Donders Institute

🎈 Ready for a (B)rainy weekend? 🧠☔

Vandaag nemen wetenschappers van het Donders Institute het Donders Brein Museum over tijdens het Weekend van de Wetenschap! Tussen 12:00 en 17:00 uur ga je op wetenschappelijke safari!

www.ru.nl/donders-inst...

Veni award for Nicky Scheefhals: How “Mix and Match” synapses keep our brains flexible | Radboud University Supported by a Veni grant, Nicky Scheefhals aims to study a special type of synapse in which components of both excitatory and inhibitory synapses come together: mixed synapses.

🎉 Veni Grant for Nicky Scheefhals to study “mix-and-match” synapses in the brain. Using stem cells and the microSCOOP 🔬, she can isolate and study these synapses in detail.

This could open new paths for autism and developmental disorder research. Read more 👇

www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

“A wonderful time, but with a lot of uncertainty” – Paula Fikkert on postdocs | Radboud University During Postdoc Appreciation Week, we reflect on the value of postdocs. For Paula Fikkert, dean of the Faculty of Arts and researcher, it is a familiar theme: “I am an expert by experience, spending te...

🌍 Today is the last day of Postdoc Appreciation Week #PAW_NL.

Paula Fikkert, Dean of the Faculty of Arts reflects on her time as a postdoc and the role postdocs currently have: “Postdocs are indispensable." Read the full story: 👇

www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

Navigating the postdoc journey: Abdelrahman Rayan on research, challenges, and self-care | Radboud University As part of Postdoc Awareness Week, Abdelrahman Rayan, postdoctoral researcher at the Donders Centre for Neuroscience in Lisa Genzel’s group and a former member of the Postdoc Council, shares his exper...

🎓 What does it mean to be a #postdoc?

For Abdelrahman Rayan, it’s a journey of discovery, challenge & self-care. From medicine & physics to systems neuroscience, he now studies one of science’s biggest mysteries: sleep.

Read his story for #PAW_NL 👇

🔗 www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

Kick-off Postdoc Appreciation Week (PAW) | Radboud University The very first Postdoc Appreciation Week (PAW) in the Netherlands will take place next week. From 15 to 19 September, Donders Institute is also organising a packed programme in collaboration with part...

🎉 Next week: NL’s first Postdoc Appreciation Week (PAW)! Workshops, talks & networking at Donders, Nijmegen. “Postdocs often fall between the cracks—let's recognise & support them.” —Lisa Groendendaal-van Weert, Postdoc coordinator.

Read more about this week:

www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

#PAW_NL

Early maternal sensitivity linked to better children’s physical health | Radboud University Does the way parents respond to their baby’s signals affect not just emotional wellbeing, but also physical health later in life? A new study suggests the answer is yes.

👨‍🍼 Early maternal sensitivity matters. Children whose mothers were more attuned to their signals had fewer respiratory & digestive problems up to age 14.

🏆 Findings from Nijmegen’s 19-year BIBO study, winner of the Radboud Team Science Award.

🔗 www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

🎉 Tomorrow the #Infinity #Festival kicks off in Nijmegen!

🧠 This includes a special exhibition Tracing Changes, showing artworks made by people living with #Parkinson’s where art and science meet such as the artwork shown here.

👉 Curious?

www.ru.nl/en/about-us/...

🎉 The ADHD Escape Room gets €50,000 NWO funding + new timeslots this fall!

Created by RU & HAN students/researchers, this escape room shows the world of #ADHD challenges and creativity.
👉 Book October slots now: www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

ERC Starting Grants for research into language, money circulation and medieval songs | Radboud University Three researchers at Radboud University will receive a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). They will receive a grant of rougly 1.5 million euros.

👀 👂 How does the brain merge what we hear & see? @lindadrijvers.bsky.social got an ERC Starting Grant (≈ €1.5M) for HANDWAVE, studying how we integrate audiovisual signals.

Vital for understanding language disorders & improving diagnostics.👇

www.ru.nl/en/research/...

