Institute of Physics

Physics research and education at our institute covers a wide range of topics - both experimental and theoretical, and ranging from fundamental to more applied.

Worms as particle sweepers

When observing small worms under a microscope, one might observe something very surprising: the worms appear to make a sweeping motion to clean their own environment. Physicists at the University of Amsterdam, ...
A 3D-printed Christmas tree made entirely of ice

A team of physicists from the University of Amsterdam’s Institute of Physics has 3D-printed a Christmas tree made entirely of ice. Researchers Menno Demmenie, Stefan Kooij and Daniel Bonn used no freezing technology ...
NWO ENW-XS grants for four UvA Faculty of Science researchers

NWO has awarded grants to 72 projects in the latest round of the Open Competition ENW-XS. Four of these projects are led by researchers from the UvA Faculty of Science: Bettina Baumgartner, Tina Pollmann, Joost Reek ...
From kitchen to classroom: New Culinary Science course offers refreshing perspective on learning science

In a new educational initiative at the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Science, food professionals contribute to an appealing course teaching the basics of physics, chemistry and biology through cooking. Both ...
ERC Consolidator Grant for Jordy de Vries

Theoretical physicist Jordy de Vries (UvA Institute of Physics and Nikhef) has received an ERC grant for precision calculations on, among other things, three forms of beta decay. These calculations could solve ...
Nine UvA researchers receive ERC Consolidator Grants

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded Consolidator Grants to nine UvA researchers. The laureates are: Thijs Bol, Jaron Harambam, Eirini Karyotaki, Patty Leijten, Dora Matzke, Matthijs Rooduijn, Yatun ...
Florian Schreck receives funding for cutting-edge research on photonic chips

Eighteen research projects are jointly awarded more than 16 million euros for technological research on photonic chips. The funding comes from NWO and the National Growth Fund programme PhotonDelta. This investment ...
Decoding dark matter’s imprint on black-hole gravitational waves

A new study by researchers at the University of Amsterdam shows how gravitational waves from black holes can be used to reveal the presence of dark matter and help determine its properties. The key is a new model, ...
A nanoscale chameleon

Inspired by the Japanese art of kirigami, a team of scientists from the University of Amsterdam have developed a material that can reflect different colours of light, depending on how it is stretched. The results ...
APS Dissertation Award for Jonas Veenstra

Jonas Veenstra has received the American Physical Society’s Dissertation Award in Statistical and Nonlinear Physics for his PhD thesis “Animating metamaterials with non-reciprocity”.