Maria Lopera receives FWO PhD Fellowship for the detection of micro-contaminants in water
B-PHOT PhD researcher Maria Lopera has received a Fundamental Research Fellowship from Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) for the development of a sensor to detect both microplastics and micro-organic contaminants in fresh water, in collaboration with Universidad EAFIT (Colombia).
The FWO PhD Fellowship enables Maria to pursue her research on lensfree microscopy under the supervision of Prof. Heidi Ottevaere, Prof. Yunfeng Nie (VUB) and Prof. Carlos Trujillo (EAFIT). The sensor she will develop is a lensfree holographic microscope that will combine quantitative phase imaging with polarization imaging to achieve micro-contaminants detection.
"I am of course very happy and it’s an honour to receive this grant as I will be able to fully dedicate to this project and get the best out of it", Maria says. "I am also very excited about the collaboration; I think it is the perfect mix to get outstanding results."
A color lensfree hologram of a Phase USAF target. © Maria Lopera
FWO PhD Fellowship fundamental research
A PhD Fellowship fundamental research allows young researchers to prepare a PhD, and to develop into independent scientists with a critical mindset. Fundamental research in the context of a PhD fellowship stands for challenging and innovative research (at PhD level).
