215 search results for “soil bacteria” in the Staff website
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In the media: Prof. Dr. Joanita Vroom about the Van Steenis depot
In a closed room in the Van Steenis building, hundreds of boxes are waiting under fluorescent lights for someone to come and see them. The jumble of handwritten and printed labels unveils how often the collection has been reorganized, moved and rearranged. Boxes full of potsherds and pottery, human…
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Jos Raaijmakers nominated for Huibregtsenprijs 2022
The research project of Jos Raaijmakers is nominated for the Huibregtsenprijs 2022. The researcher of NIOO, with a guest appointment at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), is one of six nominees. On the Evening of Science & Society (Dutch: Avond van Wetenschap & Maatschappij), 10 October 2022, the…
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Powerful new Leiden 'super antibiotic' may overcome resistance
The prestigious journal Science Translational Medicine has published a study by researchers from the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) on a potent new antibiotic that can overcome resistance. ‘The idea was to tweak the original antibiotic and create a next-generation drug’, says Nathaniel Martin, professor…
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Functions and biosynthesis of a tip-associated glycan in Streptomyces
PhD defence
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‘Literature explores all sorts of things that the law is not yet ready for’
As Professor of Literature, Culture and Law, Frans Willem Korsten explores the interplay between literature and law. These are two disciplines that most people wouldn’t immediately connect, but Korsten can see a lot of common ground between them. ‘A fictional story can have a huge impact on law.’
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A lunar land grab?
Missions to the moon have become popular again. In just one week, a lunar mission from Russia failed while India landed a spacecraft in a historic first. Companies, too, want to go to the moon. But can anyone just go to the moon? Tanja Masson-Zwaan explains the rules of international space law on Dutch…
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‘Look beyond your own discipline’
Good research means looking beyond disciplinary boundaries, said Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Remus Dame in his inaugural lecture on 10 May. Processes that take place on DNA shouldn’t only be researched in a test tube but also in living cells, for instance.
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Combating antibiotic resistance together
Antibiotic resistance is a common problem among patients. The European Project TIPAT trains pharmacologists, microbiologists and immunologists of six universities in interdisciplinary thinking. The ultimate goal is to develop better treatment guidelines to combat resistance. Coen van Hasselt of the…
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A lifeline for Leiden research – TB solution a step closer thanks to this Indonesian university
Herman Spaink knows of many substances that may help combat tuberculosis. Lab space to study them safely is very limited in Leiden. A brand-new lab at Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia will soon provide a solution. About time, says Spaink, ‘The disease is on the rise and is becoming less sensitive…
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ASML threatening to move abroad for no good reason
De bevolkingsgroei daalt, de fiscale voordelen voor expats zijn niet aantrekkelijk genoeg en te weinig geschikte arbeidskrachten. Peter Wennink van techreus ASML, is niet blij met het ondernemersklimaat in Nederland. ASML dreigt met een vertrek naar het buitenland.
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NWO-XS grants for two innovative research projects
Two Leiden Science researchers received an NWO-XS grant for their research. Both projects are highly promising, but also high-risk. Macrophages that trap bacteria and data storage made from 2D materials convinced the board of their potential.
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ERC Advanced Grants for four Leiden researchers
From a new generation of antibiotics and more-effective vaccines to a map of dark matter and new light on Hindu traditions. Four researchers from Leiden University have received a prestigious €2.5m ERC Advanced Grant to develop their research.
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ENW grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO), Oct.30 2023
“Is it possible to restore antibiotic sensitivity in resistant bacteria?” Dr. Tingjie Guo wondered. “Watch me and learn”, phage responded. Dr. Tingjie Guo received an open competition XS domain ENW grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) to investigate the evolutionary trade-off of antimicrobial…
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War in Ukraine: a statement by the Faculty Board of Archaeology
Organisation
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Hilde Woker en Renate Reitsma benoemd tot leden National Ocean Decade Committee
Het National Ocean Decade Committee heeft twee nieuwe leden benoemd van de Universiteit Leiden. Hilde Woker en Renate Reitsma zullen zich als leden van dit comité inzetten om het het belang van oceaanwetenschappen te promoten.
