news 2025

Although the new MRI scanner of Erasmus University Rotterdam and Erasmus MC has already been in full use for almost a year, the joint MRI facility was officially and ceremonially opened last week. During a gathering at Erasmus MC, researchers, administrators and students came together to reflect on what the facility has already delivered, as well as on the promising research plans for the years ahead.

Stress affects many systems in our body and biologists Marcel Schaaf and Erin Faught at Radboud University are figuring out how that works. A recent study by them showed how stress changes behavior by using two different receptors. Previously they unraveled how stress can have positive effects on the immune system.

An international team of astronomers has found the earliest supernova to date with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), originating from a time when the universe was only 730 million years old. In doing so, Webb has broken its own previous record. The findings were published today in two papers in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Parkinson's disease occurs worldwide, affects people of all'ages and backgrounds, has an enormous societal impact, and is rising at an alarming rate. According to neurologist Bas Bloem, Parkinson's literally meets all the criteria of a pandemic, except that the disease is not infectious. In a recent publication in The Lancet Neurology, Bloem and a group of internationally recognised scientists place this development in historical perspective, beginning with James Parkinson, who first described the disease in 1817.

For the first time, researchers have produced a detailed, high-resolution map of peatlands in the EU, showing that these areas emit twice as much greenhouse gases than previously thought. The research, led by eco-hydrologist Quint van Giersbergen of Radboud University, has been published in Nature Communications.

An observational study of 103 patients suggests that an innovative, lidocaine-based treatment reduced Long COVID symptoms. Eighty per cent of participants reported an improvement in quality of life. Physicians at Excellent Care Clinics had their data analysed for this purpose by researchers at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Amsterdam UMC.

For the first time, researchers have produced a detailed, high-resolution map of peatlands in the EU, showing that these areas emit twice as much greenhouse gases than previously thought. The research, led by eco-hydrologist Quint van Giersbergen of Radboud University, has been published in Nature Communications.

Dr Aviv Barnoy (assistant professor in Digitalisation and Business at Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication) and his fellow researchers have discovered that clear agreements on how people should share information online can significantly reduce the spread of misinformation. Concerns about misinformation on social media have led platforms and policymakers to experiment with warnings, labels and other countermeasures.

A new look at sleep monitoring Two researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and their team develop new ways to monitor sleep disorders. Sebastiaan Overeem and Merel van Gilst don't necessarily want more accuracy when gathering sleep data from patients with sleeping disorders. Instead, they want more room for uncertainty and ways to show that.

Researchers at the University of Twente and Utrecht University demonstrated for the first time that quantum states in the ultra-narrow material germanene can be switched on and off using only an electric field. The researchers were able to vary the electric field strength very precisely, causing the special 'topological' states in nanoribbons to disappear or appear.

Active music-making together with a musical facilitator helps reduce challenging behaviour in adults with a mild to moderate intellectual disability. Music intervention not only has positive effects on the participants themselves, but also contributes to the wellbeing of support staf. This is evident from by behavioural specialist Gerianne Smeets.

Active music-making together with a musical facilitator helps reduce challenging behaviour in adults with a mild to moderate intellectual disability. Music intervention not only has positive effects on the participants themselves, but also contributes to the wellbeing of support staf. This is evident from by behavioural specialist Gerianne Smeets.

TU/e makes new medical AI model available worldwide Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have developed a medical AI model that helps doctors identify abnormalities in CT scans at an earlier stage, enabling faster diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. The model was trained on more than a quarter of a million CT scans.

Hilhorst focuses on the cardiovascular domain, specifically on blood vessels. What if new medical treatments could be tested entirely on a computer-without involving a single human or animal? With his PhD research, Pjotr Hilhorst is taking the first step in that direction. The TU/e researcher develops computer models and uses data from "virtual patients" to improve medical diagnostics and predict the effectiveness of procedures and medications.

In order to understand brain diseases, neuroscientists try to untangle the intricate nerve fibre labyrinth of our brain. Before analysing brain tissue under a microscope, it is often soaked in paraffin wax to achieve high-quality sections. However, accurately mapping the densely packed nerves inside wax-treated brain slices was so far not possible.

Bacterial spores - the hardy survival structures formed by certain bacterial species - are proving to be a game changer in the field of engineered living materials (ELMs). By embedding Bacillus spores within ELMs, Jeong-Joo Oh, Franka van der Linden, Marie-Eve Aubin-Tam and their fellow researchers have created living materials that not only endure harsh environments but can also be programmed to perform specific tasks.

Research shows how climate change is transforming the Arctic landscape - and local communities The thawing of permafrost in the Arctic is accelerating the crumbling of coastlines and releasing large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

Significant differences in health between men and women persist. Increasingly, research is being conducted into women-specific conditions, including certain types of cancer. The largest analysis ever conducted on the care of women with breast, cervical, and ovarian cancer shows major global differences in stage at diagnosis, treatment, and adherence to international guidelines.

Scientists at TU Delft have developed a new algorithm that allows multiple autonomous drones to work together to control and transport heavy payloads, even in windy conditions.

A cat is not a small dog and a sheep works differently than a goat. At the Pharmacy of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, they know that no animal is the same and therefore every animal reacts differently to medication. The pharmacy provides customization, but the future lies with personalized medicine.