The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded two Casimir researchers at TU Delft a Vidi grant of up to 800,000 euro. This will enable the laureates to develop an innovative line of research over the next five years and further expand their own research group. A total of 97 Vidi grants were awarded.

Unlocking non-reciprocal superconductivity using quantum materials
Prof. dr. Mazhar Ali, Quantum Nanoscience department (TU Delft)
Nonreciprocal electron conduction (forward != backward) is an important phenomenon integral to modern integrated circuit technology based on semiconducting junctions. However, nonreciprocal superconductivity, where charge moves without resistance enabling low power, very high speed devices, has remained elusive. Using recent breakthroughs in 2D quantum materials, physicists will create and control nonreciprocal superconductivity by integrating quantum materials, materials with intrinsic quantum effects, into Josephson junctions – the superconducting analog to the semiconducting junction. This novel approach offers a highly tunable platform for understanding the fundamental mechanisms driving nonreciprocal superconductivity as well as optimizing the property for next generation technological applications.

Sense, Decide, Develop: how to maintain accuracy in gene regulation and development
Dr. Marianne Bauer, Bionanoscience department (TU Delft)
For organisms to develop well, cell-fate decisions need to be made correctly, and these in turn are based on an accurate sense of the cell’s environment. Researchers will investigate mechanistic processes which contribute to noise, regarding the spatial structure of the genome, on the one hand, and develop information-theoretical and mathematic frameworks to infer optimal network architectures from experimental data on the other. This project is based on experimental collaborations in a series of developing systems, from flies to viruses.

Read more here.