Vidi is aimed at experienced researchers who have already conducted successful research for several years after obtaining their PhD. Together with the Veni and Vici grants, Vidi is part of the NWO Talent Programme. A total of 778researchers submitted a research project proposal for funding in this Vidi round. Of these, 149 were honoured this time, including the 15 projects below from Radboud University and Radboud university medical center.
Anatomy of the #Bookish: Unraveling the Reading Life of Teenagers in an Evolving Mediascape
Jeroen Dera, Faculty of Arts
What can we learn from teenagers who do read in an era of declining reading motivation? Like their peers, they are deeply immersed in social media—yet they still manage to remain engaged readers. This project will closely follow book-loving teenagers to understand how they shape their reading lives in a culture increasingly defined by digitalization and declining literacy. Based on the findings, the project will develop a new theoretical framework for understanding young readers’ identities. In addition, it will create innovative educational materials for teacher training programs and provide up-to-date policy recommendations for reading promotion organizations.
Quantifying the impact of structural proteins on chromatin biophysics from the molecular to nuclear scale
Jorine Eeftens, Faculty of Science
Our DNA is tightly packed inside cells, and its organization plays a crucial role in controlling which genes are turned on or off. Proteins influence DNA organisation, impacting cell function, development, and disease. This project uses advanced imaging and biophysical techniques to study how these proteins interact with DNA and affect organization. Understanding these mechanisms will provide new insights into gene regulation, cell behavior, and potential links to diseases such as cancer.
WECARE Women building cities: overcoming violence and transforming the city with communities of care
Sonja Marzi, Faculty of Social Sciences
Cities globally face increasing inequality, insecurity, and fragmentation, especially for women, worsened by state withdrawal and political shifts away from urban safety and sustainability. In Latin America, violence and crime further intensify these issues. Despite these challenges, urban peripheries have pioneered women-led grassroots urbanism and governance that create lasting, community-driven change rooted in practice of care. The WECARE project co-produces data with women in marginalised urban areas of Colombia and Mexico to explore how they create more liveable, safe, and sustainable urban spaces and develops a theory of ‘communities of care’ that is relevant beyond the Latin America context.
SHINE: SHaping unequal futures through Inherited NEtworks
Roza Meuleman, Faculty of Social Sciences
The issue of inequality passed down from generation to generation has long been a central topic in discussions about equal opportunities. Surprisingly, the role of parental networks in this process remains unclear. This project investigates how parents transmit their network connections to their children, which similarities there are between parents' and children's networks, and how inherited networks affect (adult) children's career opportunities. By addressing these questions, the project aims to contribute to a more inclusive and accessible labour market.
Understanding the effect of side-channel information in post-quantum cryptography (PQ-HINTS)
Simona Samardjiska, Faculty of Science
Due to the realistic threat that quantum computers pose to the widely deployed traditional cryptography, academia and industry are working intensively on the migration to post-quantum cryptographic algorithms that are resistant to quantum-computer attacks. A major challenge is providing efficient implementations, secure against attacks that exploit physical side-channel leakage. The traditional countermeasures seem to be prohibitively expensive and often, not effective enough. This project will propose models to better understand how algorithm specifics influence the impact of side-channel attacks to security and provide more efficient and cheaper protection while still offering provable security guarantees.
Taming frequency in Bayesian inverse wave scattering
Laura Scarabosio, Faculty of Science
Inverse wave scattering is a powerful technique for exploring the surroundings: a wave - such as sound or light - is sent to an inaccessible area, on which information is gathered by measuring the returning signal. However, since measurements are inevitably affected by noise, a natural question arises: how reliable is the reconstruction? Answering this is especially challenging with high frequency waves, which allow to detect more details but are also more sensitive to noise. This project will develop advanced computational methods to quantify the reliability of inverse scattering reconstructions at high frequencies.
Eternal hybrids: stabilizing hybrid vigour by engineering synthetic crop species
Charles Underwood, Faculty of Science
In agriculture growers prefer to use hybrid seeds, coming from crosses between mother and father, as they give rise to crops with improved vigour and performance than both parents. However, hybrid seeds must be re-made on an annual basis and are expensive. This project will develop a new method that will allow the stable inheritance of all genetic information over generations through hybrid tomato seeds. Building on this breakthrough, super tomato hybrids – containing the complete genetic information of four different tomato species – will be developed that could benefit from higher levels of hybrid vigour and improved yield.
