Three Rubicons for EUR scientists

Three scientists at EUR have been awarded a Rubicon grant. This grant, awarded by NWO, means they can go and do research abroad for two years.

The three science talents are Sanaz Sedaghat and Petros Kolovos of Erasmus MC and Wim Pouw of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Epidemiologist Sanaz Sedaghat will be going to the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. She’ll be carrying out research there into brain defects in kidney patients and how changes in renal functioning during young adulthood can influence brain structure and functioning until late middle age.

Protein complex and gestures

Cell biologist Petros Kolovos will be spending two years at the University of Copenhagen to carry out research into the molecular aspects of cancer regulation. He’ll be studying a protein complex, and the idea here is to get one step closer to turning the medicines that impact this protein complex into reality. Wim Pouw, a psychologist at FSW, will be going to the University of Connecticut to research how people’s gestures support spatial thinking processes. He’ll be conducting a series of experiments there to examine ways in which people’s hands should move in order to resolve spatial problems during their actual movements.

A Rubicon grant enables young science talents to gain international research experience. 21 out of the 77 applications were awarded this grant. Nine of these will be going to the USA and eight to the UK.