The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research

Fundamental research with an eye for reality Grand societal challengesand their future solutions From the search for new antibiotics toinnovations in wastewater treatment to underwater adhesivesSuccess stories Top research Eager people Public private partnerships

Chemical Sciences

ANNUAL MAGAZINE NWO CHEMICAL SCIENCES

2015-2016

elements2HeHelium

atomic mass: 4,0026 / discovered by: Pierre Janssen and Norman Lockyer

Publisher:Netherlands Organisation for

Scientific Research (NWO) Division of Chemical Sciences

PO Box 934602509 AL The Hague

The Netherlands+31 (0)70 344 05 56

communicatie-cew@NWO.nlwww.nwo.nl/cw

Extra copy or questionsThis annual magazine is distributed amongstakeholders and potential collaborators.

If you want to receive your own copy, pleaseemail your request including your postal

address to the communications office:communicatie-cew@NWO.nl.

The same address is used if you have anyquestions about this publication or wish to

use any of the content.

Editor:NWO Chemical Sciences

(Irene Hamelers, Marijn Hollestelle, Marije Huiskes-Tolsma, Mark Kas,Debora Klaar, Daniëlle Kollerie,

Marjolein Lauwen)

Contributing editors:Nienke Beintema, Sonja Knols-Jacobs,

Astrid van de Graaf, Esther Thole

Photography:Jan-Kees Steenman, Shutterstock

Translation:Johnston Text & Training

Design:WAT ontwerpers, Utrecht

Press: Zalsman B.V

content

6High tech search for newantibiotics Gilles van Wezel is looking for newclasses of antibiotics in the battle againstmulti-drug-resistant bacteria

10Putting valorisation of academicresearch into practiceBiopharmaceutical company LanthioPharma is the best chemical start-up

20Making it stick

The glue of the sandcastle worm hastriggered Marleen Kamperman to devise

a new class of underwater adhesives

4Chemistry &StrategyBen Feringa, TanjaKulkens & Bert JanLommerts share theirthoughts

34From fundamental research totrue innovations in wastewatertreatmentProducing valuable materials from waste will be the next big challenge for Mark van Loosdrecht

30Tackling chiralityTwo university groups and two companieshave joined forces to create a new toolboxfor chiroptical analysis

elements 3Li

Lithium

atomic mass: 6,941 / discovered by: Johan August Arfvedson

introduction

Chemistry connects

Dr Louis B.J. Vertegaal, Director NWO Chemical and Physical Sciences

Welcome to this third issue of Elements, the magazine in which NWO ChemicalSciences presents the entire spectrum of the chemical research to which wecontribute. In the articles here, more than ever, you will discover the kinds ofconnections that are made in the chemical sciences. Those are by no means limitedto chemical compounds themselves. They also include the connections with otherscientific disciplines, as well as those between universities and between nationaland international research projects. They include connections with largecorporations, but also with small companies. By means of its programming andfinancing, NWO stimulates this cooperation on various levels.

As chemists, we are used to designing new compounds, to studying, improving orusing existing ones, and to finding ways of producing them more efficiently. Thisissue presents nice examples of that, such as the synthesis of amino acids that willhopefully lead to medications for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, for example.Or new polymers that enable components to adhere to each other even when theyare under water. Chemistry plays a vital role when it comes to making connectionswith other disciplines. That is something that we hope will truly flourish under thenew strategy of NWO Chemical Sciences.

The new, overall NWO strategy that was introduced in the spring of 2015 offersroom for all this frontier disciplinary research, for established researchers butespecially also for young talent. It offers room for fundamental research but also for research that takes on the challenges that have been identified by industry or by society in general. In short, it offers room for research that connects scientificdisciplines.

The challenges we face as a society demand that we create stronger connectionsbetween science on the one hand and society and the business community on theother. Scientific research remains essential if we are to come up with newtechnological developments as to form solutions to these societal challenges. This also calls for adjustments to be made within the organisation of NWO itself.NWO wants to further strengthen its role in terms of making connections. Now,more than ever, the various disciplines need to come together. However, that will be difficult if they all remain separately managed and funded. The organisation will be reorganised with an eye to increasing efficiency: the current scientificdisciplines and foundations will be clustered into four domains. The choice for alarge domain of Natural and Mathematical Sciences will facilitate the cooperationacross disciplines and increase the flexibility to respond to scientific and societaldevelopments. In the process, the various disciplines will be able to find their placewhile maintaining their strong individual character and value.

Let chemistry connect and inspire!

Read more (in Dutch) about the NWO’s new strategy: www.nwo.nl/strategie

AND MORE

14Synthesis for better medicinesMario van der Stelt, Jan van Hest, Gerrit Poelarends

22Facilities: NanoLabNL

29My Chemistry: Team Smart Starchwins the first Topsector ChemistryStudent Competition

32Talent: ViciLuc Brunsveld

‘Chemical sciences are the foundation ofthe Dutch chemical industry, which in itsturn is vital to our manufacturing industryof the future. In the new NWO ChemicalSciences strategy, we have positionedchemistry as a central science with closeconnections to many other disciplines. In that sense, our strategy is inaccordance with the transition plans ofNWO, in which Chemical Sciences will be incorporated in a broader NaturalSciences and Mathematics domain.

After consulting academia, societalpartners and industry about theirchemistry-related challenges for thefuture, we decided to focus on threemain themes: Chemistry of Life,Chemistry of Materials, and ChemicalConversion. These are areas in whichchemistry can make the difference.General fields like analytical chemistry,catalysis, and chemical engineering areenabling technologies for these themes.

Our strategy is in line with the roadmapsof the Top Sector Chemistry. The basisremains strong fundamental research,which is why we keep making a strongcase for funding instruments like theOpen Competition, TOP and ECHO. Inaddition to this we want to link academicresearch to societal and industrial needs.

In the Netherlands, the ties betweenchemical research and industry havealways been very close. It’s our role asNWO Chemical Sciences to organise the research funding in such a way thatthe Netherlands can excel along the linessketched in the strategy.’

elements4BEBeryllium

atomic mass: 9,012182 / discovered by: Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin

chemistry matters

Positioning chemistry as a central science

Ben Feringa, Chair of the NWO Chemical Sciences Board

Challenge to facilitate the entire chain

Tanja Kulkens, Deputy director NWO Chemical Sciences

Chemistry & Strategy

‘We want to linkacademic research to societal andindustrial needs’

‘A growing number of SMEs are coming

on board’

‘We are facing tough choices. Althoughthe themes we have defined are stronglymultidisciplinary in nature, we also firmlybelieve that such multidisciplinaryresearch can only thrive when chemistry is a strong discipline.

Furthermore, we would like to facilitatethe entire chain, from science for scienceand science for society to science forindustry. The Chemical Sciences Boardtries to guarantee a firm science forscience part. NWO also has an importantrole in science for the Top Sectors andpublic-private partnerships. For science forsociety the possibilities within ChemicalSciences are currently limited. We hopethat with the new NWO organisation, we will get more financial opportunitiesto support this type of research, which is

often carried out at the interface betweendifferent disciplines.

In public-private partnerships we see achange in the type of companies involvedin academic research. In addition to thelarger companies, a growing number ofSMEs are coming on board. Their horizonis often shorter, and the financialpossibilities to co-finance are smaller. This development requires a dynamic andflexible palette of instruments, which wecan customise to specific needs.

The most important challenge for thecoming years will be how we canfinancially sustain the various instrumentsfor chemical research in the chain fromscience to innovation.’

chemistry matters

elements 5B

Boron

atomic mass: 10,811 / discovered by: Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac and Louis Jaques Thénard

‘Chemistry is in transition. From thehistorical basic chemistry with largecompanies and factories, we are evolvinginto a far more diverse landscape withsmaller enterprises often working onmultidisciplinary subjects. Chemistry isgetting closer to the public, and we canprofit from that fact by establishing apositive image of the sector: chemistry isat the heart of innovations in health, foodand energy.

Chemistry is addressing societal needs,and is actively seeking cooperation withadjacent fields like physics, biology, orpharmacy. A theme such as Chemistry of

Life is not just important for academia,but also for industry. It is no coincidencethat when you compare the NWOChemical Sciences strategy to theroadmaps of the Top Sector Chemistry,there is a huge overlap.

