Around 1800, political and social unrest swept through Europe. The Netherlands, or more correctly, the Dutch Republic, also was the scene of civil conflict and political coups.

A model study reveals that the seeds of plants in small, fragmented habitats can abruptly evolve in such a way that they can no longer travel long distances. As a consequence, plants are less successful in reaching other habitats. This insight shows that fragmented natural areas may need to be better connected than previously assumed. The research, conducted by biodiversity researchers Monique de Jager and Merel Soons , was published yesterday in the scientific journal Ecology and Evolution.

Four Utrecht researchers, each with slightly different areas of expertise and at different stages in their careers. But with one urgent shared concern: climate is changing, ice sheets are melting and sea levels are rising. This concern is crystal clear. But the complex research behind it is far from simple for most people. Therefore (or despite this) eight questions to four passionate 'polar researchers'.

During his farewell as university professor at Utrecht University, Frits van Oostrom was appointed Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion. Minister of Education, Culture, and Science Robbert Dijkgraaf handed over this royal honour, effectively allowing the acclaimed medievalist to now call himself a 'knight'.

An international research team led by Bert Weckhuysen  (Utrecht University) and Sara Bals (University of Antwerp) has shown that a promising catalyst for clearing CO₂ becomes significantly more active and selective if its pretreatment is modified. The scientists visualized the mechanism underlying this concept with unparalleled precision. The results of the study  appeared in the prestigious scientific journal Science on 11 May. Matteo Monai, Kellie Jenkinson and Angela Melcherts are the first authors.

Utrecht University has appointed five professors at the Department of Information and Computing Sciences. Each of the professorships involves an internal candidate. The appointments are part of a growth programme with extra attention to diversity. The same programme included the recent  appointment of Massimo Poesio as Professor of Natural Language Understanding. The professorships will start on May 1, 2023.

Lorena De Vita , Merel van Goch , Ruud Hortensius , Verena Seibel , Friedemann Polzin and Iryna Susha are awarded Dutch Research Council (NWO) Open Competition SSH XS funding. The grant of up to EUR 50,000 offers researchers the chance to launch a promising idea or innovative initiative. A total of 60 research projects will receive funding from the pilot programme.

Kulsum Dawoodbhoy (UMC Utrecht) won the annual pitch competition Breaking Science of Utrecht University.

Assistant Professor in Linguistics  Jakub Dotlacil  will receive a two million euro  ERC Consolidator Grant to build a research group for his Memory Access in Language: How We Store and Retrieve Linguistic Information project. With two PhD candidates and two postdocs, Dotlacil will conduct interdisciplinary research into the role of memory in communication. "This will help us to better understand why our knowledge of words, grammatical knowledge, and our ability to understand texts are structured in the way they are."

Ozan Ozavci and Elena Tribushinina have been awarded a grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) in the Open Competition SSH programme. With this competition, the NWO Division for Social Sciences and Humanities wants to offer researchers the opportunity to carry out research on a subject of their own choice, without any thematic preconditions.

Concerned students involved with End Fossil Occupy Utrecht (EFO Utrecht) have occupied an area in the Minnaert building out of protest from 8 May until 10 May. EFO Utrecht has drafted a manifesto expressing the request for an accessible and transparent university that breaks all ties with the fossil industry. The Executive Board understands the concerns of the students and has had several conversations about this with them. The following message provides an insight into how the university is working on these themes.

Concerned students and involved parties including End Fossil Occupy Utrecht (EFO Utrecht) are protesting at Utrecht University today. They are occupying an area in the Minnaert building and have written a manifesto demanding an accessible university that breaks all ties with the fossil industry. They indicate that the occupation may last for three days, from 8 to 10 May.  

At Utrecht University, interdisciplinary research into a sustainable future comes together in Pathways to Sustainability. To do justice to the natural sciences in this strategic theme, Professor René van Roij  together with several colleagues from the Faculties of Science and Geosciences initiated the community Science for Sustainability  a year ago. "In doing so, we strengthen the enormous potential of the natural sciences to solve sustainability issues. They may not always be about solutions for tomorrow, but definitely about solutions for long-term challenges."

Lorena de Vita , Merel van Goch , Ruud Hortensius , Verena Seibel , Friedemann Polzin and Iryna Susha are awarded DRC (in Dutch: NWO) Open Competition SSH XS funding. The grant of up to EUR 50,000 offers researchers the chance to launch a promising idea or innovative initiative. A total of 60 research projects will receive funding from the pilot programme.