In the first funding round of 2026, NWO is enabling 15 recently graduated researchers to gain research experience at an international institute that offers the best environment for their research. One of these researchers is our ABCD researcher Marlies Visser.
Marlies has received the grant for her research project, ‘Breaking the Cycle: Theorising Menstrual Stigma’.
“Many girls and women experience taboo and stigma* surrounding their menstrual health. This leads to poorer health outcomes and reduced social participation. This project examines how stigma surrounding menstrual health develops during adolescence and young adulthood, and how it can be challenged, with the aim of developing a new theoretical framework for stigma in women’s health.”
(Source: NWO)
For this research, Marlies will be appointed at Columbia University in the United States for 21 months.
View all Rubicon laureates, public summaries and statistics from the 2026-1 Rubicon funding round on the NWO website.
*Stigma is a negative label or prejudice that can result in people being treated differently or unfairly.