In the coming years, chemistry canbenefit and learn from the experiences ofother domains in cooperating with SMEs.In the Netherlands we are very good atpublic-private partnerships. Thegovernment, and in its name NWO, playsan excellent role in that. Now is the timefor industry to seize that chance andboost its innovative strength for the

longer term by cooperating withacademia.

We are a small country, with a relativelylarge number of powerhouses in a smallarea. We have to use that as a strength to ensure that the Dutch chemistry sectorcan indeed make the difference.’

Industry should seize its chance now

Bert Jan Lommerts, CEO Latexfalt, member of the NWO Chemical Sciences Board

.Ben Feringa, Tanja Kulkens.and Bert Jan Lommerts.

‘In the Netherlands weare very good at public-private partnerships’

elements6CCarbon

atomic mass: 12,011 / discovered in ancient history

challenges

In the battle against multi-drug-resistant bacteria, chemistsare looking for new classes of antibiotics. Gilles van Wezel,professor of Molecular Biotechnology at the Institute ofBiology, Leiden University, is one of them.

Among other things, Van Wezel and hiscolleagues study how to activate ‘cryptic’antibiotics: antibiotics that are not routinelyproduced by bacteria grown underlaboratory conditions. And in a TechnologyArea (TA) of the NWO Innovation FundChemistry which he recently initiatedtogether with zoology professor MichaelRichardson, Van Wezel is studyingantibiotic peptides derived from thepoisons of snakes, spiders and scorpions.Partners in the project are the University of Groningen, Naturalis Biodiversity Centre,Leiden University Medical Center andseveral companies (BaseClear, Dupont,Hitexacoat, Enzypep and MADAMTherapeutics).

‘This TA project has two components’, saysVan Wezel. ‘We are designing a searchengine to screen genomic databases ofpoisonous animals for sequences thatpossibly code for antimicrobial peptides.We also have a unique poison collection atour disposal. And secondly, once promising

peptides have been identified, we willimprove the best candidates by increasingtheir stability and bioactivity.’ This cutting-edge approach, developed in Leiden,represents a first step in bringing thesecompounds to the clinic.

These various project componentsrequire very different skills and areas ofexpertise. ‘You can’t do this withoutmultiple partners that complement eachother’, says Van Wezel. ‘The project involvesfundamental research, including thedevelopment of new ways to identify andcharacterise peptides, it requires state of theart synthetic biology to efficiently producelarge DNA fragments and yet it also hasclear IT, market and pharmaceuticalcomponents.’ The TA financing, as hepoints out, allows scientists to bringtogether relevant academic and businesspartners and to build a lasting network.‘This last aspect is perhaps even moreimportant than the actual financial support,’says Van Wezel. ‘Some of our projectpartners are ‘old friends’, but the TA alsobrought us into contact with entirely newpartners. Altogether this TA project is anexciting new adventure.’

High-tech search for new antibiotics

Hadogenes paucidens

Alternative sources of antibiotics. Streptomyces bacteriaproducing pigmented antibiotics.

.Gilles van Wezel.

elements 7N

Nitrogen

atomic mass: 14,007 / discovered by: Daniel Rutherford

The NWO Innovation Fund Chemistry offers several advantages: access to a large network in both the chemical sciences

and the business sector, collaboration with top scientists, a high success rate with applications and a fast turn-around

(within six weeks for KIEM proposals), and opportunities for joint investments through several types of public-private

partnerships, including CHIPP (Chemical Industrial Partnership Programme), TA (Technology Area), LIFT (Launchpad for

Innovative Future Technologies) and KIEM (Knowledge Innovation Mapping). The Innovation Fund Chemistry also makes

it easier to make agreements about IPR conditions.

www.nwo.nl/fondschemie * SME: Small and Medium sized Enterprises

KIEMKnowledge Innovation Mapping for SME*

€ 18,75k1 or more knowledge institutes

LIFTLaunchpad for Innovative Future Technologies

€ 150k – € 300k1 or more knowledge institutes

TATechnology Area

€ 750k2 or more knowledge institutes

CHIPP SMEChemical IndustrialPartnership ProgrammeSME*

€ 160k2 or more knowledge institutes

CHIPPChemical IndustrialPartnership Programme

€ 1500k2 or more knowledge institutes

€ 3,75k1 or more industrial partners

€ 37,5k – € 75k1 or more industrial partners

€ 250k2 or more industrial partners

€ 80k1 or more industrial partners

€ 750k1 or more industrial partners

€ 15k

€ 112,5k – € 225k

€ 500k

Chemical Sciences

Chemical Sciences

Chemical Sciences

Chemical Sciences

€ 80k

Chemical Sciences

€ 750k

NWO Innovation Fund Chemistry

elements8OOxygen

atomic mass: 15,999 / discovered by: Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Joseph Priestley

VeniA Veni grant offers recently graduated PhDs

the opportunity to further develop and build

their research ideas for a period of three years.

Applications should be submitted within three

years following the PhD degree. The maximum

size of a Veni grant is 250,000 euros.

Veni grants are part of the Talent Scheme

‘Innovational Research Incentives Scheme’ of

NWO, which offers individual grants to

talented and creative researchers. The Talent

Scheme comprises three types of grants: Veni

for young talent, Vidi for experienced

researchers and Vici for aspiring or actual

group leaders.

‘It is very motivatingto follow your owncuriosity’

‘During my PhD research, I had already decided to gofor a Veni grant and I knew from senior colleagueshow important it is to present an original idea that isreally yours’, says Saskia Nijmeijer, postdoc at theAmsterdam Institute for Molecules, Medicines andSystems (AIMMS) at VU University. Her PhD workwas on G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCR), a largefamily of clinically relevant receptors that are targetsfor widely used drugs, like cardiovascular beta-blockers and allergy-relieving antihistamines. ‘I wasready for a fresh perspective and started looking fora niche in the extensive GPCR research field.’ Thesearch brought her to the so-called adhesion GPCRs(aGPCR), a 33-member subgroup within this largeprotein family about which relatively little is known.

Cell positioning‘All aGPCRs have a very large extracellular domainand they are involved in cell positioning andadhesion’, Nijmeijer explains. ‘If the functioning ofaGPCRs is somehow disrupted, cells may start toroam around and end up in the wrong place. Thelink with metastasis is obvious and the role ofextracellular matrix proteins has recently gained a lotof attention from cancer researchers.’ When shesubsequently realised that two aGPCRs subtypes aresignificantly overexpressed in glioblastoma, theleading and most aggressive form of brain cancer,everything fell into place. ‘I decided to focus onthese two aGPCRs. What are their targets and whichsignalling pathways are they involved in?’ While shewas writing her proposal, her enthusiasm andconfidence only grew, in spite of warnings fromothers that she lacked substantial internationalresearch experience. ‘That didn't deter me, I strongly

elements 9F

Fluorine

atomic mass: 18,998 / discovered by: Carl Wilhelm Scheele

talent

Schematic representation of aGPCR

structure and activation.

Carve out your nichebelieved in my plan and my capacity to make it work.It is very motivating to follow your own curiosity.’

Tough testThe good vibes turned out to be justified and inOctober 2014 she could start her project backed bythe Veni grant. As it turned out, the timing was spoton. ‘Almost immediately, two new papers presentedfindings that allowed me to make a promising start. I honestly did not expect things would start off sosmoothly. Usually the first 25% of a research projectis the hardest part to achieve and I have alreadypassed that stage.’ She gladly shares her experienceswith those who aspire to submit a Veni proposal. ‘Be well prepared for the interview. The quality andoriginality of your research plan is assessed throughpeer review. But during the interview, the focus is allon you. Are you the right person to carry out thisplan? Are you capable of building a network andconvincing others of your plans? It is not a formality,the interview really is a tough test. And make sure you stand out from the competition’, she emphasises.‘You are certainly not the only one with a brilliantidea.’

When Saskia Nijmeijer secured a Veni grantin 2014, it was the result of a carefullyplanned process. Her advice: go for a freshperspective that triggers your scientificcuriosity.

‘This prize is also an award for the University ofGroningen, from which we originated, says professorGert Moll, Chief Scientific Officer of Lanthio Pharmaand honorary professor of Protein Modification andFunctionality at the University of Groningen. It is hardto present the recipe for this success. Moll: ‘It hasbeen a joint effort of people with different expertise.Also the trust of our first investors such as

BioGeneration Ventures who saw the potential ofour technology has played a key role.’

