Professor Lude Franke awarded Vici grant

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded Lude Franke, Professor of Functional Genomics at the Faculty of Medical Sciences/UMCG, a Vici grant worth € 1.5 million. The Vici grant will enable him to develop innovative lines of research for the next five years.

Spontaneous and inherited mutations: different beasts or two sides of the same coin?

Professor Franke will use the awarded funding to conduct research into genetic mutations. Many diseases have a genetic basis, but cancer is often caused by mutations that occur throughout a person’s lifetime, while other diseases are caused by genetic changes passed on from parent to child. His project uses gene networks to test whether there is a unifying principle that links these different types of mutations.

Crowning achievement

Cisca Wijmenga, Rector Magnificus of the University of Groningen, is delighted with the award: ‘I know from my own experience how important Vici grants are for conducting independent scientific research. In this case, I am extra proud of Lude. Years ago, he was one of my most creative and innovative PhD students. This truly is a crowning achievement for him.’

About Vici

Vici is one of the largest personal academic grants awarded in the Netherlands, and is aimed at experienced researchers who are free to put their own research project forward for funding. Due to the hacking of the NWO network, only Vici grants for Health Research and Medical Sciences (ZonMw) are being announced today.