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From unpredictable returns from solar and wind to legal help for burnout

8 Impact Call Awards awarded to young UvA scientists

10 April 2025

Eight young UvA scientists will have the opportunity to realize their groundbreaking teaching and research projects thanks to the Amsterdam University Fund (AUF). The fund has awarded them the AUF Impact Call Awards, each good for an amount of €25,000 per project. These projects, ranging from using AI to create fetal images to developing legal tools for burnout cases, align perfectly with the Amsterdam University Fund's mission: to advance science for a green future, healthy generations and a strong society. The 2025 application round will open September 2025.

One of the notable laureates is Aafje de Roest (Faculty of Humanities), with her project PRAAT TOEKOMST WITH ME (TALK FUTURE WITH ME). This initiative lets Amsterdam youth collaborate with writers and artists to explore their visions of the future through self-written stories and performances. In doing so, her project contributes to a strong (and inclusive) society. De Roest: ‘This contribution provides an opportunity to develop new narratives that do justice to the experiences of young people.’

Burnout affects young employees relatively often. Niels van der Neut of the Faculty of Law helps them with his research into legal aspects surrounding burnout. For this he has students from different educational levels (mbo, hbo and wo) work together on practical solutions.  

Risks in energy transition  

Sven Karbach (Faculty of Science) is developing a data-driven riskmanagement tool for investments in renewable energy. His project focuses on managing so-called volumetric risks - for example, unpredictable returns from solar and wind. He is thereby contributing to a green future.

Without this support, this project would not have been possible

‘The AUF Impact Call Award is crucial. It allows us to recruit specialized assistants, fund the computing power we need, and collaborate with experts worldwide. Without this support, this project would not have been possible,’ Karbach said.

The eight winning projects:

  • Zichen Deng (FEB): Shared Beginnings: Assessing the Impact of Paternity Leave on Maternal and Child Health
  • Bernadette de Bakker (FdG): Engaging society through human developmental research
  • Annabel Bogaerts (FMG) The Sharing-ID Project: Studying How Adolescents' Real-time Identity Negotiations Grow into Identity and Distress
  • João Paulo Mendes (ACTA) Can 3D Printing Make Dentistry More Affordable Through Source Reduction?
  • Aafje de Roest (FGw) PRAAT TOEKOMST WITH ME - A participatory literary study of the future visions of Amsterdam youth
  • Niels van der Neut (FdR) The legal tension surrounding burnoutSiddharth Mehrotra (FNWI) Digital Companion: An AI-Powered Support System for Young Adult Caregivers' Well-being
  • Siddharth Mehrotra and Jin Huang: (FNWI) Digital Companion: An AI-Powered Support System for Young Adult Caregivers' Well-being
  • Sven Karbach (FNWI) Deep Spatio-Temporal Hedging for Weather and Climate Risk Mitigation in Renewable Energy Markets

Melchior Bussink, director of the fund, is enthusiastic about the diversity and impact of the projects. He is looking forward to the festive award ceremony this summer: 'The choice was not easy, because the innovative brainpower at the UvA is enormous, but we are proud of the final selection, which was made by a UvA-wide committee.' 

In the coming weeks, the eight winning projects will be highlighted in separate portraits on the Amsterdam University Fund website.

The 2025 application round will open September 2025