PhD candidate Sander Buddendorf has worked for the past year on his project to understand the bats in urban environments. Are they affected by nocturnal light exposure? That is what he tries to find out in his project. An update on his first year. Understanding the urban bat By Sander Buddendorf The bat is a mysterious flying nocturnal mammal. Many people I talked to in the “field” – in major Dutch cities such as Rotterdam and The Hague – come to me and tell me about bats...

In the fall of 2022, PhD candidates Koen Vink and Tamara Brouwers started with their BioClock project at the RIVM. Supervised by prof. Debbie van Baarle and prof. Jacco Wallinga, they investigate the interaction between the circadian clock and the immune system. More specifically, they look at the timing and dosing of vaccinations on the immune response and burden of disease. With epidemiological and modelling work (Koen) and preclinical and clinical studies (Tamara), in the next...

On Thursday February 2nd, StrandLAB Almere organizes mini lectures on the importance of darkness. BioClock coordinator, Joke Meijer, will hold a lecture and tickets can be bought through www.strandlab-almere.nl. StrandLAB Almere is a cultural outdoor laboratorium on the beach of Almere. It is a place for talent and experiments. In collaboration with citizens, artists, scientists and cultural partners they develop cultural programs on current issues.

Struggling to get up? You are not to blame! Prof. dr. Roelof Hut (University of Groningen) explains why this is true in the video podcast of the University of the Netherlands. This platform allows scientists to explain difficult concepts within a short time. He explains what the biological clock is, how it direct all clocks within the body and why this influences how we sleep, how we can perform and our health. And most importantly, can we become an early bird if we are a night...

PhD candidate Danielle Crowley started a year ago on her project in WP3.1. It is time for an update on her findings and plans. Keeping rhythm by Danielle Crowley Fish, like humans, follow light/dark (L/D) cycles of around 24 hours. These cycles or circadian rhythms as they are otherwise known, are responsible for initiating and maintaining an array of behavioural and physiological patterns including breeding, migration, and hormone expression. This is achievable...

In May 2022, Francesca Borghese started her PhD project at the University of Groningen. She will study how light affects humans, in several ways. She will be supervised by prof. Roelof Hut. Who are you? Hi, my name is Francesca! I was born in Italy and grew up in different countries in Asia and Africa, before moving to Switzerland during my teenage years. I love travelling, discovering new cultures, food and in my free time I enjoy reading, spending time with friends, video...

PhD candidate Laura Pape has started over a year ago on her project in WP1.4. It is time for an update on her findings and plans. E-health for university students by Laura Pape My project in work package 1.4 is about the effectiveness of a guided e-health intervention on improving sleep and mental in university students. Together with my research team, Dr. Niki Antypa and Prof. Philip Spinhoven from Leiden University, and Prof. Annemieke van Straten and Dr. Sascha...