Two Radboud researchers are set to receive a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC): Martijn Koster is a researcher from Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies, and Sven Meeder is Assistant Professor of Medieval History. The two-million-euro grants will allow both of the researchers to launch a new research project.

marks the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Historians Harm Kaal and Jelle van Lottum are presenting a 180-page edition of the Journal of Applied History devoted in its entirety to the Russio-Ukrainian war and how history is being used as a weapon in this conflict. "We hope this will provide insight into how we can counteract distortion and abuse of the past."

Towards the end of 2022, ChatGPT took the internet by storm. The chatbot, powered by OpenAI's GPT-3 large language model, impressed millions with its ability to quickly generate articulate responses to many types of questions. These so-called transformer-based language models can already be used to help organisations in creating new innovation solutions, researchers at Radboud University argue in a paper published today in the Journal of Product Innovation Management.

The educational escape room "University in Resistance" presented by Radboud University in 2018 will reopen on Saturday 17 December at ROXescape. The escape room has been set up as a student house from the 1940s, whose residents were in the resistance. Visitors can learn about true facts from Nijmegen's wartime history.

Tiny droplets in our cells can accelerate the accumulation of protein deposits in diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, but they can also hinder this accumulation. While they will worsen the accumulation if the proteins stick to the edge of the droplets, the situation actually improves when they are incorporated into the droplets. Chemists from Radboud University and the University of Twente are set to publish their new findings in Science Advances on 2 December.

People with depression benefit from contact with fellow sufferers. Such contacts can in fact contribute to recovering from depression. That was shown in the PhD research done by Dorien Smit, who will defend her thesis at Radboud University on 1 December. On the basis of Smit's research, an online platform for people with depression was set up.

Radboud University's Radboud Radio Lab and the technology company ATG Europe will work even closer together to build a radio telescope on the dark side of the moon. This cooperative venture is part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) larger programme of multiple missions to the moon.

Mark Timmerman has been appointed Professor by special appointment of Periodontology at Radboud university medical center and Radboud University. This chair was partially established by the Dutch Society of Periodontology (NVvP). Timmerman wants to give a new impetus to education in periodontology in the Netherlands and use his clinical experience for research to improve treatments to the surounding tissues of the teeth.

ROBUST, an initiative by the Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence (ICAI), is supported by the University of Amsterdam and 51 government, industry and knowledge-sector partners including Radboud University and Radboudumc. The programme aims to strengthen the Dutch artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem by boosting fundamental AI research. ROBUST focuses primarily on the development of trustworthy AI technology for the resolution of socially relevant issues, such as those in healthcare, logistics, media, food and energy. The research sponsor, the Dutch Research Council (NWO) has earmarked 25 million euros for the programme for the next 10 years.

Many people assume that 'groter als' is not correct Dutch, but some language advisers say that it's fine. Language advisers often contradict one another, as linguist Marten van der Meulen notes in his PhD dissertation on language advice in the twentieth century, which he will defend at Radboud University on 16 January 2023.

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded a Synergy Grant, named "BlackHolistic", of 14 million Euro to a team of Dutch, British, Finnish, and Namibian astronomers to make colour movies of black holes. They will build the first ever African millimetre-wave radio telescope in Namibia to achieve their goal. The telescope will take part in the global Event Horizon Telescope network that became famous for making the first image of a black hole. The new grant will help to transform this network from making still images towards making movies and to understand black holes across the entire Universe.

Flemish nursing homes that work with smaller residential groups that have permanent healthcare teams have had noticeably fewer infections or deaths related to COVID-19. This is true not only of the residents, but also the personnel. This was the conclusion reached by researchers from KU Leuven and Radboud University.

Six researchers at Radboud University receive a Starting Grant of the European Rersearch Council (ERC). This 1.5 milion euro grant gives them the opportunity to form their own research groups.

People with financial problems can often get support from volunteers. On 24 November, Jansje van Middendorp will receive her PhD for her research into the effectiveness of that support. "Volunteers can help prevent more serious financial difficulties, but sometimes the problems are too complex or applicants drop out early. After that, problems can actually increase and volunteers can become demotivated."