39 researchers receive Vici grant
What is the welfare wall and why do we encounter it? How do lightning fires threaten permafrost soils? What do we know about restoring disrupted communication between brain cells after cardiac arrest? Or how can you replace pesticide use with potato microbiomes? These are just a few of the 39 projects who have just received a Vici grant.
The Vici grant enables researchers to develop an innovative line of research and further expand a research group over the next five years. Vici is one of the largest personal scientific grants in the Netherlands and is aimed at advanced researchers. The funding instrument makes it possible to conduct research of one's own choosing. This gives innovative scientific research a boost.
From welfare walls to brain research
The researchers who have received a Vici grant are conducting research on a wide range of topics. For example, one of the researchers is focusing on so-called “welfare walls”. Millions of people could escape poverty with government aid, but many do not apply for benefits such as housing benefit. This is referred to as “non-take-up” of government services. By talking to citizens and developing a model, researchers hope to better understand and reduce such a “non-take-up” of existing government services – a serious problem that increases poverty.
But not just walls, also the soil is a subject of research. Permafrost soils contain a lot of carbon, which can be released when the soil thaws after fires. And it is precisely in cold areas that lightning fires are becoming more frequent and more intense. This project uses satellite data, among other things, to map lightning fires and predict future changes in lightning and fires. In this way, this research contributes to the protection of permafrost and the prevention of additional greenhouse gas emissions, thereby helping to achieve climate goals.
Sustainability is also central to a Vici research project into the potato microbiome. In order to feed the world's population sustainably, crops are needed that can resist disease without the use of large amounts of pesticides. The potato microbiome – beneficial microbes in the soil, roots and leaves of the potato plant – can offer a solution here and provide natural protection against disease. Using AI, advanced imaging and soil samples from a hundred potato fields, researchers are investigating which microbes can provide protection.
Finally, in a last example of an awarded Vici grant, brain research wants to tackle the question of how communication between brain cells is disrupted after cardiac arrest and how it can be restored. The project is studying this using computer analyses, microscopes and measurements of cerebrospinal fluid. These new insights could lead to better predictions of recovery chances and new treatments for coma patients.
Each researcher receives a maximum of one and a half million euros from NWO.
Facts and figures
The Vici grants are awarded annually by NWO. In 2025, total of 384 pre-proposals were submitted (151 by women and 233 by men). After selection in the pre-proposal phase, 131 applications were submitted (49 by women and 82 by men), of which 39 were awarded (18 to women and 21 to men). The award rates relative to the number of preliminary applications submitted for the 2025 Vici round are therefore: 12 percent for women (18 out of 151) and 9 percent for men (21 out of 233). In relation to the number of applications submitted, the allocation rate is 37 percent for women (18 out of 49) and 26 percent for men (21 out of 82).
Source: NWO
The 7 Vici projects funded by ZonMw
-
The role of the endothelium in aging-induced heart failure
Prof. R.A. Boon, Amsterdam UMC
As people live longer, more develop HFpEF, a common type of heart failure where the heart pumps blood but the muscle has become too stiff to fill properly. Patients feel breathless and tired, yet effective treatments are lacking. Researchers suspect that aging blood vessel cells in the heart (endothelial cells) are a key cause. Normally these cells signal to the heart muscle, but aging disrupts this communication and makes the heart stiffer. This project will study these changes using patient samples, lab-grown heart tissue, and animal models, aiming to identify ways to restore communication and improve treatment for elderly patients.Simple and Prompt Encephalitis and mEningitis Diagnostics (SPEED)
Prof. M.C. Brouwer, Amsterdam UMC
New diagnostics for brain infections: faster is better.
Infections of the brain are life-threatening but can be difficult to diagnose because there are only a limited number of tests available in cerebrospinal fluid to guide physicians. As a consequence, the time to the correct diagnosis is often too long and there is a delay until patients receive the proper treatment. In this project I will develop novel, simple, faster and affordable tests to decrease the time to the correct diagnosis and thereby improve the outcome for patients with brain infections.Autoimmunity as a central cause of post-acute infection syndromes (ARISE)
Dr J. den Dunnen, Amsterdam UMC
Post-acute infection syndromes (PAIS) are illnesses that develop after an infection and can last for months or even years. Well-known examples are Long COVID, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS), and Q fever fatigue syndrome (QFS). Patients often struggle with severe fatigue, memory and concentration problems, and sleep disturbances, leaving many unable to work. Worldwide, hundreds of millions of people are affected, yet no reliable tests or treatments exist. This project investigates whether the immune system mistakenly attacks the body after infection. By finding specific autoantibodies in blood samples, researchers aim to develop diagnostic tests and discover new therapies.Synaptic failure after cardiac arrest: towards the heart of coma recovery
Prof. J. Hofmeijer, University of Twente
Many people who survive a cardiac arrest fall into a coma due to oxygen deprivation in the brain. In Europe, that involves about 200,000 people each year. What exactly happens in the brain in this situation is not well understood. In this project, brain researchers will study the communication between brain cells using computer analyses, microscopy, and measurements of brain fluid. How is this communication disrupted after cardiac arrest, and how can it be restored? These new insights may lead to better predictions of recovery and new treatments for future coma patients.INSPIRE: INflammation-mediated Sex-specific Pathway elucidation in Intracranial aneurysmal Research
Prof. Y.M. Ruigrok, University Medical Center Utrecht
A brain aneurysm is a weakened spot in a cerebral artery that can cause life-threatening hemorrhage when ruptured. The mechanisms of formation and rupture remain poorly understood, and suitable models for studying them are lacking. Since aneurysms occur more often in women, sex-specific processes likely play a role. This project investigates inflammatory overactivation in endothelial cells using genetics, advanced imaging, and patient-derived cells, and tests whether drugs can modulate it. We also explore whether these processes are detectable in blood, with the ultimate goal of enabling earlier identification of high-risk individuals and improving treatment in the future.From Blood to Brain - the transmissible potential of Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy
Prof. M.J.H. Wermer, University Medical Center Groningen
Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a major cause of intracerebral hemorrhage and dementia. It results from accumulation of the protein amyloid-beta in small cerebral vessels. Doctors once thought CAA developed only with aging, but new findings suggest CAA may sometimes spread like prion diseases: patients who received donor tissue during neurosurgery, or blood transfusions from donors later found to have CAA, appear at increased risk decades later. I will investigate whether amyloid-beta can spread from blood to brain, and why some people are more susceptible to CAA than others. This knowledge may lead to safer care and novel prevention strategies.PERSEUS: Plasticity-Encoded Reprogrammed Subtypes to Expose Unique Sensitivities in Prostate Cancer
Prof. dr. W. Zwart, Netherlands Cancer Institute
While many studies focus on DNA mutations, scientists discovered that changes in how genes are switched 'on' or 'off' also play a major role. With this project, the researchers aim to uncover how these changes arise, and how they influence tumor growth and treatment response. Using advanced technologies, the researchers will search for key molecular 'switches' that control this process, in particular for prostate cancer; one of the most common cancers in men. The goal of this project is to identify new and more effective ways to treat prostate cancer, tailored to the specific stage and type of the disease.