Newsletter April 2024

Minister Micky Adriaansens visits Utrecht Science Park Bilthoven

Monday 15 April, Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Micky Adriaansens, together with Deputy André van Schie, visited Utrecht Science Park Bilthoven, which is part of the Utrecht Science Park as a satellite location. Utrecht Science Park Bilthoven is unique and special because it is the home of many organizations that are experts in the field of health, such as the company Bilthoven Biologicals, which produces vaccines for diseases such as polio.

On Tuesday evening March 26 a running symposium took place at the Utrecht Science Park in preparation for the Utrecht Marathon. There were interesting talks by Dafne Schipppers, Sander Hoogendoorn, Erik Hulzebos en Eline Peterse. On Sunday May 19th, more than 12,000 participants will run one of the distances during the Utrecht Marathon, 1,000 of which are working at the Utrecht Science Park. Will you be there?

Five research teams of the UMC Utrecht receive a grant for projects in the framework of the ZonMw Open Competition. With this funding, the research teams can develop innovative team science initiatives that contribute to innovation within fundamental (bio)medical science and long-term health care.

PhD-student Mirjam van den Brink studied changes in smell and taste in children with cancer. She conducted this research at the Princess Máxima Center, in the Tissing group. Up to 60% of children suffer from taste changes during treatment, citing it as one of the most bothersome complaints.

How can we make Utrecht Science Park greener and more sustainable? Energy production and biodiversity do not always go hand in hand. Lack of space on the Utrecht Science Park results in us having to make choices and come up with innovative solutions. Do you have a smart and innovative idea to generate solar energy and enhance biodiversity on the Utrecht Science Park? Enter the competition from Utrecht University

HU lecturer and researcher Karin Thomassen is doing PhD research on smart cast: using smart technology to improve immobilisation solutions. To do this, it is important to take good measurements of current solutions. Tricky, because casts do not come off the arm in one piece. Karin decided to turn this problem into an assignment for students at her institute. The end result: the dummy arm.

As part of its 10th anniversary, hollandbio is organising a series of networking events in the 'hollandbio-komt-naar- je-toer' this year. The first is at the Utrecht Science Park. The aim is to bring our national and regional biotech ecosystems together. Hollandbio invites relevant stakeholders to meet and look ahead to the future of biotech together.

How do diseases develop? How can we recognize them more quickly? And how can we treat them in a more targeted way? By analyzing very large amounts of molecular data with the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI). This is what Jeroen de Ridder is dedicated to. As of 1 April 2024, he has been appointed as professor of bioinformatics in molecular biology at UMC Utrecht, within the Strategic Program Cancer.

The municipality of Utrecht launched the procedure to designate 36 buildings in the city as 'Young Monument' in September 2023. The buildings have an important cultural-historical value for the city. Six of the Young Municipal Monuments are in the Utrecht Science Park, including: the Minnaert Building, the University Library and the Warm Power Plant on the Limalaan.

On 15 April, Brothers Horeca Groep opened a new location at the Utrecht Science Park: Grand Café LIVING. LIVING has come as a replacement for The Basket. Here you can enjoy the all-day menu at any time of the day, five days a week. You can go there for breakfast, lunch or extensive drinks and dinner. There is also the possibility of meeting in one of the meeting rooms.

After two vibrant editions with 25+ entrepreneurs, the Utrecht Science Park Foundation, Municipality of Utrecht and ROM Utrecht Region are organizing a third U-Forward Life Sciences BreakFast on Tuesday, May 14. All life sciences entrepreneurs from the Utrecht region are invited to join the breakfast session. Take the opportunity to network and share inspiring stories while enjoying a croissant and coffee.

UtrechtInc stands as a leading global university-linked startup incubator, fostering early-stage, scalable technology startups across health, sustainability, education, and artificial intelligence. The startups are founded by local researchers, medical doctors, students, and entrepreneurs. UtrechtInc has supported almost 400 startups by now and created 6100 jobs.

106 professors from UMC Utrecht and Utrecht University (UU) stepped on their bikes to elementary schools throughout Utrecht. This "Meet the Professor" program takes place annually and introduces children in grades 6,7, and 8 to science and the work involved. Each year, the various professors look forward to it. "It's a surprise every time what kind of class you get in front of you," said one of the returning professors.