22 Starting research talents fan out all over the world with Rubicon

Description

22 researchers who have recently received their PhDs can do their research at foreign research institutes thanks to a Rubicon grant from NWO. The Rubicon programme gives young, highly promising researchers the opportunity to gain international research experience.

Top institutions

For many researchers, experience abroad is an important step in their career. Thanks to the Rubicon grant these young researchers can do their research at a foreign institute that offers the best environment for their research.  

Facts and figures

93 researchers submitted a proposal for Rubicon, 49 of them women and 44 men. The overall award rate was 23.7%. The award rate was 26.5% for women and 20.5% for men. In total, 21 Rubicon researchers go abroad for 24 months, 1 for 12 months. 8 laureates are going to the United States, 6 to the United Kingdom. 5 laureates are going to Germany. The rest of the individual researchers are going to Canada, Denmark, France, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland.

Rubicon

With a Rubicon grant researchers can spend up to 24 months doing research at a foreign institution. The size of the grant is dependent on the destination chosen and the duration of the stay. Each year, NWO/ZonMw can fund about 60 young researchers within Rubicon (for a total amount of 7 million euros allocated over three rounds). The awards in this item concern the combined second and third round of 2021.

They will investigate, amongst others, how courts can learn from each other in climate change litigation, how to design detailed models for novel molecules with quantum mechanics as its guide and how to get outbalanced soil healthy again. Another researcher wants to know how DNA changes can lead to disease.

List of awardees:

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A tale of Newton and Schrödinger: Guiding the design of classical models by quantum mechanics

Dr. S. (Selim) Sami, University of Groningen -> United States -> Pitzer Theory Center, University of California, Berkeley -> 24 months

Molecular simulations can improve our understanding of biologically and technologically important materials. The reliability of these simulations, however, depend on the accuracy of the underlying molecular models. The researcher will develop an algorithm that will design detailed models for novel molecules with quantum mechanics as its guide.

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