The company which currently employs eleven peoplewas founded in 2012. However, the development ofthe technology started ten years before whenprofessor Oscar Kuipers and professor ArnoldDriessen set up a research project that combinedtheir expertise on lanthionine-containing antibioticsand the peptide transport system of the bacteriumLactococcus lactis that introduces lanthionines. ‘A lanthionine is composed of two alanines that areconnected by a thioether bridge that leads to a ringstructure in the peptide’, explains Moll. ‘Such astructure, when present in the ideal location,enhances the receptor specificity and therebyreduces or abolishes side effects’. The bridges mayconstrain the peptide in its optimal target-bindingconformation, making it more effective. In addition,the lanthionine rings confer resistance to breakdownby peptidases, and the resulting increased stabilityprolongs the activity in the body.

Apart from the promising lanthipeptide technology,the jury was also impressed by the early successes inbusiness development. The company sold itstechnology platform to MorphoSys AG. ‘If youdevelop a technology platform as well as a pipelineof new therapeutic drugs, you have to divide yourattention’, says Dr Michiel Lodder, Vice PresidentBusiness Development who joined the firm in 2013.He is experienced in strategic partnerships andlicence deals. ‘So it was an enormous opportunitywhen MorphoSys AG, a German biotech company,was interested in our lanthipeptide technology at avery early stage and took over all our technology-related IP. MorphoSys will develop and commercialise

elements10NeNeon

atomic mass: 20,179 / discovered by: William Ramsay and Morris William Travers

After just two years the young biopharma-ceutical company Lanthio Pharma, located inGroningen, has delivered its first therapeuticdrug for clinical trials. No wonder it receivedthe ‘Gouden Kiem’ on behalf of NWO ChemicalSciences and TKI Chemistry, a prize for the bestchemical start-up of the year during theCHAINS chemistry conference.

Putting valorisationof academic researchinto practice

chemistry and strategy

lanthipeptides

elements 11NaSodium

atomic mass: 22,990 / discovered by: Humphry Davy

Gouden Kiem awardThe Top Sector Chemistry is bristling with start-ups that are

translating the results of scientific research into commercial

products and services. With the ‘Gouden Kiem’ competition

NWO Chemical Sciences and the TKI Chemistry want to raise

the visibility of these new enterprises and reward the most

exceptional example of this. The winning start-up receives a

prize that has three parts:

• Statuette ‘De Gouden Kiem’ made by ceramicist Esther Stasse;

• A KIEM grant of 18,750 euros for a project of the start-up in

collaboration with the university that nominated the start-up;

• An article about the start-up in Elements.

Each year all deans of faculties that house research groups in

chemistry and/or molecular science can each nominate one

start-up.

In 2014, Lanthio Pharma was the first winner of the ‘Gouden

Kiem’. The winner of the ‘Gouden Kiem’ 2015 will be

announced on 1 December 2015 during the NWO chemistry

conference CHAINS.

the technology further. Now we can focus on our pipelineby improving existing peptides and turning them into realtherapeutic drugs.’

The KIEM award is more than a helping hand for abiopharmaceutical start-up claim Moll and Lodder.‘Especially if you’re coming closer to costly clinical trials, as we are with our lead product for Diabetic Nephropathy.It really helps to convince investors’, says Lodder. The KIEMgrant, worth 18,750 euros, will be used to look further atenzymatic modifications of therapeutic peptides incollaboration with the University of Groningen again.

On 7 May 2015, the Biotech company MorphoSys AG inMunich acquired Lanthio Pharma. However the companywill stay as a unit in Groningen.

.Gert Moll and.

.Michiel Lodder.

elements12MaMagnesium

atomic mass: 24,305 / discovered by: Joseph Black

CHAINS 2015

Three days of frontiers in chemistryCHAINS 2015 presents an impressive line-up of international plenaryspeakers. The programme committee, chaired bij prof Wilhelm Huck, isproud of this achievement. This year the programme of CHAINS consistsof three days. On Monday 30 November, the programme focuses onanalytical chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, and (bio)-organicchemistry. On Wednesday 2 December catalysis, process technology,materials chemistry and physical chemistry are the main themes. OnTuesday 1 December, the plenary day, different thematic focus sessionswill give an overview of specific fields, an excellent way for participantsto get acquainted with subjects such as ‘Construction of a SyntheticCell’, ‘Chemical Energy Conversion and Storage’ or ‘Perovskite SolarCell Materials’. The programme also includes the KNCV Gold MedalAward Ceremony and Lecture, award ceremonies of the Top SectorChemistry student competition, the Gouden Kiem competition for the chemical start-up of the year and the Athena Award for youngoutstanding female scientists.

From science to societyThe ‘Industry meets Science’ sessions and the Innovation and Careermarket will showcase the chemical challenges and successes around the themes ‘Energy’ and ‘Lab-on-a-chip’. At the innovation and careermarket, tangible products of knowledge-driven chemical innovationswill be displayed and companies will scout for talent. In short: CHAINS2015 is the place to be for anyone interested in the chemical andmolecular sciences.

For more information, see: www.chains2015.nl

In 2015, NWO Chemical Sciences organises the third edition of CHAINS, a conference which brings together over 1500 Dutch chemists at differentstages of their careers, from all chemical subdisciplines, and from bothacademia and industry. During the event, state-of the-art breakthroughs inchemistry are shared in numerous parallel and plenary sessions. Youngresearchers will also present their latest results with lectures and posters.

CHAINS 2015: ChemistryMatters for the future

Plenary Speakers

Karl Deisseroth - Famous for developingoptical methods for the high-resolutioninvestigation of intact biological systems

Stefan Hell - 2014 Nobel Prize winner for the development of super-resolvedfluorescence microscopy

René Janssen - 2015 NWO SpinozaLaureate and expert in the field of organicsolar cells

Klaus Müllen - KNAW Van ‘t Hoff AwardLecturer 2015 for chemistry; combinesadvanced organic synthesis and materialsscience

Jens Nørskov - Well-known for thedevelopment of theoretical methodsto understand properties of materials

Ada Yonath - 2009 Nobel Prize winnerfor her pioneering work on the structure of the ribosome

elements

Louis Vertegaal, director NWO

Chemical & Physical Sciences

‘CHAINS 2015 is unique in itskind. It offers chemists from allchemical subdisciplines theopportunity to meet, shareknowledge and connect withpeers from science and industry.With this event NWO ChemicalSciences aims to stimulateconnections and collaborations,which may form the basis of newscientific breakthroughs inchemistry. That is of greatimportance, because chemistrymatters for the future!’

Wilhelm Huck, chair of the Programme

Committee, Radboud University Nijmegen

‘Plenary speaker Karl Deisseroth is anexcellent example of what inspires apresent-day chemist: he combinesbiochemistry, neuroscience andpsychiatry to study the brain, and inthe meantime develops new methods to aid this type of research. Chemistryis an important science to help solveurgent issues in society. Hence thisyears’ theme: chemistry matters for the future.’

Eelco Vogt, Programme Committee, Albemarle/Utrecht

University

‘CHAINS addresses all aspects of chemistry: fromfundamental science to innovative products. Takeplenary speaker Jens Nørskov: he combines adeep theoretical and experimental understandingof catalysis at all levels with industrial relevance.Anyone having anything to do with chemistry,can’t afford to miss out on CHAINS.’

Puck Knipscheer, Programme

Committee, Hubrecht Institute

‘I can highly recommend thelecture of plenary speaker andNobel Prize winner Ada Yonath.She is a passionate chemist whospent decades on the pioneeringwork to unravel the structure ofthe ribosome. Yonath is anexcellent speaker and her lectureembodies the atmosphere we aimfor with CHAINS: inspiring,groundbreaking andmultidisciplinary.’

Ben Feringa, chairman NWO Chemical

Sciences

‘CHAINS brings together the entireDutch chemistry community.Participants get a full overview ofhighlights and breakthroughs in thechemical and molecular sciences.CHAINS shows how science, education,and industry in the Dutch chemistryfield are all closely connected.’

atomic mass: 26,982 / discovered by: Humphry Davy 13Al

Aluminiu

m

elements14SiSilicon

atomic mass: 28,085 / discovered by: Jöns Jacob Berzelius

success stories

Elucidating the mechanismsbehind brain inflammation

Van der Stelt: ‘We design, synthesise andtest compounds that inhibit enzymes thatproduce pro-inflammatory lipids in thebrain. This ECHO grant allowed us toappoint a PhD student specifically for thisproject.’

