Neuroscientist Jake Westerberg receives Veni grant

NWO has awarded Veni funding of up to EUR 320,000 to 174 promising researchers from across the full breadth of science. This will allow the laureates to further develop their own research ideas over the next three years. On of the Laureates is Jake Westerberg from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience.

The Veni is a personal scientific grant, is part of the NWO Talent Programme and is aimed at researchers who have recently obtained their PhDs. They will conduct research within the full breadth of science. The projects receiving funding therefore focus on a wide variety of topics: from the use of algorithms and AI in criminal justice to the role of gut bacteria in our mental health, and from correcting quantum errors like Sherlock Homes to the distribution of colonial profits in the Netherlands between 1850 and 1860.

Brain stimulation to aid with attentional control

Jake will use this grant for his research on brain stimulation to aid with attentional control. Our attention is balanced between our internal goals and objects in our environment that capture our attention. Clinical neurological disorders often disrupt this balance, leading to uncoordinated attention and distraction. Fortunately, we know certain brain areas and circuits participate in regulating attention. This project aims to identify whether a specific brain area, the Locus Coeruleus, can be electrically stimulated to help aid in coordinating attention and alleviating debilitating distraction.

Talent programme

The NWO Talent Programme gives researchers the freedom to pursue their own research based on creativity and passion. The programme encourages innovation and curiosity. Curiosity-driven research contributes to and prepares us for tomorrow’s society. That is why NWO focuses on a diversity in terms of researchers, domains, and backgrounds. Together with the Vidi and Vici grants, Veni is part of the Talent Programme.
NWO selects researchers based on the academic quality and the innovative character of the research proposal, the scientific and/or societal impact of the proposed project, and the quality of the researcher.

Source: NWO