is often an important step in their careers, says an NWO research funder. Loeff was the only recipient from TU Delft. In total there were 81 applications, 21% of which were honoured. Every year, NWO supports about 60 young researchers in three rounds to an amount of EUR 7 million.

Movement researcher 

Last year, TU Delft’s movement researcher Dr Eline van der Kruk received a Rubicon to carry out research at Imperial College London. Since then, she regularly posts vlogs about her experiences on NWO’s Facebook page.