Several promising molecules have beenidentified already in the first year of theproject. These are ready for testing inanimal models. ‘So far the project has beenvery successful’, says Van der Stelt. ‘Wecollaborate with neuroscientists to studythe biological role of the enzymes usingour inhibitors in animal models. Suchcompounds were not available to date.’

In their ECHO project, Van der Stelt and hiscolleagues are visualising the fundamentalmechanisms behind brain inflammation,using probes that actually show the activityof proteins. ‘We need to know how theseenzymes work’, says Van der Stelt, ‘todiscover inhibitors that can control theiractivity. In the longer term, together withpharmaceutical companies, we aim todevelop these compounds for clinicalapplication.’

In various human brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’sdisease, inflammation in the brain plays an important role. Findingmolecules that can counteract such inflammatory processes in the brainis the focus of a recent ECHO project by Mario van der Stelt, associateprofessor of Medicinal Chemistry at Leiden University.

MARIO VAN DER STELT DESIGNS NOVEL

COMPOUNDS THAT CAN CONTROL BRAIN

INFLAMMATION.

Design & synthesis forbetter medicine

elements 15P

Phosporous

atomic mass: 30,974 / discovered by: Hennig Brandt

success stories

Triggering the body’s ownfight against cancer withartificial immune cells Training a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer cells: that is thedream of Jan van Hest, professor of Bio-organic Chemistry at RadboudUniversity Nijmegen. He designs molecular structures that mimic dendriticcells: the immune cells that trigger T-cells. T-cells are the white blood cellsthat recognise and attack harmful particles.

‘An existing, though relatively newtherapy uses a patient’s own dendriticcells, which are activated outside of thebody’, explains Van Hest, ‘and thenreintroduced into the bloodstream. Butthis method is very complex, sensitive,and it takes weeks to grow these celllines outside of the body.’ To make thisapproach quicker, which is a condition forlarge-scale clinical application, Van Hestand his colleagues Carl Figdor and AlanRowan make tiny, synthetic molecularscaffolds that carry a small peptidefragment. These scaffolds are used topresent the peptide fragments as a signalto the body’s T-cells. ‘Ideally this will be a peptide that is characteristic of the

patient’s tumour cells’, explains Van Hest.‘But first we need to answer someremaining questions. What is the effectof the shape of the scaffold, for instance?We now have the technology todetermine the 3D shape of polymerparticles, and are working on ways tocouple peptides to these carriers.’

Although the first generation has beentested successfully in cell and animalstudies, he notes that clinical application is still some time away. Tests in humansusually take years. ‘But if these aresuccessful, we could use this technology to ‘vaccinate’ people against all kinds ofdiseases.’

JAN VAN HEST AND COLLEAGUES ARE

DESIGNING AND TESTING THEIR ‘ARTIFICIAL

DENDRITIC CELLS’ IN VARIOUS MOLECULAR

SHAPES.

Artificial Antigen Presenting Cells

success stories

elements16SSulfur

atomic mass: 32,066 / discovered by: Louis Joseph Gay-Lussac

More specifically, he is developing animproved way to synthesise these aminoacids. He received a KIEM grant – a smallgrant to explore a promising idea –together with two companies: INTEGREXResearch and Syncom BV.

Scientists would like to exploit these aminoacids - derivatives of aspartic acid - to pavethe way for an effective drug. However,making these compounds is a complicated,eleven-step process. ‘So far, we managedto reduce this to three steps’, saysPoelarends. ‘This was possible because weused enzymes as catalysts, instead ofclassical chemical catalysts. With the use ofenzymes, no protecting and deprotectingsteps are needed. The result is an optically

pure product in high yield, in contrast totraditional synthesis. The KIEM fundingallowed us to show that we can do this,and to scale up this process.’

In the academic world, scaling up is notusually an objective, but it is an importantcondition for companies bringing aproduct to the market. In this case,public-private partnership is the mostlogical approach, according toPoelarends: ‘We have the necessaryknowledge on the use of enzymes ascatalysts and the companies know howto scale up industrial processes.’ He notesthat the cooperation has been verysmooth so far. He adds that KIEMfunding is just enough to kick-start apublic-private collaboration and to assesswhether an idea might be successful: ‘It can force real breakthroughs. Andwhen it does, there are other NWOinstruments, such as LIFT, to carry theseinitiatives forward.’

Synthesising amino acids inthree steps - instead of eleven

Diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are linked to malfunctions inthe transport of glutamate, an important neurotransmitter in the brain.Gerrit Poelarends, professor of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at theUniversity of Groningen, is studying amino acids that bind to membrane-bound glutamate transport proteins, and thereby affect glutamate transport.

GERRIT POELARENDS IS DEVELOPING AN

IMPROVED WAY TO SYNTHESIZE AMINO ACIDS.

A pure batch of one of the most interesting aspartic acid derivatives:L-threo-3-benzyloxyaspartic acid.

‘KIEM funding is justenough to kick-start a public-privatecollaboration and toassess whether an ideamight be successful’

elements 17Cl

Chlorine

atomic mass: 35,453 / discovered by: Carl Wilhelm Scheele

challenges

‘We study this process of nanoparticle growth indetail. If we know how it works at the nanoscale, wemay be able to prevent it.’ De Jong studiesnanoparticle growth in the context of a CHIPP projecttogether with Eindhoven University of Technologyand Shell Global Solutions International.

CHIPP, as De Jong highlights, allows partners to buildlong-term relationships and trust. He underlines thesignificant added value of working with partnerShell: ‘It is of tremendous value’, he says, ‘that thereare scientists in industry who provide us with actualchallenges and questions. It ensures that our results,even though they are fundamental, may contributeto making these catalysts more durable, and therebygive rise to more sustainable processes. This is quitestimulating and exciting.’

Johan den Breejen, gas conversion researcher atShell, is equally enthusiastic. ‘Our cooperation isexcellent’, he says. ‘We had already been working

together with Utrecht University for about eight yearswhen this opportunity arose. For us it was a greatchance to expand our collaboration, and also toexplore opportunities with Eindhoven University ofTechnology.’

Shell’s aim with this project is to gain fundamentalinsight in several aspects of heterogeneous catalysis,explains Den Breejen. ‘But it also fits seamlessly intoour ambition to include ‘open innovation’ in our R&D:through cooperation with knowledge institutions wehope to acquire knowledge and inventions that aresuitable for application.’ From the businessperspective, Den Breejen warmly recommendscollaboration with scientists. ‘Not only does it providean opportunity to explore fundamental work - it isalso a source of extra creativity and access to thelatest technologies and insights.’

Increasing the lifespanof nanoparticle-basedcatalysts

Nanotechnology is rapidly finding its way intocatalytic chemistry. Nanoparticle-based catalystsare used, for instance, in the production oftransportation fuels. ‘However, the nanoparticleslose their effectiveness fairly rapidly because theytend to come together and grow into largerparticles’, says Krijn de Jong, professor of InorganicChemistry and Catalysis at Utrecht University.

.Krijn de Jong.

Chemistry@NWO: Chemistry@NWO: CURIOSITY DRIVEN RESEARCH

Life kEuro Mat. kEuro Conv. kEuro

Talent Scheme

Veni 6 1500 4 1000 2 500

Vidi 6 4800 2 1600 2 1600

Vici 3 4500 1 1500 2 3000

Spinoza Prize 2500

Open Competiton

ECHO 9 2340 8 2080 2 520

ECHO-STIP 4 1040 1 260 4 1040

TOP 2 1560 0 3 2340

TOP-PUNT 3 6000 1 2000 0

SOCIETY INSPIRED RESEARCHNWO Innovation Fund Chemistry

CHIPP 0 1 1400 3 1382

TA 5 4368 2 1522 2 1794

KIEM 7 131 4 75 2 38

COMMUNITY BUILDINGScientific meetings and knowledge transfer (in kEuro)

Community Building 400

303applications

85grants

awarded

474running projects

NWO Chemical Sciences granting in numbers (2014)

Independent experts assess the proposals submitted to NWO (peer-

review)

Structural Funding NWO Chemical Sciences (2014) In M€

Research Funding 2014

Talent scheme € 20 M

Open Competition€ 19,2 M

Community Building,Scienti�c meetings and

knowledge transfer€ 0,4 M

NWO InnovationFund Chemistry

€ 10,7 M

50,3M

238 65 67 18

facilities• Investment Grant NWO Medium

• Investment Grant NWO Large• National Roadmap Large-scale

Research Infrastructure• Dutch-Belgian Beamline (DUBBLE)

thematic research• ChemThem• Science for Arts• Forensic Science• Astrochemistry• CO2 Neutral Fuels

