news 2025

Researchers at TU Delft and Brown University have developed scalable nanotechnology-based lightsails that could support future advances in space exploration and experimental physics. Their research, published in Nature Communications , introduces new materials and production methods to create the thinnest large-scale reflectors ever made.

TU/e scientists collaborate on a method to protect insulin-producing cells. Scientists at Eindhoven University of Technology, among others, have developed a promising method to protect the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin - the beta cells - from damage related to type 2 diabetes. This method was recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

Nitrogen is a colorless odorless gas in the air. Although nitrogen by itself is not a problem for humans and the environment, it can combine with other elements, such as oxygen and hydrogen. This creates nitrogen oxides and ammonia, which can be harmful. These nitrogen compounds from agriculture, traffic and industry end up in the air and eventually settle on the ground.

Researchers have advanced a decades-old challenge in the field of organic semiconductors, opening new possibilities for the future of electronics. The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge and the Eindhoven University of Technology, have created an organic semiconductor that forces electrons to move in a spiral pattern, which could improve the efficiency of OLED displays in television and smartphone screens, or power next-generation computing technologies such as spintronics and quantum computing.

When water freezes into ice or boils into vapour, its properties change dramatically at specific temperatures. These so-called phase transitions are fundamental to understanding materials. But how do such transitions behave in nanomaterials? In Nature Communications , a team of scientists led by TU Delft presents new insights into the complex nature of phase transitions in magnetic nanomaterials.

Breakthrough achievement paves the way for practical quantum internet applications Delft, The Netherlands: Quantum Internet Alliance (QIA) researchers at TU Delft, QuTech, University of Innsbruck, INRIA and CNRS recently announced the creation of the first operating system designed for quantum networks: QNodeOS.

Researchers at the University of Twente, in collaboration with the City University of Hong Kong, have designed a cutting-edge programmable photonic chip in a thin-film lithium niobate platform, an important material in photonics. Published in Nature Communications, this work paves the way for next-generation high-performance radar and communication applications.

VU biological psychologists have made a significant discovery about brain aging. Their research shows that aging processes in the brain are linked to aging in the blood. Moreover, environmental factors play a major role in this process. This opens up new possibilities for the prevention and early detection of age-related brain disorders.

If you start with a two-dimensional ribbon and make it narrower and narrower, when does it stop being a ribbon and start being a one-dimensional line? Scientists from Utrecht University and the University of Twente made one-atom-thick ultrathin nanoribbons consisting of germanium atoms. They have shown that this system exhibits amazing properties that can be useful, for example, in quantum computing.

Based on police data, NOS News reported in March 2020 that the number of underage suspects involved in stabbing incidents had risen sharply nationwide. To counter this trend, a broad network of administrators, professionals, and representatives from the Ministry of Justice and Security have been working on the Action Plan on Weapons and Youth.

A group of researchers from TU Delft and the Institute for Planetary Research of the German Aerospace Center have been able to the determinate the Mars-s interior structure and the age of the large ice sheet covering its north pole. They have published their findings in Nature. The team used the same geophysical trick on Mars that geologists use here on Earth to: measure how large areas of land are deformed by the ice sheet that presses down on the planet itself.

Researchers at Radboud University have developed a new method to calculate the reliability of the power grid. This new method, based on Graph Neural Networks, is not only a thousand times faster but also more accurate than current methods. The results of the new method have been published in the journal Applied Energy.

A new study by Assistant Professors Clément S. Bellet of Erasmus School of Economics and Eve Colson-Sihra of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem uncovers how economic inequality significantly alters the spending priorities of poor households, often at the cost of their basic nutritional needs. The research, published in the Journal of the European Economic Association, provides compelling evidence that inequality influences consumption habits among the poor, shifting their spending toward luxury goods and away from necessities such as staple foods.

For the first time in millennia, we can analyse why a vaginal pessary remains in place. UT scientist Frieda van den Noort (TechMedcentrum) and her colleagues recently published this insight in Nature Scientific Reports. With this examination, a huge number of women, suffering from pelvic organ prolapse, can be helped who are now dependent on surgery or who 'have' to learn to live with their complaints.

Researchers at the University of Twente solved a long-standing problem: trapping optically-generated sound waves in a standard silicon photonic chip. This discovery, published as a Featured Article in APL Photonics , opens new possibilities for radio technology, quantum communication, and optical computing.

Physiologist Richie Goulding of VU Amsterdam discovered that as we age, the mitochondria - structures inside our muscle cells that provide the energy needed for movement - become fragmented and less efficient. This leads to a decline in exercise performance. Understanding these changes could help develop ways to preserve muscle energy as we age.

Researchers from the University of Twente have developed a new analysis method to rapidly study millions of individual cells and the proteins they secrete to form tissues. The researchers termed their method Extracellular Protein Identification Cytometry (EPIC). "This changes the way we can study living matter and has many potential uses such as driving fabrication of replacement organs, and accelerating development and testing of medicines", says researcher Marieke Meteling.

The Arctic plays a central role in the global climate system. However, climate change could disrupt its balance. An international research team headed by the Alfred Wegener Institute and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has presented a comprehensive analysis of the current state of the Arctic carbon cycle.

We constantly hear about the -AI revolutionand the -digital transformation-. This is being driven by rapid advances from the field of machine learning (ML), such as those enabling autonomous vehicles, ChatGPT, DeepSeek and even predicting extreme weather events. But how do these innovations move from fundamental research to real-world impact? Geert-Jan Houben explores this question with the co-directors of the ELLIS Unit Delft: Frans Oliehoek and Jens Kober.

For patients born with a congenital genetic kidney disease, finding treatment is often difficult. The complex structure of the kidney tubules makes it difficult to research to find solutions for this. Through close collaboration between researchers from the Radboudumc and the University of Twente (Technical Medical Centre) and with the help of a grant from the TURBO program, treatment for these patients can get closer.