Millions worth of grants for five Groningen top researchers

Five prominent academics from the University of Groningen have been awarded EUR 1.5 million each, to be spent on five years of research and the establishment of their own research groups. They have been awarded VICI grants as part of NWO’s Innovational Research Incentives Scheme (‘Vernieuwingsimpuls’).

NWO awards VICI grants on the basis of the researchers’ quality, the innovative nature and academic impact of their research proposal and application of knowledge. The VICI grants are intended for ‘excellent, experienced researchers who have successfully developed a new research line and thus established themselves prominently at both national and international levels’, says NWO. This year there were 216 applicants for a VICI grant. A total of 36 academics have eventually been awarded VICI grants.

VICI laureates in Groningen

• Lost in Translation - Found in Meaning

Prof. dr. J. (Johan) Bos Faculty of Arts, Computational Semantics

It’s not easy to produce a good translation. The meaning has to be conveyed as well as possible, but a literal translation often results in unnatural constructions. Sometimes a subtle change in meaning can result in a better translation. How this works exactly is going to be investigated by computer linguists, working with automatic analyses of huge amounts of translated texts.

• Galactic Archaeology in the Gaia era: Discovery and characterization of fossil records to uncover the history and distribution of mass of the Milky Way

Prof. dr. A (Amina) Helmi Faculty of Science and Engineering (formerly known as the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences), Kapteyn Astronomical Institute

Over the next 5 years, the recently launched European Gaia satellite will help us to unravel how the Milky Way came into being. Gaia will help us to find the remains of the building blocks of our galaxy so that we can reconstruct how it was formed and learn more about the details of the mass distribution.

• When disasters meet conflict. Disaster response of humanitarian aid and local state and non-state institutions in different conflict scenarios.

Prof. dr. ir. D.J.M. (Thea) Hilhorst  - Faculty of Arts, Globalisation Studies Groningen

Natural disasters coupled with a conflict. What happens if a natural disaster occurs in a conflict area? What can the government do, how do the institutions function and what do the various aid organizations do to cope? How can they prevent the conflict getting worse? This will be investigated in nine countries struggling with natural disasters and various kinds of conflict.

• Mondiale Waardeketens: een nieuw perspectief op wereldwijde handel, banen en inkomensongelijkheid

Prof. dr. M.C. (Marcel) Timmer Faculty of Economics and Business, Global Economics and Management

An iPad is developed in the US but produced in China. Who does what, where and for what remuneration? This project will investigate the determinants of trade and offer new insights into the consequences for the jobs and income of employees at regional, national and global levels.

• Anti-bullying programs 2.0: Tailored interventions to minimize bullying

Prof. dr. R. (René) Veenstra Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, ICS Research School

Why do anti-bullying programmes not work in all classes? Social network analyses and tailored advice are used to try to resolve the problem of bullying. Interventions (meaningful tasks for popular bullies; support groups for victims of chronic bullying; coaching of teachers) will be developed, introduced and evaluated in order to help schools fight bullying.