The UT female researchers are nominated for the VIVA400 award in the category ‘Bright Minds’ (Knappe Koppen). They are: professor Vanessa Evers, Geke Ludden, Nienke Bosschaart, Derya Demirtas, Stéphanie Gauttier, Wieteke Willemen and Leonie Zeune.
Vanessa Evers
Evers is a professor of Human Media Interaction. She conducts research on fundamental relationships between humans and interactive technology. Among others, she coordinates the EU DE_ENIGMA project that aims to develop robots that help autistic children improve their interpersonal communications.
Geke Ludden
Geke Ludden is an associate professor of Industrial Design Engineering. Her research focuses on how design of products and services influences people’s behavior, and she gives special attention to products and services that support healthy behavior. This year, Ludden co-developed a robotic vest that helps people improve their posture.
Derya Demirtas
Derya Demirtas is an assistant professor at the Center for Healthcare Operations Improvement & Research (CHOIR). Her research focuses on operations research, optimization and data analytics, location theory and their applications to healthcare and public services. She won the American Heart Association Young Investigator Award in 2015.
Nienke Bosschaart
Nienke Bosschaart is an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Photonic Imaging. Her work focuses on the development of optical diagnostic tools for mother and child care. She’s received a Veni grant for her project that aims to create a non-invasive alternative to blood sampling in preterm babies. Among other accomplishments, she is the winner of 2013 Simon Stevin Gezel award, as well as the 2013 PhD Thesis Award from the Dutch Association for Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering.
Stéphanie Gauttier
Stéphanie Gauttier is a postdoctoral researcher at the Philosophy department. She’s received the Marie Curie fellowship in 2018 to conduct her individual project entitled GLASNOST (reGuLAting Staff eNhancement in OrganiSaTions) through which she aims to study the relation between ethics and the acceptance of technology.
Wieteke Willemen
Willemen is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Geo-Information Sciences and Earth Observation. Her current research concentrates on ecosystem services and rural development issues. She contributes to bridging science-policy through her roles as Coordinating Lead Author of the Land Degradation and Restoration assessment of IPBES. She was the only Dutch female scientist selected to lead a part of the worldwide-assessment on ‘how, where and why nature contributes to our wellbeing’.
Leonie Zeune
Leonie Zeune is a PhD candidate at Medical Cell BioPhysics group. She is involved in the EU IMI CANCER-ID project that aims to develop an automatic detection and classification algorithm for Circulating Tumor Cells in blood probes using mathematical image analysis. She has developed a toolbox for determining tumor cells in the blood of cancer patients. Different research groups throughout Europe are already applying this toolbox.