NWOChemical Sciences

curiousity driven research

Open Competition• ECHO

• TOP • TOP-PUNT

Gravitation Programme

Talent scheme• Veni• Vidi• Vici

Graduate Programme

society inspired researchNWO Innovation Fund Chemistry • KIEM • LIFT• TA • CHIPP

Com

mun

ity build

ing • International collaboration • Transdisciplinary collaboration

elements18ArArgon

atomic mass: 39,948 / discovered by: William Ramsay and John Strutt (Lord Rayleigh)

overview NWO Chemical Sciences

for science & society for science & society

NWO Chemical Sciences

Veni

64

2

TOP-PUNT

3

1

TOP

32

ECHO-STIP

4

1

4

ECHO

89

2

62

2

Vidi

CHIPP

1

3

Spinoza1

TA

52

2

KIEM

74

2

Vici

3

1

2

curiositydriven

research

society inspired research

Chemistry of Materials

Chemical Conversion

Chemistry of Life

Number of grants awarded in 2014 per main research area

elements 19K

Potassium

atomic mass: 39,098 / discovered by: Humphry Davy

elements20CaCalcium

atomic mass: 40,078 / discovered by: Joseph Black

VidiVidi grants are aimed at excellent scientists who have

demonstrated their ability to generate and effect

creative research ideas. Experienced researchers who

are now ready to carve out their own research line

and lead a small research team. Applications should

be submitted within eight years of completing the

PhD degree. The maximum size of a Vidi grant is

800,000 euros. Prior granting of a Veni grant is not

a prerequisite for submitting a Vidi proposal.

Vidi grants are part of the Talent Scheme

‘Innovational Research Incentives Scheme’ of NWO,

which offers individual grants to talented and

creative researchers. The Talent Scheme comprises

three types of grants: Veni for young talent, Vidi for

experienced researchers and Vici for aspiring or

actual group leaders.

‘A Vidi grant is agreat opportunity to build your ownline of research’

elements 21Sc

Scandium

atomic mass: 44,956 / discovered by: Per Teodor Cleve

talent

Nature is a virtually endless source of inspiration for scientists. ‘I have a longstanding interest in how natural structures areformed’, says Dr Marleen Kamperman, assistant professor at the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Soft Matter atWageningen University. After building a solid background inpolymer chemistry, followed by postdoctoral research onadhesion, Kamperman brought nature into her research. First,supported by a Veni grant, she studied how the feet of thegecko enable this animal to defy gravity and effortlessly scalewalls and ceilings. Now, she has turned her attention to stickymarine creatures, particularly the sandcastle worm(Phragmatoma californica). This tiny worm builds its shelter fromshell fragments and sand grains using glue it secretes from itsown body. In 2014, Kamperman was awarded a Vidi grant for her proposal ‘Sticky when wet’ to study the materialproperties of this glue as a basis for developing a novel class ofunderwater adhesives.

Oppositely charged‘The glue of the sandcastle worm can be described as a complexcoacervate, which is a mixture of two oppositely chargedpolyectrolyte polymer chains’, Kamperman explains. ‘The polymer chains attract each other, creating an insolubledense polymer phase, which separates from the water phase.However, the polymer mixture retains a high amount of water,leading to a syrup-like consistency. It is sticky, but still too fluidto secure strong bonding. Cross-links are needed to generatestructure, strength and toughness.’ In the protein-rich, worm-glue, post-translational modification of those proteins inducesthe formation of cross-links. In a similar fashion, Kampermanplans to couple hydrophobic blocks at the ends of the syntheticpolyelectrolyte chains, resulting in triblock copolymers. ‘We willuse thermoresponsive materials for the tails, which becomehydrophobic above a certain temperature. When that happens,these blocks will bind and form the necessary cross-links.’

Underwater measurement‘The two most important properties of an adhesive are strengthand toughness. However, studying the adhesion and breakingprocess of an underwater adhesive is not straightforward, as atleast part of the measurement equipment needs to beimmersed in the water as well. As part of the Vidi project, I planto build a completely new and unique underwatermeasurement set-up, including microscopes, to follow everystep. And for each new coacervate composition, we will mapthe fundamental properties, which will hopefully tell us how wecan influence and control the mechanical behaviour of this newclass of adhesives.’

Chemistry, physics, biology - Kamperman enjoys bridgingvarious disciplines. ‘All my experience and interests cometogether in this project. A Vidi grant is a great opportunity tobuild your own line of research.’ Freedom in research isessential, she says. Also for PhD students. ‘I want them to comeup with their own ideas and approaches. During my PhDresearch, I learned the value of creating something that is reallyyours. I wish a similar experience for them.’

Making it stickThe sandcastle worm lives up to its name. From sand and shells, it builds itsown little underwater castle. The glue used by the worm has triggered MarleenKamperman to devise a new class of underwater adhesives.

A sandcastle worm peeking out from its self-constructedtubular home. In this laboratory setting, the worms weregiven beads as a building material.

magnet for international scientific talent.’ Industrydemand for nanotechnology experts exceeds supply,meaning talented knowledge workers have plenty ofoptions to choose from around the globe. ‘Theworld-class standard of the NanoLabNL facilitiesmakes them a very attractive environment for theseresearchers. As a result, NanoLabNL plays a pivotalrole in attracting and educating the next generationof scientific talent for the Dutch industry, which inturn prevents companies from transferring theiroperations abroad.’

In 2013, NanoLabNL received 17 million eurosthrough NWO’s National Road Map Large-scaleResearch Infrastructure. Much of this funding will bedirected towards QuEEn, an investment programmewithin NanoLabNL in the area of quantum electricalengineering. It aims to discover novel materials andmaterial structures with special quantum properties.‘Through nanofabrication, NanoLabNL researcherswill make complex sensors and detectors that canmeasure tiny forces through exceptional sensitivity’,explains Rijnders. ‘Nanoscale devices, produced inthe cleanrooms of NanoLabNL, will provide animpulse to the development of a quantum computer,piezo materials for the inkjet industry and diagnosticdevices for the medical sector.’

‘One of the most successful examples is the work ofLeo Kouwenhoven’s group at the Kavli Institute ofNanoscience in Delft’, says Guus Rijnders, professorat the University of Twente and chairman of theboard of NanoLabNL. ‘This group produces one-dimensional materials such as semiconductingnanothreads through nanofabrication. These areimportant elements of a future quantum computer.’Such advanced and specialised research, as he pointsout, would not have been possible without theshared facilities of NanoLabNL.

‘NanoLabNL provides essential facilities for researchand development’, he continues, ‘and acts as a

elements22TiTitanium

atomic mass: 47,867 / discovered by: William Gregor

facilities

Nanotechnology is a booming R&D area – but it faces some inherentchallenges. Single instruments may cost millions of euros. This isespecially problematic for small academic groups and for start-upswishing to fabricate prototypes or test new nanomaterials. For thepast 10 years, NanoLabNL has provided a unique and successfulsolution. NanoLabNL is a Dutch national facility offering the use offacilities and expertise to universities, research institutes, start-upsand industry at four university locations in the Netherlands (Delft,Eindhoven, Groningen and Twente). Partners are these fouruniversities, plus TNO and Philips Innovation Services.

Shared facilities and expertise forhigh-class nanotechnology

Clean room at the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, usedby researchers from universities and companies for micro- and nano fabrication of,for instance, electronic devices, nano electronic sensors and actuators.

Silicon wafers being loaded into a hightemperature furnace for chemical vapourdeposition of thin films.

my chemistry

The TA-ISPT funding allows the principal investigators Kreutzer,Kleijn and Van Steijn to hire a PhD student to work specifically ona fundamental question: which factors influence the break-up ofthe film that separates the droplets from their surrounding liquid?‘Earlier work has shown that interfacial surface waves, due tomolecular thermal fluctuations play an important, yet poorlyunderstood role’, explains Kleijn. ‘In this project we aim to modelthis process, and to identify the roles of parameters such aschemical composition, viscosity, surface tension and droplet sizedistribution.’ For the duration of this project, this work is quitefundamental. Kleijn: ‘But eventually, such models will allowcompanies to better predict and hopefully improve the stability oftheir products.’

