The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded a Rubicon grant to two promising young UvA researchers. This grant enables researchers who have recently obtained their doctorate to gain research experience abroad. Foreign researchers can also conduct research in the Netherlands. The recipients were selected due to their talent for conducting innovative and groundbreaking research. A total of 75 researchers submitted a research proposal. A quarter of these applications were accepted by the NWO.

The successful UvA researchers:

• Elsje van Bergen (Child Development): Reading speed: like parent like child?
  If you read a text with someone, it is noticeable if one person reads faster than the other. But what is the reason for this? Elsie Bergen will conduct research on the reading skills, environment and genes of parents and their children.
  The research will be conducted at the Oxford University (UK).
• Yoav Noam (Neurobiology): Seeing live brain cells at work
  Communication among brain cells requires specialized proteins ('ion channels') that reside on the cell membrane, where they conduct electric currents. Importantly, abnormal regulation of ion channels may result in brain pathologies such as epilepsy. In the proposed research, innovative microscopy techniques will be employed to directly visualize and analyze how different types of ion channels assemble and behave on the surface of living neurons. By doing so, the physiological contribution of specific ion channels to brain function in health and disease will be revealed.
  The research will be conducted at the University of California-Irvine (USA).