果冻传媒

Thanks to the personal grant of 200.000 euro per person, the fellows receive two full years to develop their ideas into commercial or societal ventures. During this period, they receive intensive support from experts in entrepreneurship, intellectual property, and investment, and they are exempted from teaching and administrative duties. Earlier, Tim Hogervorst and Mert Astam (Chemical Engineering & Chemistry) were also selected.

Three innovations with strong societal potential

Mohammed Khorsand - Automated cell culture with real-time biosensing
Biological experiments are still often performed manually and depend on offline analysis, making them slow, error-prone, and difficult to scale. The lack of real-time biosensing in particular limits further automation. Ions such as sodium and calcium play essential roles in cellular processes, making continuous monitoring crucial for better understanding disease development. Khorsand is developing an innovative cell culture platform that combines ion-selective biosensors with digital microfluidics, enabling automatic and real-time ion detection.

Alexander Oliva 鈥� Robotic touch for smarter automation
Oliva is developing Feel2Grasp, a new sensor technology that enables vacuum grippers to 鈥渇eel鈥� by measuring deformation and forces in real time. This allows existing robots to operate faster and more accurately while reducing waste. The technology offers a scalable way to make automation more reliable and widely applicable across sectors.

Claire Michielsen 鈥� Accessible diagnostics for infectious diseases
With the LUNAS technology, Claire Michielsen aims to bring sensitive DNA detection outside traditional laboratories, making accurate molecular diagnostics more accessible. The modular platform can be adapted to detect various infectious diseases. This is especially valuable in Sub-Saharan Africa, where limited diagnostic capacity often leads to misdiagnoses and misuse of medication, contributing to antimicrobial resistance. Through the social enterprise Spotlight Dx, Michielsen aims to make reliable and affordable diagnostics available where they are needed most.

2026 Faculty of Impact Call
A new round of the Faculty of Impact program is expected to open at the end of January 2026. One important change compared to previous rounds: this time, the call will give equal attention to all themes within the mission-driven innovation policy. The themes will remain: Security, Climate & Energy, Agriculture, Water & Food, Circular Economy, and Health & Care. Keep a close eye on the NWO website in January for the official announcement and full details.

Faculty of Impact
The Faculty of Impact program (FoI program) is funded by the Ministry of 果冻传媒, Culture and Science. It is designed for academic researchers who want to create impact with their work and who are interested in developing entrepreneurial skills to launch their own company. The Faculty of Impact contributes to the valorisation of scientific research and is a collaboration between Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), the individual universities, Techleap.nl and NWO.