‘Our project focuses on the stability of these emulsions’, saysKleijn. ‘After a while, the droplets tend to merge. This affects thequality of the product, and limits its shelf life. Companies aretherefore keen to improve the stability of these emulsions.’

‘For us, it was quite an unusual procedure’, says Chris Kleijn,professor of Chemical Engineering at Delft University ofTechnology, who was recently awarded a TA-ISPT grant togetherwith his colleagues Michiel Kreutzer and Volkert van Steijn. ‘We formulated the research question ourselves, based on ourexisting work and expertise, but we knew that not only academiccolleagues, but also ISPT’s industrial partners would be reviewingthe applications. The challenge was to design a fundamentalproject that would address actual challenges that companies arefacing.’ In Kleijn’s case, these companies include food,pharmaceutical and cosmetics businesses, producing any productthat is an emulsion – a mixture of liquid and tiny droplets insuspension. Examples include margarine, yoghurt and sauces, as well as ointments, shampoos and creams.

Water-oil emulsion. An emulsion isa dispersed mixture of two ormore liquids that are normallyimmiscible and that have a naturaltendency to separate. Emulsionsare the vehicle for the formulationof many cosmetics, drugs, andfood products.

elements 23V

Vanadium

atomic mass: 50,942 / discovered by: Andrés Manuel del Río and Nils Gabriel Sefström

Fundamentalscience - yetaimed atimprovingconsumerproducts

It is a relatively new financing mechanism: publicand private funders pool their resources and send outshared calls for proposals. This is the recipe of the TA-ISPT programme, which combines funding fromNWO’s Innovation Fund Chemistry with companyfunding raised through the Institute of SustainableProcess Technology (ISPT). The overarching theme is‘New Principles for Sustainable Separations’.

© Chris Kleijn

.Chris Kleijn.

elements24CrChromium

chemistry and strategy

Smart, sustainablechemistry for society

Chemistry of Advanced Materials >Rolf van Benthem DSM/Eindhoven University of Technology

‘Our main goal is to develop smart materials for advanced applications ina sustainable way. That can be anything from ceramics and polymers tobiomolecules, from constructions to high-tech, from coatings to hydrogelsor even implants. Smarter materials that combine different functionalitiesmeans “doing more with less”: less weight, less use of scarce resources,and a lower carbon footprint during production and life cycle.’

Chemistry of Life > Oliver May DSM

‘Understanding life on a molecular level provides a key that unlocksunlimited opportunities for breakthrough innovations. We havetherefore developed a three-pillar roadmap covering societal needs inhealth and food with an overarching third pillar that advances enablingtechnologies and our fundamental knowledge about the buildingblocks of life.’

Four Programme Councils, each consisting of an equal number ofrepresentatives from academia and industry, have formulated their individualroadmaps. Each roadmap contains the long-term ambition, the short-term andlong-term priorities, and recommendations on how to finance the plans.

The main focus of all four roadmaps lies on chemistry for society: how can wemake new, smarter materials, molecules and devices with added functionalitiesfor applications in areas such as health, food and energy, through sustainableprocesses which consume a minimum of energy and commodities?

On 1 October 2015 the newly established combined Top consortium forKnowledge and Innovation (TKI) Chemistry of the Top Sector Chemistry willpublicly launch its Knowledge and Innovation Agenda for the next few years.

atomic mass: 51,996 / discovered by: Louis Nicolas Vauquelin

elements 25Mn

Manganese

atomic mass: 54,938 / discovered by: Johann Gottlieb Gahn

chemistry and strategy

Chemical Conversion, ProcessTechnology and Synthesis > Eelco VogtAlbemarle/Utrecht University

‘Our roadmap identifies three main challenges: efficientproduction of molecules, production of molecules from biomass,and production of functional materials for the future, such asbio-active molecules or polymers with new properties. Ourambition is to make the transition from an economy that isdependent on fossil materials, to a circular low-carbon economythat relies on sustainable and abundant resources.’

Chemical Nanotechnology and Devices >Benno Oderkerk Avantes

‘Well-being, energy and cradle-to-cradle: these three conceptssummarise our ambitions best. We want to develop materialsand methods to monitor, diagnose and treat diseases at an earlystage. Furthermore, we focus on energy conversion and storageof CO2, for example to be able to store energy generated bysolar panels. And thirdly, we want to enable the design ofwaste-free production methods, starting with a thoroughunderstanding of chemical processes at the nanoscale.’

Further information on the Top Sector Chemistry and its roadmaps

can be found at www.topsectorchemie.nl

THE TOP SECTOR CHEMISTRY STRATEGY BOARD

The Strategy Board consists of the chairs (from industry) and vice

chairs (from academia) of the Programme Councils.

F.L.T.R.: Albert van den Berg (vice chair Nanotech. and Devices),

Rolf van Benthem (chair Advanced Materials), Gerard van Harten

(chair Top Sector Chemistry), Hans Kuipers (vice chair Conversion,

Process Tech. and Synthesis), Oliver May (chair Chemistry of Life),

Andries Meijerink (vice chair Advanced Materials), Eelco Vogt

(chair Conversion, Process Tech. and Synthesis).

Not in the picture: Benno Oderkerk (chair Nanotech. and

Devices) and Arnold Driessen (vice chair Chemistry of Life).

success stories

elements26FeIron

atomic mass: 55,847 / discovered in ancient history

The word ‘chemistry’ triggers images of labs full of bubbling containers. But today,an increasingly important part of chemistry actually takes place at the computer.This is the domain of theoretical and computational chemistry – understanding,predicting and experimenting with chemistry using advanced software andmathematics. Paola Gori Giorgi develops the building blocks of this art. Havingpreviously received Vidi funding and a Marie Curie Fellowship, she recently secureda 2 million euros ERC grant.

Cutting-edgeresearch at theinterface ofdisciplines

© Pieter Crucq

‘In principle’, she says, ‘the laws of quantummechanics are sufficient to predict chemical reactionsand material properties. But in practice, even withthe most powerful computers, this remainsimpossible, and we have to rely on approximations.’The problem, as Gori Giorgi explains, is that electronsinteract with each other, which influences theirbehaviour – particularly in complicated reactions withlarge molecules. ‘My approach is to assume that theinteractions between the electrons become infinitelystrong’, she says, ‘which represents a mathematical

problem that is actually solvable. This is a completelynew approach.’

Why this is important? Chemistry and materialsscience are often a matter of trial and error, says GoriGiorgi. Getting straight to the more efficientsolutions has very clear economic and environmentaladvantages. ‘We have been able to validate theresults for some simple cases’, she concludes, ‘andnow the challenge is to go towards more complexsystems.’

Combining innovative chemical processeswith innovative reactor design – that is thespecialty of Timothy Noël, assistant professorat Eindhoven University of Technology. He worked towards this goal with both Veni and ECHO grants, and has just beenawarded a 2.25 million euros grant from theEuropean Marie Curie ITN programme. He will use this grant for his projectPhoto4future, which focuses on visual light photochemistry.

elements 27CoCobalt

atomic mass: 58,993 / discovered by: Georg Brandt

success stories

Specially designed microreactors use visible light to trigger chemical reactions.

‘Many chemical reactions in pharmaceutical industryare in fact quite problematic’, says Noël. ‘They eitherrequire really high temperatures, or they use toxicreagents, yielding harmful by-products. By using visiblelight photoredox catalysis, we avoid both problems –the reactions have a higher selectivity, and they can beperformed at room temperature.’ Visible light,however, does not penetrate deep into the reactionmedium. Noël therefore works with specially designedmicroreactors, consisting of very thin, transparentcapillaries. ‘Reactions that typically cost 24 hours, nowtake place in minutes or even seconds’, he says.

This work, as he underlines, bridges the gap betweenengineering and chemistry – quite unique within thisscientific field. ‘It allows us to improve the actualchemical reactions’, he says, ‘and scale up the process.This is really important for the industrial partners thatwe work closely together with.’ One of these partnersis Corning, one of the world’s leading innovators inmaterials science.

In spring 2015, Noël was awarded his next NWO grant:a Vidi for his research on visual light photochemistry.

success stories

elements28NiNickel

atomic mass: 58,693 / discovered by: Axel Cronstedt

‘The amazing thing is that this is really about science, about somethingfundamental, yet about something useful.’ Petra de Jongh, chair InorganicNanomaterials at Utrecht University, was recently awarded a prestigious 2 millioneuros ERC Advanced grant for her research on a novel generation of catalysts.