Decolonising Reparations: Transforming the Legacies of Colonialism
Sanne Weber, Nijmegen School of Management
Events like the Rhodes Must Fall movement and the worldwide toppling of colonial statues have created a sense of urgency to address global and historical injustices. Investigations have since been undertaken and apologies made for colonialism and slavery. Yet survivors often expect more material and tangible forms of redress. This project zooms in on the need for reparations. It compares the experiences and needs of survivors in Belgium, the Netherlands, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo with societal perceptions and political feasibility. The project will decolonise theory on reparations, determining how they can address the legacies of colonialism.
A new in situ NMR method for understanding lithium-mediated ammonia synthesis
Evan Zhao, Faculty of Science
We live in a world transformed by the Haber-Bosch-synthesized ammonia. Used as a precursor for fertilizer, ammonia supplies half of the nitrogen in the human body. However, the Haber-Bosch process is also responsible for approximately 3% of global carbon emissions and consumes 1-2% of the global energy. With climate change accelerating, a greener process is urgently needed. Researchers will develop a new MRI-type tool to aid the development of such a process. This tool will allow researchers to capture how molecules and materials transform and come up with strategies to design an efficient and zero-carbon method to produce ammonia.
Different folks, different strokes: Customizing Knee Injury Treatments after Joint Trauma to Prevent Osteoarthritis.
Martijn van den Bosch, Radboudumc
Osteoarthritis is the most frequent joint disease causing pain, stiffness and immobility due cartilage breakdown and joint inflammation. Severe knee injuries strongly increase the risk of osteoarthritis development and are responsible for 12% of cases. This project will study the inflammation processes in the knee after an injury and how they respond to common drugs to reduce inflammation. The findings will help develop a method to couple the right treatment to patients with severe knee injuries to prevent the development of osteoarthritis.
Insulin signaling-related genetics first: reducing heterogeneity in psychiatry
Janita Bralten, Radboudumc
Psychiatric disorders are common, complex and highly heritable, yet diagnoses lack a solid biological basis. Here I propose to use insulin signaling-related genomics, consistently shown to associate to multiple psychiatric disorders, to stratify individuals across psychiatric conditions. Using advanced clustering techniques and large-scale datasets, I aim to use genetics to identify biologically-informed stratification that can reduce heterogeneity in psychiatry. This work may enable more biologically-informed, personalized approach in psychiatry.
DYNAVIVO: Dynamic Confinement for Engineering In Vivo-like Bone Tissue Models
Mani Diba, Radboudumc
Bone disorders affect millions and impose a heavy burden on healthcare systems. To develop better treatments, scientists need laboratory-based models that closely mimic how real bone forms and functions in the body. One important, but overlooked, feature is how cells are physically confined by their surroundings. These spatial constraints dynamically vary in living tissues like bone, which impacts how cells grow, change, and behave. This project will create a new system that can recreate such dynamic confinement using smart, expandable materials. The goal is to enable more accurate laboratory-based models for studying bone biology and screening new therapies.
When breathing and the brain lose sync: the dark side of mechanical ventilation in the ICU
Jonne Doorduin, Radboudumc
Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) often receive mechanical ventilation. While life-saving, many of these patients suffer brain injury and experience long-term memory problems. In this project, researchers are investigating how mechanical ventilation affects brain function. The researchers will particularly focus on whether ventilation disrupts the natural link between breathing and brain activity. Our breathing rhythm is closely connected to brain rhythms and plays a key role in various brain functions, including memory. Using advanced techniques to measure brain activity, the scientists aim to discover whether this connection is disturbed by mechanical ventilation and how it might be restored.
Rethinking intensive care for children and teens facing mental health challenges
Jelle van Gurp, Radboudumc
Project RESCAPE explores how societal beliefs and norms about living with and treating mental illness influence the use of compulsory care and coercive measures in child and adolescent psychiatry. These measures, often applied to high-risk patients, raise ethical concerns due to their potential harm to both patients and healthcare workers. RESCAPE combines research on personal stories, history, media, and theatre to critically examine these practices and their cultural roots. The project aims to explore alternative approaches, promote better decision-making with young people facing severe mental health challenges, and reduce trauma.
Dying well: a novel ethical theory about dying in a medicalized age
Els van Wijngaarden, Radboudumc
Due to medical advancements, we live longer, but dying has also become more complex. More often we have to decide which treatments we do or do not want, with autonomy seen as essential. This focus on choice fosters the illusion that dying is a manageable event, leaving individuals ill-prepared to deal with the fragility and uncontrollability of life and death. This VIDI-project develops a novel ethical theory of dying well; one that respects autonomy but also acknowledges its existential and relational dimensions. It seeks to provide guidance on how to navigate the final phase of life in a meaningful way.