This research concerns the tension between collection and useful use of data and privacy. Collected data is either published in an adapted form or stored in a database where questions can be asked to a limited extent. The challenge is to do this in such a way that privacy is sufficiently protected, while at the same time the limited form in which the data is available is sufficient to derive useful information from data. A popular way to analyse this scientific issue is called Differential Privacy (DP). Here so-called non-asymptotic analysis methods from information theory are used to analyse DP.

In nature, plants produce compounds that help them protect themselves against pest insects, fungi and harmful bacteria. The researcher is investigating how plants regulate the production of these compounds. The results of this research offer possibilities for growing food crops that are better able to defend themselves, and will therefore be less dependent on synthetic pesticides for their protection.