De Jongh works with nanomaterials: metal particles in thenanometre range that steer chemical reactions – for instance inthe production of fuels, solvents and plastics. ‘Our ambition is touse sustainable resources as input for these reactions’, says DeJongh, ‘such as renewable hydrogen, and carbon monoxide ordioxide, instead of fossil resources.’ Apart from investigatingnew reactions, she also looks at improving performance andstability of existing catalysts. ‘In order to improve them, we needto understand the exact impact of parameters such as particlesize, composition, structure and spatial distribution.’

In her ERC project, De Jongh will develop so-called modelcatalysts: catalysts with a well-defined 3D structure, which willallow her to investigate the various parameters. ‘Although thematerials are sophisticated, we can test them under actualprocess conditions. This is why our cooperation with businesspartners is crucial. But curiosity remains my main driving force.’

A model catalyst – a catalyst with a well-defined 3D structure – allowsDe Jongh to investigate the variousparameters.

my chemistry

When Zhang asked Venkataraman to be her teammate, hedidn’t hesitate a minute. ‘For a foreign student this is a verynice opportunity to also meet experts outside our universityand get collective exposure as well’, he says. Zhangenthusiastically adds: ‘And we could get a research grantwhilst being totally free to do our own experiments.’

Within a week they came up with a clear idea for theirproposal. ‘We thought it would be interesting to use modifiedstarch in paints, but then in a completely novel way that is notyet on the market’, says Venkataraman. ‘If we were able to finetune starch molecules so they could be used as emulsifiers inpaint, this application could contribute to lowering the volatileorganic compounds in paints’, explains Zhang. Believing thattheir idea could lead to greener paints in the near future, theycalled themselves appropriately ‘Team Smart Starch’.

That was the start of a dynamic and lively collaboration,during which everything was heavily debated. ‘They oftenasked us at TNO if everything was all right, but it was just theway we worked proactively together’, says Venkataramanhumorously, who was always bringing in more and more ideasto try. ‘From Zhang I really learned to plan and focus more onthe end result.’On the other hand for Zhang, who is really passionate aboutchemistry and loves to go into detail and understandeverything, it was sometimes a real struggle not to get lost.‘My supervisor from Wageningen made me see that everyquestion I ask myself had the potential to be a new PhD

project. He guided me to work around those detailsand to reach our goal’, she says.

Although it was a surprise to Zhang, her teammatewas convinced of their victory from the start. ‘I always told her that we would win, so we wereworking with that mindset. And we had done agood job, delivered the proposed results and couldanswer all the questions of the jury’, claimsVenkataraman.

They are both quite proud of their success. ‘Winningthis award is a nice way to show what you’re able todo’, says Zhang, who wants to become a productdeveloper for food ingredients with a strong link tochemical research. The same holds for Venkataramanalthough with emphasis on physical-chemicalrelevance. ‘Since chemical research nowadays has tofind newer methods and solutions for using plant-based materials as feedstock it is quite challenging to carry on.’

Two food chemistry studentsfrom Wageningen Universitywon the first Top SectorChemistry Student Competitionorganised by NWO ChemicalSciences. They demonstratedthe potential of renewablestarch-based emulsifiers for‘greener’ paints.

It was during their internships at TNO Zeist that the callto join the student competition dropped into the e-mailbox of Jingyan Zhang and Suryanarayan Venkataraman.Master students were asked to submit innovativeproposals for a short research project of two months inwhich their chemical research could provide a creativesolution to a current societal and industrial challenge.

29CuCopper

Student Team Smart Starch:determined to win

atomic mass: 63,546 / discovered in ancient history elements

elements30ZnZinc

atomic mass: 65,38 / discovered in ancient history

Using a Technology Area (TA) grant of 1.1 million euros, two university groups andtwo companies have joined forces to create a new toolbox for chiroptical analysis.

Chirality is a fascinating molecular property, but alsoone that makes configuration analysis quite achallenge. ‘Especially in the pharmaceutical industry,being able to determine the absolute configurationof a chiral molecule is incredibly important’, saysprofessor Wybren Jan Buma of the University ofAmsterdam. ‘Only chiroptical techniques, such as vibrationalcircular dichroism, can do the trick. But thesemeasurements and especially the data analysis aretoo time-consuming and complex for industry toapply in-house.’ The NWO Veni project of theoretical

chemist Dr Paul Nicu at VU University Amsterdamprovided several breakthroughs for tackling theseproblems. Buma: ‘Experimentally there have alsobeen major developments. For example we havealready demonstrated that a 1000-fold increase insensitivity of vibrational circular dichroismmeasurements is possible, but these data cannot beanalysed with the current tools.’

PartnershipsTogether with professor Lucas Visscher of theTheoretical Chemistry group at VU UniversityAmsterdam, Nicu and Buma elaborated on the ideaof applying these promising academic results todevelop new tools that bring chiroptical analysiswithin reach of industrial labs. That requiredadditional expertise, which they found at US-basedBioTools Inc., international market leader invibrational optical activity equipment and at ScientificComputing & Modelling (SCM), a developer of

.Tackling chirality.

challenges

elements 31Ga

Gallium

atomic mass: 69,723 / discovered by: Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran

international collaborations

scientific software. SCM is a VU Universityspin-off. ‘We have been independent for along time, but we are still located nextdoor to the Theoretical Chemistry group,which is very convenient for both parties’,says Dr Stan van Gisbergen, CEO of SCM.‘Our role in this TA project is to translateacademic results into professional, robustand user-friendly tools for industry. Suchtools would perfectly fit our portfolio ofscientific software packages for chemicalresearch.’ Van Gisbergen has a lot ofexperience with public-private partnerships.‘They can develop into a long-termcollaborative partnership, which is animportant driver for us to participate.’Buma also points to the value of buildingnew partnerships. ‘Working directly withindustry creates a lot of opportunity forgenerating new ideas and new leads forour research.’

© Hanne Nijhuis

Working together acrossthe globe

Chemists and physicists in the Netherlands are teaming up with Indiancolleagues to design a novel device that adds functionality to graphene, a thin layer of pure carbon. Tamalika Banerjee from the University of Groningen explains how this cooperation came about, and what itshould lead to.

‘This cooperation was triggered by the call - launched by NWO ChemicalSciences in 2012 - for the joint Functional Materials programme of NWO andthe Indian government. India is a big country, with a rich tradition in materialsscience. It was a challenge to build a consortium of partners combining thedifferent kinds of expertise required such as experimental, theoretical andmodelling. Eventually we identified two ambitious groups in India thatcomplement our own expertise very well.’

The consortium consists of two theoretical groups and two experimental groups,one of each in both countries. Each group houses one of the four PhD studentsfrom our joint research project. ‘We invested quite some time in defining fourrelated but independent work packages in such a way that they wouldcomplement each other without introducing the problem of one PhD having towait for the results of the other’, says Banerjee. ‘For example, the experimentalwork has been divided over both groups: We fabricate the devices here and sendthem to the experimental group in India, where electronic characterisation isdone. The spin-transport measurements are done here.’

Despite the geographical distance between India and the Netherlands, there isa genuine cooperation, Banerjee says. ‘We have frequent Skype discussions,share progress reports and aim to meet each other twice every year, as we didduring the official kick-off meeting in Groningen. All the students met, and wehad one full week for discussions. That was very fruitful. In that week wealready started talking about how to expand on this collaborative project, forexample by involving a leading global industry. We see our current initiative asa launchpad. Who knows how big this will get.’

More information on the research project:

www.rug.nl/news/2013/06/0618-grafeenonderzoek-samen-met-india

© Sylvia Germes

Tamalika Banerjee. Stan van Gisbergen, Paul Nicu,..Lucas Visscher and.Wybren Jan Buma.

elements32AsArsenic

atomic mass: 74,922 / discovered by: Albertus Magnus

Plug and playsignallingFor Luc Brunsveld, research is directly linked to education. His Vici grant to study proteinassembly using chemical approaches enables him to create a challenging and stimulatingenvironment for students.