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NWO grant for four humanities projects
The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has granted four grants to Leiden humanities scholars. They get to spend this money on research on a topic of their choice, without thematic preconditions.
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NWO grant gives way to more sustainable production of antibiotics
The opportunity to explore a new, exciting research topic. That is how Lennart Schada von Borzyskowski describes his successful application for the NWO XS grant. It comprises 50,000 euros, which the researcher from the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) will spend on investigating a more sustainable…
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PhD candidates deserve special attention: their new confidential counsellor Annemarie Meijer explains why
She studied biology in Leiden and never left. Now, as Professor of Immunobiology, Annemarie Meijer has taken on the role of the new confidential counsell for for PhD candidates. It's a role that suits her perfectly: she has extensive experience in the research world and has guided dozens of PhD candidates.…
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2021: This was the year of our faculty
2021 was an eventful year once again for the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA). Hybrid, working from home, online education, on-campus education, face masks, self-tests, keeping distance, quarantine and the coronavirus. Words that have now become a standard part of our vocabulary when…
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Veni grants for 16 Leiden researchers
Sixteen researchers at Leiden University are to receive a Veni grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). These awards offer promising young researchers the opportunity to further develop their own ideas over a period of three years.
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Plastic in cigarette filters: why smoking is bad for the environment too
We all know smoking is bad for our health. But we might not have known that the cigarette filters that litter our streets also impact the environment. Esther Kentin is a lecturer at Leiden Law School. She is raising awareness of the University’s cigarette butt problem.
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Citizen scientists discover more than 1,000 new burial mounds
Over the past few years, citizen scientists from the Heritage Quest project have scoured the entire Veluwe and Utrechtse Heuvelrug areas for unknown archaeological heritage. One of the results of this research is that the number of known burial mounds in this area has doubled.
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Archaeologists of the future dig for traces of the past
Forty archaeology students are holding a shovel somewhat awkwardly in the fields at Oss. This is their first day of fieldwork and they are going to use muscles they didn’t even know they had.
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New eDNA method opens doors for environmental research
With a single sample of water or soil, researches can analyse the DNA of everything that is living in that environment. During her research, PhD candidate Beilun Zhao discovered a way to analyse not only the kind of species, but also the age of the species in a water sample. The method showed its first…
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DNA from a cup of pond water can reveal a lot: Kat Stewart will find out with a Vidi grant from NWO
She has had the idea for seven years, but now environmental scientist and conservation biologist Kat Stewart finally gets to work on it. She has been awarded a Vidi grant by NWO to find out how DNA from water can be used to shed light on invasive species and their impact on native populations.
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‘Moon landers’ measure greenhouse gases in unique agricultural living lab
A huge shiny aluminium object stands in the middle of the Polderlab in Oud Ade. Are the researchers trying to make contact with extraterrestrial life? Certainly not; they are using the ’Moon landers’ to measure whether innovative forms of agriculture reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Fleur van Duin works…
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Paco Barona Gomez ready to work in Leiden: ‘Fundamental research creates opportunities’
Paco Barona Gomez is the newest associate professor at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL). The Mexican researcher is fascinated by the evolution of natural products: compounds made by microbes, but also plants and animals. ‘It’s like we investigate chemical dark matter.’
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Adapting to salinity: Dutch mosquitos do take it with a grain of salt
Dutch mosquitos are more resilient to saltwater than previously thought. Environmental scientist Sam Boerlijst discovered this during his PhD research at the Hortus botanicus. This knowledge is crucial for understanding how mosquito-borne disease transmission might change in the future.
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Throwback to the start of the Faculty academic year: murals, puzzles, and sweets
On Tuesday the 5th of September the Faculty of Archaeology officially opened its academic year. All staff and students were invited to this festive occasion.