👏👏👏 Postdoc Appreciation Week (#PAW_NL): 15 - 19 September.

From sessions on well-being and career paths, workshops on research impact and science communication, to networking drinks. We look forward to celebrating postdocs together!

📅 👉 www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

Veni grant for research into curiosity, an important motivator for learning | Radboud University Lieke van Lieshout has received a prestigious NWO Veni grant for her research into curiosity. She will use this grant to gain a better understanding of how we remain curious and how this can improve l...

👀 How do we stay curious – and how can curiosity improve learning?

Congrats to Lieke van Lieshout on her prestigious #Veni grant from NWO! She’ll study how curiosity lasts, how it boosts memory, and whether freedom of choice plays a role.

Curious to know more? 👇

www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

New research: how to get out of a vicious cycle when dealing with persistent anxiety? Neuroscientist Bob Bramson is with a Veni grant launching a study on how the brain learns from rewards and punishments, and how anxiety affects this process.

❓ Ever stopped presenting after one bad experience, or avoided dogs after one bite? Radboud Recharge spoke with Bob Bramson about how #anxiety shapes learning from rewards & punishments.

👉 www.radboudrecharge.nl/en/article/n...

Een ADHD Escaperoom: Aan ADHD kun je niet ontsnappen Wat is ADHD precies? En hoe is het om ADHD te hebben? Studenten en onderzoekers van de Radboud Universiteit, het Radboudumc en de HAN maakten een interactieve escaperoom over leven met ADHD.

Wat is ADHD precies? En hoe is het om ADHD te hebben? Radboud Recharge bezocht de #ADHD #escape #room die door studenten en onderzoekers werd gemaakt: 👇

www.radboudrecharge.nl/nl/artikel/e...

Infinity | Science Festival on Top of and Around Stevens' Skywalk | Radboud University Experience Infinity, Radboud University’s science festival, in and around the Stevenskerk.

♾ Can solidarity ever run out? Can we live forever? Can psychopathy be cured?

On 11 & 12 Sept, join scientists at the #Infinity #Science #Festival in #Nijmegen for talks, podcasts, sky-high walks and surprising experiments. 🌌⛪

🎟 Programme & tickets: www.ru.nl/en/about-us/...

Hersenchips geven patiënten hun spraak terug en bedrijven toegang tot hun brein Hersenimplantaten ontwikkelen zich snel: steeds meer patiënten kunnen weer communiceren of computers bedienen. Maar wil je een bedrijf toegang geven tot je brein?

🧠🔊💡 Brain-computer interfaces are evolving fast.
In this Dutch article by @tweakers.net, Jordy Thielen explains what’s possible, what’s happening in Nijmegen, and where gains can still be made.

tweakers.net/reviews/1359...

Answer by Ines Ben Haj Kacem en Francesca Siclari of the @nin-knaw.bsky.social: brainhelpdesk.nl/vraag/kan-ik...

Do you also have a #brain #question? Ask it at the @dondersinst.bsky.social @brainhelpdesk.bsky.social and we will come up with an #answer!

Answer by Fleur Zeldenrust, editors: Sjoerd Murris and Marina Boon: brainhelpdesk.nl/en/vraag/waa...

Do you also have a #brain #question? Ask it at the
@dondersinst.bsky.social @brainhelpdesk.bsky.social and we will come up with an #answer!

Answer by Leonie Oostwoud Wijdenes, editors: @fleurzeldenrust.bsky.social and Sjoerd Murris: brainhelpdesk.nl/en/vraag/hoe...

Do you also have a #brain #question? Ask it at the @dondersinst.bsky.social @brainhelpdesk.bsky.social and we will come up with an #answer!

Eric Ruhé Appointed as Professor of Difficult-to-Treat Depression 11 July 2025

🎉 Eric Ruhé appointed Professor of Difficult-to-Treat Depression 🧠

“It’s very discouraging for patients when treatment doesn’t work or depression returns,” says Ruhé.

Using brain scans, AI and new medicines like esketamine, he aims to improve care. More: 👇

www.radboudumc.nl/en/news-item...

