Energetic NWO meeting at DIFFER
Why would anyone wish to build a star on Earth? Colleagues from NWO-D and NWO-I witnessed how groundbreaking research contributes to this green future during the NWO-wide internal meeting Connect@DIFFER held on 18 April in Eindhoven. The well-filled programme included a presentation from researcher Matthijs van Berkel, who works on holistic control systems. And also an extensive lab tour past the Ion Beam Facility, Magnum-PSI and Upgraded Pilot PSI, various chemistry labs and the workshop. Marcel Levi (president NWO) and Marco de Baar (director DIFFER) kicked off the meeting.
Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research
DIFFER is the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research. The institute immediately made a good impression on many of the participating colleagues because of its fantastic building on the campus of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). The spring sun shone through the high windows of the cleanly designed building as, after a welcoming cup of tea or coffee, we proceeded to the lecture theatre on the second floor.
Three roles of NWO
Marcel Levi welcomed all of the NWO colleagues. He told them about three different roles of NWO: funder, connector and researcher. And how these three roles could become more interrelated, such as during this day’s meeting. Marcel praised the institutes: “These are international top centres that represent the cutting edge of science.”
Fundamental energy research
Fundamental energy research at DIFFER focuses on materials, processes and systems for solar fuels and fusion energy, explained director Marco de Baar. “Does anybody know why materials, in particular, are so vital for the energy transition?”, Marco asked the audience. For a moment, the audience remained silent. “New clean ways of producing and storing energy require materials that can make those processes quicker and more efficient”, he explained. “At DIFFER, we also do research into materials that can survive extreme conditions, such as those in the fusion reactor, where extreme temperatures are reached.”
Marco’s enthusiasm was infectious. He passionately talked about the institute’s research and the physics and chemistry behind that. About hydrogen and metals, and about the institute’s unique research setups. “If I’ve said any smart things, then I’ve picked those up from Matthijs van Berkel”, jokes Marco. He could not have thought of a better way to introduce the next speaker, Matthijs van Berkel.
Vidi grant for control systems
Matthijs van Berkel is a group leader at DIFFER. He studied mechanical engineering at TU/e and specialised in control technology. In 2022, he received a Vidi grant for his research into a holistic control system for fusion reactors. Using a simple example, a boiler thermostat, Matthijs explained what a control system is. The boiler switches on when it becomes too cold in the house and switches off again once it reaches the temperature set. His research is about the system that controls the fusion reaction in a reactor. That is extremely important because the reactor will break down once it becomes too hot.
Matthijs’ research is part of several international projects that are all working on constructing that star on Earth. For example, in the international megaproject ITER, an experimental fusion reactor under construction in the south of France.
Tour of research setups
The tour of the building started after a stellar quiz led by DIFFER colleagues Rianne van Hoek (communication) and David van Walderveen (strategy). The NWO colleagues left the lecture theatre divided into three groups. DIFFER has fantastic facilities that can be used by researchers from all over the world: an Ion Beam Facility, Magnum-PSI and Upgraded Pilot-PSI, and various chemistry labs. Different researchers told us about what we could roughly see in all that metal, wires, enormous tubes and, yes, also some pieces of everyday aluminium foil. DIFFER also has a workshop where a small team of dedicated technicians produces new components.
It goes without saying that our bodies also needed some refreshment on this informative day. During the lunch, there was plenty of time to network and an opportunity to gain more knowledge from the poster presentations by six PhD students.
Art walk through the campus
The programme at the institute finished at two o’clock, after which we continued our tour outside. A tour guide from the TU/e campus took us past a range of buildings and works of art in the direction of the main railway station of Eindhoven, the City of Light.
The campus was established in 1957 and has continued to grow since. Between the brutalist concrete violence of architecture from the 1960s and 1970s, we discovered a range of sculptures and objects. The guide explained that with the opening or reopening of a building on the campus, a new work of art is always placed. For example, ‘Loom Room’ (2022-2023), a handwoven textile design by artist Hella Jongerius, has been hung on the walls of the ground floor of the Neuro Atrium. The statue ‘Wording’ [Becoming] (1968) by Piet Kiellaars perches in the water next to the Atlas building.
Once the morning sun made way for a dark sky and a cold wind, various voices in the group suggested that it was time to take a warm train home. It was time to round off this successful edition of Connect@.
About Connect@
A Connect@ meeting is an internal NWO meeting around an engaging theme, subject or organisation unit that inspires and connects. These meetings are organised by and for NWO-D and NWO-I employees. We organise Connect@ because we believe it is important to share knowledge and to connect with each other internally, especially in view of the complex structure of the organisation. Would you like to know more about the Connect@ meetings? Then please contact Julien Larroque (concern communication) and Martine van Harderwijk (communication NWO-I office), via connect@nwo.nl.
Text: Kim Damen
Newsletter Inside NWO-I, May 2024
You can find the archive of the newsletter Inside NWO-I on the NWO-I website.