Four young, excellent women professors from the fields of the arts, science, social sciences and medicine received a prize from the Dutch Network of Women Professors (LNVH) on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.

Stars in their field
A jury of renowned scientists chose the four absolute stars in their field from a total of 175 nominees.The LNVH anniversary prize comprises the sum of 5,000 euros plus a certificate and will be presented during the LNVH anniversary celebrations in the Centraal Museum in Utrecht on 6 October 2011.

Nynke Dekker
Biophysics professor at TU Delft Nynke Dekker (born 1971) is one of the Netherlands’ leading researchers on the interface of physics, biology and nanoscience. Her research into the interaction between DNA and RNA proteins forms a foundation for future medical applications. Only recently her group developed a pair of magnetic tweezers which enables a new generation of measurements of the working of motor proteins to be made. As an organiser and figurehead of science, Nynke Dekker plays an exemplary role, both within TU Delft and beyond. From 1 January 2012 she will be the first female member of the Executive Board of the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM). Nynke has already been the recipient of a Vidi and a Vici grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

About the LNVH
The Dutch Network of Women Professors (LNVH) started in the 1990s as an informal network and became a foundation on 9 August 2001. The LNVH is a network of over 600 (83%) of women professors from all fields of science and every university and research institution in the Netherlands. Since March 2010, membership of the network is also open to women associate professors. The aim of the LNVH is to see women proportionally represented within the university community. The LNVH is supported by NWO and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.