33 search results for “chemist” in the Student website
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How chemist Marc Tijhuis left business to change the world
Halfway through his career alumnus Marc Tijhuis made a radical change: he left the corporate world to join the global battle against waste with the International Solid Waste Association.
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Chemist Marc Koper receives Spinoza Prize for research on electrolysis
Professor Marc Koper researches how you can use electrical energy to make or break chemical bonds. He has just been awarded a Spinoza Prize, the Netherlands’ highest personal science award, for his fundamental research into how this form of electrolysis works.
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Leiden chemists discover new ways in which single-celled organisms organise their DNA
It has only recently been discovered that single-celled organisms (bacteria and archaea) also have histones—proteins that structure DNA. Now, Leiden PhD candidate Samuel Schwab has found that the histones in these organisms are much more diverse than previously thought. Schwab and his colleagues describe…
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Tracking the origin and evolution of molecules in space
How do molecules originate and evolve in space? And how does that ultimately determine the chemical composition of planets and their atmospheres? The Dutch Astrochemistry Network (DANIII) receives 1.6 million euros from NWO to find out. A large group of Leiden astronomers and chemists is contributing:…
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From droplets in the freezer to the inception of a potent new antibiotic
What started as an idea during a social gathering led to an unexpected breakthrough in research on resistant bacteria. Biologists and chemists from Leiden developed a new substance that proves to be effective against bacteria resistant to antibiotics. They published their discovery in Nature Chemist…
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Scouring the brain for causes of psychiatric illnesses
What happens in the brains of people with psychiatric illnesses? With a €23.23 million gravity grant, scientists from different fields will search for biological causes over the next decade. ‘By joining forces, we hope to improve diagnosis and treatment for patients with these diseases.’
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How to make an old antibiotic a hundred times more potent
Nathaniel Martin, Professor of Biological chemistry, wondered what would happen if you take an antibiotic that has been known for 70 years and try to improve it with the latest tools of modern chemistry. Turns out it can become up to a hundred times more potent and prevent the growth of some drug-resistant…
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How to hijack natural destruction in cells: ‘We need to understand it through and through’
Destroying proteins from the Golgi apparatus of the cell in a controlled manner. That is the focus of chemist Marta Artola’s pioneering research. By developing a groundbreaking technology to target specific proteins in the Golgi, Artola aims to unlock new ways for drug development. For this ambitious…
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Jasper's Day
Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.
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ERC grant for Sebastian Pomplun to precisely influence gene expression
In order to stop a whole range of diseases or disorders at their source, you would have to be able to switch certain genes on or off. Sebastian Pomplun wants to develop substances that can do this very precisely. For example, he wants to disrupt cancer processes and make cells produce an important missing…
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Ecologist Michiel Veldhuis is the Discoverer of the Year 2020
Michiel Veldhuis received the most public votes for the C.J. Kok Public Award and may therefore call himself Discoverer of the Year. Veldhuis researches how climate change affects savannah ecosystems in Africa and how we can protect them.
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How drugs work better when encapsulated in nanoparticles
Chemist Tobias Bauer discovered ways to improve drugs by encapsulating them. Packages with iron nanoparticles, for example, can stimulate immune cells. Bauer will receive his PhD on 9 June.
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New protein inhibitors against cancer? Unilever Research Prize for Aukje Beers
Aukje Beers combined theory and practice, as well as chemistry, biology, and computer models. In this way, she discovered two protein inhibitors during her master’s project that could contribute to the development of a new cancer drug. For her research, Beers received the Unilever Research Prize on…
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Flu stops when you block the enzyme that cleaves off virus particles
A flu virus could cause a pandemic. And then we would be poorly armed because flu viruses are starting to become resistant to flu medications like Tamiflu. Chemist Merijn Vriends successfully worked on an improved version of such medications. He will be awarded his doctorate on September 12th.
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Promising new technique to treat cancer receives NWO grant
Biological chemist Nathaniel Martin and his team received an NWO grant to examine how blocking a specific enzyme in our body, NNMT, could be helpful in the treatment of some cancers. Trials with mice have been promising, and together with the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Martin wants to take the next…
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A foldable smartphone? STIBNITE searched for the perfect semiconductor
Roll-up solar panels, bendable phone displays, or better computer chips… The EU project STIBNITE investigated the next generation of semiconductors, made from organic materials based on carbon, nitrogen, and boron. The project has now concluded. During the Open Science Debate on 1 July, the group will…
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Werken aan een effectiever malariavaccin
In het Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum wordt gewerkt aan de ontwikkeling van een nieuw malariavaccin dat effectiever is dan de huidige vaccins.
