The board of the Domain Science of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) has granted funding for two out of fourteen proposals in the Physics Projectruimte, a granting instrument for small-scale projects that propose innovative fundamental physics research that has a scientific, industrial or social urgency. The proposal 'Activating viscoelastic colloidal architectures' by Peter Schall (UvA-IoP) and Peter Bolhuis (UvA-HIMS) was one of the two awarded proposals.

Remote Control

Active particles are particles that can be 'remote-controlled' by some external force. They show fascinating collective behaviour, reminiscent of swarms of animals. So far, this phenomenon has mostly been studied in the form of fluids. With the Projectruimte grant, the researchers will now perform the first systematic studies on active solids towards fundamental insights into biology and novel biomaterials and biomedical applications.

The proposal of Schall and Bolhuis was part of the first Projectruimte-round of 2018. In this round, 14 applications were assessed by NWO. Subsequently, 89 applications were received by NWO by the deadline of 1 May 2018. Funding decisions for these proposals are expected in December 2018.

NWO press release about the Projectruimte grants