The Faculty of Mathematics Science and Engineering (FSE) has 11 research institutes. Each of these institutes is coupled to one or more bachelor and/or master degree programmes. Here we just treat the 7 institutes which can be interesting for FMF-members.
ZIAM
The Zernike Institute of Advanced Materials (ZIAM) is the research institute for (Applied) Physics, the topmaster Nanoscience and Chemistry.
ZIAM's mission is the design and scientific study of materials for functionality. Basic research on materials is directed towards unravelling the relations between the properties that determine their functionality and their chemical composition and structure. Their main driving force is the desire to understand how things work at the microscopic level. In this realm of nanoscience and nanotechnology, the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials covers the whole chain from synthesizing materials, building devices, characterizing materials and devices, and investigating the theoretical foundation of their properties.
ESRIG
The Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen (ESRIG) was founded to contribute to a world-wide energy supply for the next century, for more people in a sustainable way. The Energy and Environmental Science (EES) master degree programme is connected to ESRIG.
Their research is centered around two core themes. The first is the energy supply and energy conversion like the sustainable role of bio-fuels and organic solar cells. The other core theme is the transition towards sustainability. Subjects are for example the development and evaluation of (inter)national climate policy and research on the carbon cycle and greenhouse gases. Next to these core themes, ESRIG pays attention to the theme "global change".
Kapteyn Institute
The Kapteyn Institute is the astronomical institute of the University of Groningen and is coupled to the Astronomy degree programme.
Research is being done on the formation, evolution and structure of galaxies. Also, they look at how the Universe has evolved from the very beginning until now. They are, furthermore, occupied in the development of the equipment needed to make observations, and the ways to process big data into workable results.
Bernoulli institute
The Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computing Science, and Artificial Intelligence is linked to the (Applied) Mathematics, Computing Science and AI degree programmes.
The mission of the Bernoulli Institute is to perform outstanding academic research and teaching in Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, and to maintain international leadership herein; to foster these disciplines as a living body of knowledge, and to make it relevant to society in its broadest sense.
Van Swinderen Institute
The Van Swinderen Institute for Fundamental Physics is an institute that consists out of the former Centre for Theoretical Physics and some research groups of the Center for Advanced Radiation Technology (KVI). VSI is connected to the (Applied) Physics degree programmes.
Within VSI there are two groups: 'Theoretical High-Energy Physics' and 'Experimental Particle Physics'. The goal is to define universal laws of Nature that can account for the experimental data from, for example, LHC experiments. Subjects being studied are i.e. 'supersymmetry', 'quantum gravity' and 'string theory'.
ISEC
How can we foster widening and diversifying science participation? How can we develop students' reasoning in mathematics and science? These are some examples of the questions we investigate. The ultimate aim is to improve mathematics and science teaching: making it more attractive, effective and diverse. The research is fundamental - aimed at understanding teaching and learning processes - and applied - aimed at producing teaching practices and materials.
KVI-CART
KVI-Center for Advanced Radiation Technology (KVI-CART) is the research institution from the university with the mission to perform basic research on subatomic and astroparticle physics and application-driven research on accelerator physics and physics in medicine.
KVI-CART is, unlike the other institutions, not a part of the faculty. They are listed direct under the board of the university, but they do provide a part of the education of Physics and educate young researchers in Physics and medical technology at BSc, MSc and PhD level.