Radboud University
Ten female PhD candidates from Radboud University received a Christine Mohrmann Stipend on Tuesday 26 March. The aim of the stipend is to encourage PhD candidates to continue their academic careers after the completion of their thesis. The stipend worth 6000 euros gives them the opportunity, for example, to spend a period at a university abroad or to deepen their research in another way.
Since 1990, the Executive Board of Radboud University has awarded the Christine Mohrmann Stipends (until 2015: Frye stipends) annually to promising women PhD candidates. The ten laureates of 2024 are: Maria den Hartog, Dilemin Yildiz, Dian Schrauwen, Tjits van Lent, Anna Oldeman, Gisela Otto, Femke van Hout, Judith van der Knaap, Tessa Ubels and Lucy Spoliar.
Maria den Hartog is interested in formal and informal pronouns of address such as 'u' and ‘je’/'jij' in Dutch, and 'Sie' and 'du' in German. She is particularly concerned with the effect that these forms have on the addressee. One way she investigates this is by looking at the answers to questions formulated using 'u' or 'jij'. With the stipend, Maria will also investigate how the distinction between formal and informal pronouns of address came about in Dutch and German.
Dilemin Yildiz researches rare kidney diseases in which the kidney filter is damaged. During her PhD project, Dilemin developed an organ-on-a-chip model. In this kidney filter model, two different types of kidney cells, which play a role in filtering the blood, can communicate with each other in a microenvironment. She investigates, among other things, which communication signals are disrupted and how these signals can be reactivated. The stipend makes it possible to learn an advanced technique from her collaboration partners in Boston (Harvard University) to further refine her kidney filter-on-a-chip. Ultimately, the model that Dilemin is developing can be used in the future to replace animal testing.
Dian Schrauwen investigates solid molecular materials – such as water ice, solid ammonia, and solid methane – which are representative for interstellar ices. Her experimental setup and her simulations mimic the conditions in interstellar space: a cold, empty, and harsh environment. Specifically, Dian aims to describe how intense infrared light, supplied by the unique lasers of the HFML-FELIX laboratory, influences the structure of these solids. With the stipend, Dian will attend a variety of conferences and schools to learn about astronomical observations and to master all three pillars of the Golden Triangle of Astrochemistry: observation, experiment and simulation.
Tjits van Lent investigates learning processes in prejudice. The aim is to gain a better understanding of how prejudice is learned, and then to examine whether prejudice can be reduced through learning processes. She investigates these fundamental learning processes with behavioural experiments. With the stipend, Tjits will visit a leading research group on attitudes and attitude change at Ohio State University. Here, she will share the findings of her PhD research and start a joint research project.
Anna Oldeman conducts research on the increased parliamentary involvement in the dissolution of Parliament in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Dissolution of Parliament is the power of the government to call for an early election. The United Kingdom has recently experimented with parliamentary involvement by law. Anna wishes to allocate the grant for a stay in London, with the aim of comparing the constitutional consequences of parliamentary involvement on the dissolution of Parliament.
Gisela Otto explores how organizations create value while dealing with an increasing number of stakeholders. How do organizations deal with conflicting interests? How can they make stakeholders part of decision-making processes? The focus is on understanding the skills and tools needed to consider not only customers, but also other stakeholders such as governments, suppliers, local communities and NGOs. Gisela will use the stipend to visit the ‘Center for Market Studies’ in Stockholm to share her findings and forge plans for future collaborations.
Femke van Hout studies the mechanisms that define virus transmission by Aedes mosquitoes, notorious for spreading diseases like Zika and Dengue. She aims to understand why these mosquitoes are so good at transmitting viruses. Currently, Femke is advancing methods to characterize the mosquito’s response to viral infection, specifically at the level of gene expression. During her visit to collaborators at KTH Stockholm, Femke will use the stipend to expand these methods from cell culture models to actual mosquito tissues.
Judith van der Knaap is studying greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ditches in peatlands to find out how much GHG is emitted and what the driving factors behind these emissions are. She seeks to understand the spatial and temporal variation of GHG emissions using new and innovative analyzers that measure continuously. For example, do ditches with a dead-end emit more GHGs, and does land management affect the amount of emissions? With the stipend, Judith plans to visit Bristol University and research the age of carbon in ditches through C14 dating.
Tessa Ubels researches the intended and unintended effects of psychosocial support for undocumented migrants in the Netherlands and refugees in Uganda. She conducts mixed-methods research and has collected longitudinal interview and survey data in both countries. Her research looks at whether psychosocial support brings change to participants' well-being and social lives. Tessa will use the stipend to visit Durham University, where she will study how people live together after conflict, and how they work towards more peaceful relationships.
Lucy Spoliar conducts research into representations of Jewish and Muslim women in British comedy entertainment, from 2010 to the present. In particular, her research is concerned with the ways in which intersecting discourses on religion, race, gender and sexuality are variously made visible, reproduced and complicated through comedy material. Lucy wants to use the stipend to visit the Centre for Comedy Studies Research, Brunel University London to collaborate with researchers working there on comedy and the politics of representation.