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How engaged documentary filmmakers use new technologies in their work
CADS lecturer Sander Hölsgens is one of the initiators of the NWO Smart Culture Project Documenting Complexity (project number CISC.KC.212). This project investigates how and why engaged documentary filmmakers use new technologies in their work. One of the outputs of this project is the series ‘In Whose…
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Nitrogen experts suggest switching from deposition to emission policy
In an essay Professors Jan Willem Erisman (Leiden University), Chris Backes (Utrecht University) and Wim de Vries (Wageningen University) suggest amending nitrogen policy in the Netherlands. They call for a shift from a deposition to an emissions policy, with sectors responsible for reducing their own…
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Digging and tilling at the Hortus botanicus: SEA Community Garden officially opened
Eight university vegetable patches will soon join the display at the Hortus botanicus. The sun shone down on almost 40 enthusiastic students and staff as they started work on the new Community Garden there earlier this month.
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Call for Papers symposium on experimentation and innovation in human-environmental links across the Americas
Research
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Leiden University joins the Just Transitions for AMR Working Group
Leiden University joins the Just Transitions for AMR Working Group, an interdisciplinary team of social science and humanities researchers who are exploring ways to mitigate the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance in a just and equitable manner, with due consideration to the human rights of present…
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Wat is er te doen op de Leidse Museumnacht?
Op zaterdag 3 juni vindt de Museumnacht Leiden plaats. Ook dit jaar zijn Leidse wetenschappers en studenten onderdeel van de programmering.
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Living Labs and ‘pavement plants’: Leiden University’s contributions to biodiversity
Through various initiatives, Leiden University is trying to make people aware of the importance of biodiversity: the cultivation of a wide variety of micro-organisms, animals and plant species. This is important because in the Netherlands biodiversity has declined from about 40 percent in 1900 to about…
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New research into hidden nature in our cities
What hidden nature is there in our cities and how can we use such organisms? This is what the HiddenBiodiversity project will be exploring over the next four years. The project’s kick-off meeting was held at the Hortus botanicus on Monday 26 September.
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Call for volunteers: "Food stories for the biome"
Education, Research
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UMCs join forces to increase pandemic preparedness
Four university medical centres, including the LUMC, are joining forces to increase pandemic preparedness in the Netherlands.
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What if superbugs were as tall as buildings?
In Sci-Fi comic book Resist NOW!, wondrous adventures will illustrate possibilities to combat antimicrobial resistance. But the comic book will only be produced if enough money is raised to make the project into reality.
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CCLS Seminar Vincent Merckx
Lecture, webinar
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Plant Scientist for a day
Small workshop
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In memoriam: Professor David Fontijn (1971-2023)
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our colleague, mentor, and friend prof. David Fontijn this Monday, May 1st, 2023. As he shared with us in October 2022, his health had been deteriorating the last couple of years. While his mind was still sharp as ever, his body struggled to keep…
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News but nothing new: many pesticides in Dutch swimming and natural waters
There has been a lot of media attention for the report recently completed by the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) from Leiden University. However, it has long been known that Dutch surface water contains too many toxic pesticides. ‘We will have to improve our ways of life together with many…
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‘Butts off our campus’ days: Make our campus butt-free!
Facility
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Educational experiment with polder rice
Is polder rice a feasible circular alternative to cows on peat soil? In May, an experimental trial began, with researchers from Leiden University and Wageningen University & Research (WUR) planting around 3,000 rice plants at the Polderlab near Leiden. The researchers aimed to test rice as a middle…
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How ‘sleeping’ microorganisms can determine the fate of a population
Microorganisms that temporarily ‘go to sleep’ play an important role in the evolution and survival of a population. Mathematician Shubhamoy Nandan conducted research on the effect of this characteristic called ‘dormancy’ in a novel mathematical model.
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‘Poorer people often bear the brunt of sustainability initiatives’
The effects of sustainability projects on poorer, marginalised people should be considered at a much earlier stage. This is the opinion of Marja Spierenburg, Professor of Anthropology of Sustainable Development and Livelihood, who will give her inaugural lecture on 25 February.
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Archaeologists receive funding for science communication: ‘We want to change the public image of archaeology’
A diverse team of Leiden archaeologists applied for, and was awarded, the KNAW ‘Appreciated!’ grant, meant to further their science communication endeavours. We speak with Dr Maikel Kuijpers, who is the main contact person of the application.
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Open to Dutch and international students and academic staff: Study tour to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Social