Three Vici grants awarded to Delft researchers

The Vici grant worth a maximum of 1.5 million euros is intended for ‘advanced’ scientists, giving them the opportunity to work on a five-year project with their research group.

With three awarded grants, TU Delft is among the five most successful universities. Professor Guido de Croon (Aerospace Engineering). is researching biologically inspired artificial intelligence for autonomous robots. He is developing a small drone with insect intelligence. Professor Marios Kotsonis (also AE) is researching how to reduce the aerodynamic drag of aircraft wings. This could play a key role in reducing emissions. Professor Susan Steele-Dunne (Civil Engineering and Geosciences) will use the money to take measurements in forests using satellite radar to study the response of ecosystems to climate change and human impact.

AI

A lot of money is going to AI research as well: one grant recipient wants to harness its computing power to gain “transformative insights” in mathematics and physics; another wants to use it to investigate how our brain makes predictions. A third wants to deploy AI for making more reliable literature reviews in science.

Two Vici grants have been awarded to scientists at the Leiden Observatory who intend to research “mysterious supermassive black holes” and stellar winds that carry away exoplanetary atmospheres.

11 percent awarded

For this Vici round, NWO received 337 pre-proposals. 110 researchers were allowed to draft an elaborate application and 11 percent ended up getting a grant. Last year, 13 percent of the requests were honoured.

With twenty Vici grants, women researchers are well-represented this year. Men submitted more proposals, but were less successful: 8 percent was awarded a grant, versus 14 percent of the women.

Recently, three professors calculated that the chances of securing a Veni grant for recently graduated PhDs has historically been higher for women than for men. It would appear that NWO overshot its target of eliminating the disadvantage for women, the trio asserted. They were unable to demonstrate this for the Vici grant.

HOP, Olmo Linthorst
Translation: Taalcentrum-VU