🧠✨ Beauty of the Brain

This time in our Donders Beauty of the Brain series: a stunning image of a hippocampal brain slice, captured with a confocal microscope.

Discover more at www.dondersdiscovers.nl/en/

NWO grants to explore brain circuits and baby’s learning | Radboud University Two projects have been awarded Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) Open Competition M grants of €400,000 by NWO. Their work will shed new light on how our brains support speech and learning.

Two Donders Institute projects just received €400K NWO grants. @stephforkel.bsky.social studies speech circuits in Parkinson’s for better treatments. Meyer & @robertoostenveld.bsky.social track 200 infants to see how early brain learning shapes language & social skills.

www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

🚀 That went fast! Our escape room is already fully booked for all Saturdays this summer.

Missed out? No worries! A perfect chance to visit the Brain Museum is during the Infinity Science Festival in September. 👉

www.ru.nl/en/about-us/...

New research tackles stress and aggression with virtual reality | Radboud University The CONTEXT project has been awarded nearly €7 million from the National Science Agenda (NWA) for an ambitious project to reduce stress and aggression among police officers and at-risk youth.

🚓🕶️⌚ VR vs stress & aggression

Nearly €7M from the NWA for #CONTEXT: reducing stress and aggression in police & at-risk youth. Smartwatches + VR teach early stress detection & emotion control.

🔗 www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

Janna Vrijsen appointed as endowed Professor of Transdiagnostic Psychopathology 30 June 2025

🎉✨ Janna Vrijsen appointed Professor of #Transdiagnostic #Psychopathology: ‘I look forward to teaching researchers and psychologists to look beyond mental disorders. It is also my goal to establish exercise as a treatment for depression and other mental disorders.’

www.radboudumc.nl/en/news-item...

Global access to brain science: OHBM launches channel with 1,000+ talks | Radboud University What if you could journey back in time to hear world-leading neuroscientists present the ideas that shaped today's brain science? A new open-access initiative led by researchers from the Donders Insti...

🎥🌍 Over 1,000 neuroscience talks now free on YouTube and published at @apertureohbm.bsky.social. 🧠 “Now anyone, anywhere can binge-watch brain science like a box set,” says @stephforkel.bsky.social:

www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

@alfiewearn.bsky.social @sitek.bsky.social @sofievalk.bsky.social

Wishing you a speedy recovery — maybe that's one thing AI can do faster than we can 😉

Flexible babies: eight-month-old babies can adapt their learning style to change | Radboud University Babies as young as eight months old can adapt their learning style to changing situations, according to research by Francesco Poli of the Donders Institute at Radboud University.

👶🧠🔄 Flexible babies: eight-month-old babies can adapt their learning style to change

Francesco Poli shows that infants already adjust their learning strategies to change. Trouble adapting may hint at future mental health risks, but more research is needed. Read more 👇

www.ru.nl/en/research/...

🧒🧠 If humans learned language like AI, it would take 92,000 years. Luckily, new research from Caroline Rowland (@mpi-nl.bsky.social) shows children learn through touch, movement & play as well.

Brains over bots 👇
www.mpi.nl/news/brains-...

🧠 Ever wondered what it's like to live with ADHD?
From 12 June, the Brain Museum in Nijmegen offers an #ADHD #Escape #Room to experience it yourself. 🎟️ Discover more & book your spot:

www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

The Creative Brain in Parkinson’s Disease: Art can help Medicine? | Radboud University Why do some people with Parkinson’s suddenly discover a passion for painting, sculpting, or composing music? Blanca Spee, neuroscientist at Radboudumc and affiliated with the Donders Institute, set ou...

🧠🎨 Why do some people with #Parkinson’s suddenly develop a passion for painting, sculpting or music?

Neuroscientist Blanca T.M. Spee studied over 800 people — 41% reported a change in creativity.

👉 Findings now out in npj Parkinson’s Disease:

www.ru.nl/en/donders-i...

#Creativity #Parkinsons