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Advanced Matter & Energy Physics

Research in Physics

About Physics research carried out at the University of Amsterdam.

Research on shape of blood drops at a crime scene

The FOM Foundation has awarded a valorisation grant to Prof. Daniel Bonn. He will use his expertise in the area of fluid dynamics to investigate blood drops. The aim of the research is to determine precisely where the blood spatters at a crime scene originate from based on their shape.

Prestigious Spinoza Prize for UvA scientists Erik Verlinde and Patti Valkenburg

Theoretical physicist Erik Verlinde and Communication scientist Patti Valkenburg, both from the University of Amsterdam (UvA), have received the NWO Spinoza Prize 2011, the highest scientific award in the Netherlands.

Focus on research: Physicist Peter Schall

There is ‘a whole zoo’ of new substances out there just waiting to be discovered, according to Schall. In order to learn more about the process behind the formation of perfectly regular crystals, undistorted by gravity, Schall will soon be sending his particles into space, to the ISS space station.

Focus on research: theoretical physicist Jan Pieter van der Schaar

Theoretical physicist Jan Pieter van der Schaar uses the theories of the very large to gain an understanding of the very small. Using cosmology, he is searching for a proof of string theory.

Participating research institutes within UvA

Institute for High Energy Physics (IHEF)

Nikhef is the National Institute for Subatomic Physics in the Netherlands. It coordinates and supports all experimental particle and astroparticle physics activities in the Netherlands. Its research programme participates in, for example, the experiments being carried out in the CERN's new LHC collider and in major European research projects being conducted in the field of neutrino astroparticle physics (Antares/KM3NeT).

Institute for Theoretical Physics Amsterdam (ITFA)

ITFA is one of Europe’s leading institutes for theoretical physics. Its objective is to perform cutting-edge theoretical physics from a broad unifying perspective while drawing on the relations between various subfields. The ITFA specialises in quantum field theory and particle physics, string theory, condensed matter field theory and the Quantum Hall Effect, integrable systems and biosystems.

Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute (WZI)

The WZI strives for excellence in experimental physics. The Institute’s research ambition is focused in three programmes: hard & soft condensed matter, quantum gases and quantum information. These topics range from ’pure’ physics, to areas on the overlap between physics, chemistry, biology and materials science.

Astronomical Institute Anton Pannenkoek (API)

The Anton Pannekoek Institute of Astronomy runs a cutting-edge research programme that focuses on two main themes: (i) late stages of stellar evolution and the physics of neutron stars and black holes and (ii) the birth and death of stars and planetary systems. The API has a long and established history as a world leader in research in the areas of observational and theoretical astronomy.

UvA Academic Medical Centre: BioMedical Engineering and Physics

In the BioMedical Engineering and Physics department, research is devoted to both analysis of medical processes using physical methodology and facilitation of medical procedures by technical means.

Participating research institutes outside UvA

VU University Amsterdam, Department of Physics

Research within the Department of Physics is organized around four themes: (i) particle and astroparticle physics, (ii) physics of energy, (iii) physics of life and health and (iv) physics of light.