Iris Sommer will receive the 2026 NWO Stevin Prize, the highest honour for researchers in the Netherlands who have achieved exceptional results in translating knowledge into societal impact. Sommer will receive €1.5 million, to be spent on scientific research and initiatives relating to knowledge utilization. Sommer is a professor of Psychiatry at the UMCG and the UG.
Sommer’s work focuses on the quality of life of people with psychiatric disorders. She was one of the first to map which areas of the brain are active when you hear voices (hallucinations). Equally innovative is her work on the safe tapering of antipsychotics and an AI application to predict mental health relapse via speech. In addition, Sommer put gender-sensitive psychiatry on the agenda: her research into hormones and psychoses laid the foundation for optimal psychiatric treatment for women. Sommer is highly skilled at building bridges to society, with, among other things, bestsellers such as Het vrouwenbrein (The Female Brain).
With this grant, Sommer can provide the highly talented young researchers in her research group with certainty for the coming years. The award also means that she and her colleagues can delve further into women’s mental health. This is an area where much remains to be done, but where there is also much to be gained in terms of health benefits.
Mooi nieuws: 10x10x10 is genomineerd voor de Duurzame Dertig 2026, een initiatief van Dagblad van het Noorden, Leeuwarder Courant en Friesch Dagblad. Het project is geselecteerd in de categorie Duurzame samenwerking.
Engineero vestigt zich op Campus Groningen.
Ruim 200 professionals uit de Life Sciences & Health-sector kwamen op dinsdag 22 september samen tijdens de vijfde LIFE Science Conference in Forum Groningen.