We know that proteins are the workhorses ofliving systems. We also know that proteinscan communicate with each other; that theycan control each other's activity and thatthey are able to form complexes that allowthem to execute a wide variety of tasks.What we do not know is how proteins goabout their assembly into larger complexes.What signals do they use to initiate theprocess? And how do they know theassembly process is completed? Using the2015 Vici grant for his proposal ‘Synthetic

‘Cutting-edgeresearch offers thebest environment forscientific education’

elements 33Ge

Germanium

atomic mass: 72,59 / discovered by: Clemens Alexander Winkler

talent

ViciThe Vici grants are for senior scientists who have

established their own line of research and are now ready

to expand their research group. They have built an

excellent track record in their field and are capable of

motivating and coaching young researchers and

students. Applications should be submitted within

15 years following the PhD degree. The maximum size

of a Vici grant is 1.5 million euros. Prior granting of

a Veni or Vidi grant is not a prerequisite for submitting

a Vici proposal.

Vici grants are part of the Talent Scheme ‘Innovational

Research Incentive Scheme’ of NWO, which offers

individual grants to talented and creative researchers.

The Talent Scheme comprises three types of grants:

Veni for young talent, Vidi for experienced researchers

and Vici for aspiring or actual group leaders.

Schematic representation ofsupramolecular proteinassembly, leading to syntheticsignalling systems.

university. Cutting-edge research offers the best environment forscientific education.’

Brunsveld had not previously participated in the Veni-Vidi-Vicischeme. ‘What is special about this grant is that you go througha knockout system in multiple rounds. Each time you pass, youhave to think again about who your audience is. A general juryor your peers? You have to tune your proposal accordingly,which is why writing proposals is a very useful exercise. It forcesyou to structure your thoughts and formulate a clear vision.’

supramolecular signalling systems’, professor Luc Brunsveld isdetermined to broaden and deepen our understanding ofprotein assembly. He holds a chair in Chemical Biology atEindhoven University of Technology and so it is no surprise heuses chemical concepts to tackle biological questions. ‘Cellscontinuously produce an incredible number of signals. Thesesignals are molecules that are transmitted between proteins. Our plan is to create plug-and-play elements that allow us tobuild signalling pathways. If we can do that, we can learn howsignalling works and try to construct new signallingfunctionalities to complement existing biological systems.’

Supramolecular polymersAs biological signalling is an extremely complex phenomenon,approaches from different angles are required. Brunsveld: ‘Youcan use supramolecular chemistry to modulate biological systemsin two ways. Top-down, where you complement a biologicalsystem with a synthetic element. And bottom-up, where youstart out with simple building blocks to construct a syntheticsignalling pathway and gradually increase the complexity.’ In hisVici project, the focus is on bottom-up. ‘We can already buildscaffolds that allow protein dimerisation in a very controlledmanner, which is a good model for a well-defined assemblyprocess. We now want to explore other scaffolds made up ofsupramolecular polymers that create an environment for morecomplex assemblies involving multiple proteins.’

Primary responsibilityWhen asked how important the Vici grant is to his research, hepoints to the importance it holds for education. ‘A topic like this,studied on this scale, offers tremendous opportunities for masterand PhD students. They can explore different chemical andbiological topics; work with a variety of physical methods. A Vicigrant creates the freedom to organise this kind of high-leveleducation and that is, after all, the primary responsibility of a

elements34SeSelenium

atomic mass: 78,96 / discovered by: Jons Jakob Berzelius and Johan Gottlieb Gahn

success story

The last few years have been something of a prizeshower for Mark van Loosdrecht. The professor ofEnvironmental Technology at Delft University ofTechnology has received numerous prizes in theNetherlands and abroad, from the scientific worldand from industry. Prior to the NWO Spinoza Prize2014 he was awarded the Simon Stevin Award forleadership in engineering research and valorisationby NWO-STW. ‘I’m very honoured that my work isappreciated by both worlds, science andengineering’, says Van Loosdrecht.

He thinks it is mainly the integration of microbialecology and process technology that makes theresearch of his group unique and has led to newinsights in science and new applications in practice.For example, his invention of aerobic granular sludgetechnology for wastewater treatment, in whichbacteria form compact sludge granules that quicklysink to the bottom. ‘The initial support for thedevelopment of this technology, which is nowdenoted a success, came from NWO Chemical

Sciences; the water sector itself was focusing onmembrane technology at that time’, remembers VanLoosdrecht who has collaborated with industrythroughout his entire academic career. ‘If you reallywant your ideas to be put into practice, you will haveto transfer the knowledge as soon as possible. Thebest way of doing that is by working together withindustry at an early stage.’

It demands time and a lot of effort, but then therestill are opportunities for young scientists to obtainresearch funds in the Netherlands according to VanLoosdrecht. ‘What is of the utmost importance isthat they really love doing research, they like to workwith students, have enough creativity and an eye foropportunities instead of only seeing problems andfinancial deficits’, advices Van Loosdrecht. ‘Making apublication should not be a goal in itself, butnaturally emerge from your research.’

He has dedicated the Spinoza Prize money tostudying the behaviour of bacteria more extensivelyunder dynamic conditions. ‘In the lab bacteria aremainly studied in continuous or batch cultivationsystems. Both conditions do not occur in nature’,Van Loosdrecht explains. ‘In nature the variability ofconditions is the standard, for example day and nightrhythm, changes of tides and periods of too much ortoo little nutrients. Many microorganisms haveadaptations in order to take advantage of thesedynamics.’ He is convinced that this research will notonly improve the understanding of the naturalecosystem but also will enable the development ofnew processes. For instance, like he and his researchgroup did when they discovered bacteria that makebioplastic under dynamic conditions.

Besides making new discoveries, Van Loosdrecht hasthe ambition of seeing the first commercial productobtained from wastewater reach the market, such asbioplastic or alginate. ‘Preferably with such efficiencythat wastewater becomes a valuable commodity.’

From fundamental researchto true innovations inwastewater treatment

Renowned for his innovative academicresearch on dynamically fed, mixedmicrobial cultures, professor Mark vanLoosdrecht connects the world of scienceand engineering by translating thisknowledge to new concepts for wastewatertreatment processes. Producing valuablematerials from waste will be his next bigchallenge to pursue.

elements 35Br

Bromine

atomic mass: 79,904 / discovered by: Carl Jacob Löwig

Spinoza PrizeThe NWO Spinoza Prize is the highest Dutch award

in science. Each year three or four Dutch researchers

who rank among the absolute top of science receive

this award. The Spinoza laureates perform

outstanding and groundbreaking research, inspire

young researchers, and transfer and utilise their

knowledge. Each laureate receives 2.5 million euros

to spend on scientific research.

© Sacha Schalkwijk

‘If you really want yourideas to be put intopractice, you will have totransfer the knowledge assoon as possible’

FULL OVERVIEW OF PRESENT-DAY CHEMISTRYOVER 1.500 CHEMICAL SCIENTISTS FROM ALL DISCIPLINES TOGETHER

PROGRAMME• Share the latest scientific breakthroughs

in the chemical and molecular sciences

• Find a joint platform for all chemical subdisciplines and Study Groups

• Meet peers from other chemical disciplines

• Visit thematic focus sessions

• Visit Industry-meets-science sessions

30 NOVEMBER - 2 DECEMBER 2015KONINGSHOF, VELDHOVEN

WWW.CHAINS2015.NL

THE DUTCH CHEMISTRY CONFERENCE

PLENARY SPEAKERSKarl Deisseroth - Famous for developing optical methods for highresolution investigation of intact biological systems

Stefan Hell - 2014 Nobel Prize winner for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy

René Janssen - 2015 NWO Spinoza Laureate and expert in the field of organic solar cells

Klaus Müllen - Advanced organic synthesis and materials science; Van ‘t Hoff Award Lecturer 2015 for chemistry

Jens Nørskov - Well-known for the development of theoretical methods to understand properties of materials

Ada Yonath - 2009 Nobel Prize winner for her pioneering work on the

DUTTHE

CHEMISTRYCH DUT

CHEMISTRY

ONFERENCE C

ONFERENCE

03

VEMBERONINGSHOF

NOK

DECEMBER VELDHO

2 -,ONINGSHOF

5VEN

10 2DECEMBER VELDHO

VERVIEW CHEMIC

OFULL005.1VERO

PROGRAMME

- SCIENTISTS

PRESENT OFVERVIEWAL CHEMIC

CHEMISTRY DISCIPLINES

YAAYD- ALL FROM SCIENTISTS

ONINGSHOFK

SPEAKERSPLENARY

OGETHER T DISCIPLINES

VELDHOCHAINS

,ONINGSHOF.WWW

SPEAKERS

OGETHER

VENNL

VELDHO.5102CHAINS

elements36KrKrypton

atomic mass: 83,80 / discovered by: Morris William Travers and William Ramsay