Rubicon for young talent
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has given three Rubicon-grants to research with a physics research theme or physics component. Ferry Prins, Lia Verhoeff and Liesbeth Janssen are part of 28 researchers who have recently gained their PhDs and will have the opportunity to carry out research abroad thanks to support from the Rubicon programme.
Rubicon for physics
Ferry Prins (Delft University of Technology) will carry out research at Harvard University into 'A nanoscale optoelectronic interface'. The greatest challenge in linking optical and electrical components on a chip is the difference in scale. The researcher will develop an optoelectronic component the size of a single nanoparticle in order to bridge this gap.
Dr. Lia Verhoeff (Utrecht University) will manipulate drops and surface boundaries with light in a project at the University of Oxford. Strongly focused laser light can be used to manipulate drops and surface boundaries in liquids. Using a microscope the researchers will examine how surface boundaries respond to such disruptions. They will then use laser light to study in detail how drops dissipate or instead flow together.
Liesbeth Janssen (Radboud University Nijmegen) will carry out research at the University of Columbia (United States) into phase transitions during the formation of glass. Glass has been used for centuries in household, industrial and technological applications. How glass is formed, however, remains a mystery. The researchers will develop a new theory to better understand the formation of glass.
About Rubicon
The aim of the Rubicon programme is to retain researchers at Dutch universities and NWO and KNAW research institutes for science once they have gained their PhDs. With a Rubicon grant the researchers can gain experience at a top foreign institute or an excellent Dutch research institute for a maximum period of two years. Using the grant to gain research experience abroad is preferred. The size of the grant awarded depends upon the destination chosen.
The grant derives its name from the river Rubicon. Julius Caesar crossed the river before embarking upon his series of victories that led to the statement 'veni, vidi, vici'. Rubicon is a good springboard for a Veni grant from the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme (Vernieuwingsimpuls) of NWO.
Rubicon in 2012
For the funding rounds in 2011 and 2012, NWO received co-funding from the 'Marie Curie Cofund Action' programme of the European Commission. This European funding was a one-off award. As a result of funding cutbacks, NWO has decided to continue the Rubicon programme in a limited form in 2012. Consequently with effect from 1 January 2012, the Rubicon programme will only be open to applicants who have been employed at a Dutch university for at least three years, over the past five years.
For a complete list of the grants awarded and more detailed information about the Rubicon programme please visit the NWO website.