Support young female researchers in animal biology

The Lucie Timmermans Fund supports young women researchers in the fields of experimental zoology, animal cell biology, entomology and animal physiology at Wageningen University. The aim is to help them build their scientific career.

Who is eligible for support?

The purpose of the Fund is to provide financial support for talented female zoologists who have recently graduated in one of the above-listed fields at Wageningen University and who aim to do a PhD or enrol in a postgraduate programme.

Curatorium

  • Professor J.L. van Leeuwen, Experimental Zoology (chair holder)
  • Professor H.F.J. Savelkoul, Cell Biology and Immunology (chair holder)
  • Professor M. Dicke, Entomology (chair holder)

In Memoriam Prof. dr. Lucie Timmermans

Lucie Timmermans studied biology in Utrecht (1951–1958), followed by an appointment as a scientific assistant and a PhD (1969) on the shell development of Dentalium or the tubular tooth shell. In 1972 Lucie was appointed as a lecturer in Wageningen on the intercession of Jan Osse, the newly appointed professor of Zoology. In 1980 Lucie was appointed professor of developmental biology. She used her knowledge of histology to develop the new field of developmental biology and embryology at our university. This included work on the development of the gut of carp, including the development of endocrine and immune cells, as well as the early development of mammals. In the last phase of her career (until 1996) she worked on primordial sex cells in the early embryogenesis of fish.

Lucie has made a major contribution to the organization of education and research in animal biology and thus to the foundation for the current strong position of animal biology at our university.

Lucie was small in stature but with a big heart for fostering the scientific careers of young female animal biologists. She was generous and has given many animal biologist donations out of her own pocket to help them develop further. She eventually set up her own fund that talented female animal biologists can still call upon to support their next step in science.

We will always remember Lucie as one of the driving forces behind the development of biology at our university.

Johan van Leeuwen

Huub Savelkoul

About Lucie Timmermans

From 1972 to 1980, Lucie Timmermans was a lecturer in General Animal Biology at Wageningen University and from 1980 to 1995 a professor in that subject. Developmental biology was the focal point of her research and educational activities. In the early years of her career she set up a sub-department, whose research concentrated on the structure and function of fish intestines. It was research performed mainly using the techniques of microscopy and histology. During the first 5 years, a great deal of time was also devoted to building up collections of microscopic preparations for educational purposes. In the 1980s, Professor Timmermans converted the Histology sub-department into one dealing with Developmental Biology, with a special focus on fish. She did much research on the development of gametes in bony fish embryos. For quite some time she was the only female professor at the university.
Information for applicants