experiment

ProRail is expanding its experiment with bright yellow-colored railway crossings after a first test in Baarn proved to be successful. According to ProRail, road users used the yellow crossing in Baarn more carefully, the number of incidents decreased, and the yellow crossing also strengthened the sense of security, NU.nl reports.

Refugees with a scientific background may soon find it easier to find work in the Dutch academic world. Science financier NWO in The Hague is launching an experiment in which refugee scientists can get an appointment with a Dutch research group, NOS reports.

This experiment involves 750 thousand euros, enough to appoint eight to 15 people with a master's or doctor's degree for a year. The program, called Refugees in Science, was established in cooperation with KNAW, De Jonge Akademie and and the Dutch foundation for Refugee Students. 

Rail manager ProRail will start experimenting with self-driving trains on several routes next year. The first test involves freight trains on the Betuwe-line. And the first experiment with passenger trains will happen in the province of Groningen, NOS reports.

The freight trains tests will be done in cooperation with Alstom, a company that is developing a system for automatic train operation. The experiment in Groningen will be done in collaboration with transit company Arriva and the province of Groningen. 

NS and ProRail's experiment with running a train every 10 minutes on the route between Amsterdam, Utrecht, Den Bosch and Eindhoven, is showing very positive first results. The trains run mostly on time and cancellations are on par with the national average, ANP reports.

The police are planning an experiment in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht in which they will more intensely target ATM bombers and ram-raiders. The experiment involves stopping these criminals by following them very obviously and annoyingly, taking their illegally earned money and also keeping an eye on their family members, NOS reports.

The city of Amsterdam is launching an experiment on Monday in which surveillance cameras and WiFi sensors will be used to snap pictures in the Red Light District to monitor crowds. In this way the municipality wants to find out whether it is necessary to better manage the flow of people through the area, to prevent unmanageable crowds, AD reports. 

The experiment starts Monday and lasts for four weeks. It will be done in Stoofsteeg, Oudekennissteeg and part of the Oudezijds Voorburgwal. 

Dutch pharmaceuticals and oncologists are teaming up in a new experiment to test experimental cancer drugs on patients quickly and safely. Pharmaceuticals will make their cancer drugs available to oncologists, who in exchange will let them know how patients react to the medicines

The Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam has launched an experiment in which cancer patients receive their chemotherapy treatments at home, instead of in the hospital.

The Mayor and aldermen of Amsterdam are discussing opportunities for potentially regulating cannabis cultivation, even though the Dutch members of parliament voted against allowing municipalities to do so just last week, AT5 reported on Tuesday.

The first experiments of the entirely new system can be used at the Parliamentary elections in 2017, minister Ronald Plasterk of Internal Affairs said on Friday after a ministerial council meeting.