The Vrije Universiteit (literal translation from Dutch: "Free [as in liberty] University") is a university in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch name is often abbreviated as VU and in English the university uses the name "VU University". The university is located on a compact urban campus in the southern part of Amsterdam in the Buitenveldert district. Though a faith-based institution, the VU receives government funding on a parity basis with the public universities. The university should not be confused with the University of Amsterdam, which is a different university, located in the same city. That university was formerly owned and operated by the City of Amsterdam, but is now one of the public universities in the Netherlands. The VU has about 22,738 students, most of whom are full-time students. The number of faculty members and researchers is 2,764 (excluding personnel at VU University Medical Center). Teaching and research activities are supported by 1,905 administrative, clerical, technical, and other employees. The university's annual budget is around US$500 million, about two thirds of which comes from the Dutch government.
Discovering new particles using black holes
Some theories that go beyond the Standard Model of particle physics predict the existence of new ultralight particles, with masses far below the lightest known particles in nature. These particles have such very weak interactions ...
Feb 07, 2019
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Nucleation of liquids visualised
Researchers from the UvA's Institute of Physics (IoP) and Leiden University have found a new way to visualise and measure the nucleation process responsible for the formation of liquid droplets in vapour. Their findings, ...
The sublimation of solid ice happens just as quickly as the evaporation of liquid water
One might expect water to evaporate much faster than ice. Surprisingly, researchers from the University of Amsterdam have now shown that for small droplets of ice, this is not the case: ice and water droplets disappear equally ...
Efficient light conversion with perovskite nanocrystals
Perovskites are a family of crystals that show promising properties for applications in nanotechnology. However, a property called carrier multiplication, an effect that makes materials much more efficient in converting light ...
A new era in the quest for dark matter
Since the 1970s, astronomers and physicists have been gathering evidence for the presence in the universe of dark matter: a mysterious substance that manifests itself through its gravitational pull. However, despite much ...
Mountains create biodiversity
Mountains are among the most biodiverse places on Earth, but scientists have struggled to fully understand why they are so important in creating high species richness. An international research team, including four scientists ...
Sustainable, highly selective biocatalytic conversion of aldehydes to carboxylic acids
Researchers from the University of Amsterdam's Van't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS) have developed the first viable biocatalytic 'green' process for the chemoselective oxidation of aldehydes into carboxylic ...
Quantum LEGO—building ultracold molecules
Cooling matter is not easy. Atoms and molecules have the tendency to jump around, to rotate and to vibrate. Freezing these particles by slowing them down is a complicated process. For individual atoms, physicists have figured ...
Isotope effect reveals non-cooperative water dynamics in salt solutions
Water molecules surrounding ions behave in a much less cooperative way than they do in bulk water. This follows from a study on the isotope-dependent dielectric response of salt solutions, which has just been published in ...
Researchers discover new male variant of bulb mite
The bulb mite (Rhizoglyphus robini) is a common pest of numerous crops. Male bulb mites display one of two reproductive tactics and are classified as "fighters" and "scramblers." Biologists from the University of Amsterdam ...