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ERC Advanced Grant for six Leiden researchers
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded an Advanced Grant to six Leiden researchers. It awards these significant grants to established principal investigators for ground-breaking, high-risk research.
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Seeking new concepts to treat diseases
Scientific Director of the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR) Hubertus Irth: ‘We test substances and look for new concepts for treating disease.’
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Planet-forming discs around young low-mass star differs fundamentally from one around sun-like star
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, an international team of researchers, including Leiden Professor of Molecular Astrophysics Ewine van Dishoeck, has discovered a palette of hydrocarbons in a planet-forming disc around a young, low-mass star. The results confirm that discs around very lightweight…
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Hunting for life’s building blocks at minus 250 degrees Celsius
James Webb life’s building blocks
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‘Make science communication more work and less hobby’
Young researchers met this month for the fifth Science Communication Summer School. ‘This is the first time some participants get to meet other researchers who also enjoy science communication. It’s great to see’, says Julia Cramer, one of the coordinators.
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Jan Reedijk receives honorary doctorate at Polish university
He had been emeritus for 13 years when he suddenly received an email from Poland. Professor of Inorganic Chemistry Jan Reedijk was awarded an honorary doctorate from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. During the celebration of the 550th anniversary of the birth of patron Nicolaus Copernicus,…
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The magic of liquid helium: this person makes ice-cold research in Leiden possible
White clouds of ice-cold gas flowing across the floor. Magical, but be careful not to freeze your fingers off. We are of course talking about liquid nitrogen and helium. You may have seen the spectacular Freezing Physics science show by the student organisation Rino. But did you know that this commodity…
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Improving safety assessment of nanoparticles
How safe are the nanoparticles in transparent sunscreen, anti-odour socks and bacteria-resistant plasters? Although microbes are present on all organisms, the tools that estimate the safety of nanomaterials still hardly take them into account. Bregje Brinkmann explored the role of these microbes during…
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Astronomers spot benzene in planet-forming disk around star for first time
An international team of astronomers including Leiden professor Ewine van Dishoeck has observed the benzene molecule (C6H6) in a planet-forming disk around a young star for the first time. The observations tell us more about the forming of planets in this disc, like our own Earth. The scientists publish…
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Breakthrough artificial photosynthesis comes closer
Imagine we could do what green plants can do: photosynthesis. Then we could satisfy our enormous energy needs with deep-green hydrogen and climate-neutral biodiesel. Scientists have been working on this for decades. Chemist Chengyu Liu will receive his doctorate on 8 June for yet another step that brings…
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App helps students study better
Cramming from a book, making notes or learning summaries. In the past these were about the only ways to memorise your course material. But that has long since changed. Multimedia is the code word. But is it effective?
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From discovery to business: 'In the lab, we often don't realise that we are working to help an immense number of patients'
'It gave our team a big boost to hear that our work was valuable,' says medical chemist Elmer Maurits about the moment they won the Venture Challenge. With their company Iprotics, they want to develop a drug that can better treat patients with autoimmune diseases and blood cancers. 25,000 euros of prize…
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How Oncode-PACT is bringing new cancer medicines closer with 325 million in Growth Fund money
How can you ensure that more experimental drugs reach the finish line? At the moment, only one in twenty cancer drugs that are tested on humans makes it to the market. This is an enormous loss for patients and society. With a grant from the National Growth Fund, Oncode-PACT aims to efficiently select…
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Career Talk with Wim Klop
Debate, Career Talk
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Improving Nature’s Antibiotics to Overcome Resistant Bacteria
Lecture, NGL-lezing
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On this public day on psychedelics, researchers transcend the media hype
Never before has so much research been carried out on the therapeutic effect of psychedelic drugs. Researchers at the LIBC Public Day are happy about the effect the drugs can have on depression, anxiety and PTSS, but at the same time they have some doubts. ‘The hype is bound to crash before long.’