You pour a scoop of ditch water in the DNA scanner, and voilà: you know exactly which plants and animals the ditch accommodates. Well, it is not that simple yet, but according to PhD candidate Kevin Beentjes, we can already use DNA techniques to monitor the quality of freshwater. For his PhD research,…

What is the effect of pesticides, fertilizers or plastic on water quality? And how do wind and rain affect the data? These are just some of the things that Leiden environmental scientists study in the 32 ditches of the Living Lab.

PhD candidate Agnes van Steen researched the history of the Leiden women’s rights movement (1860-1990) and found that the university produced many feminists.

The plans for making the University Library (UB) more sustainable will be carried out in three steps: first the glazing at the front of the building will be replaced with HR++ glass, then the skylights will be renewed and finally the air conditioning system will be updated. Once these steps have been…

How to bring together different footprints into an integrated family and what are the synergies? What are the roles of inventory analysis and characterization in measuring individual footprints and how these affect a footprint family? How to benchmark environmental footprints against related planetary…

Industrialised countries extract natural resources in the territories of indigenous peoples, and appropriate the knowledge and culture of these peoples. Leiden anthropologists work to protect the rights of indigenous peoples. Their knowledge and advice enable governments to source sustainable produc…

Sustainably produced food reduces CO2 emissions during production and promotes the region’s economy. The University is working to increase the number of organic, fair trade, vegetarian and vegan products in its restaurants.

The research aims to understand how did Cuban and Dominican landscape encapsulate historical conceptual transformations about human –nature spiritual interaction after the Spanish conquest? More specifically, what are the present day cultural associations with Cuban and Dominican natural landscape?…

The main goal of the THEOR CHEM group, headed by Prof. Geert-Jan Kroes, is to characterize, and to accurately predict the outcome of chemical reactions at gas-solid and liquid-solid interfaces. Here the solid surface is typically a metal or an ice surface. These goals are important to many areas in…

Below you will find the most important practical information.

The book ‘Pesticides and the Environment’ gives a transparent overview of facts and figures concerning pesticide use in the Netherlands and the impact of pesticides on the environment.

Promotor: Prof.dr. M.L. van Hecke

The Grachtwacht (Canal Watch) conducts research on urban wildlife and the impact of plastic on nature. With our clean-ups, we not only collect waste, but also data. This way we try to find out the source of the waste and turn off the tap on shore. This way there is structurally less plastic in the c…

Promotores: Arjen Doelman, Jens Rademacher, Max Rietkerk

PNEC-pro is a user-friendly screening tool for professionals dealing with the assessment of surface water quality. The tool calculates local, watertype specific no-effect concentrations (PNEC) of copper, lead, nickel, and zinc based on biotic ligand models (BLMs).

The walking club is a ProParte sub-group.

Over time, the temperature in all buildings will be regulated in a sustainable manner. In this way, using gas will not be necessary anymore.

How can we develop and further improve life cycle impact assessment methods, characterisation factors and normalisation factors?

The Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) hosts two research journals and publishes the ISGA Reports series. Besides its own publications, researchers at ISGA also publish books or journal articles elsewhere. You can find all these external publications under Research output on the right.

Leiden is a lively university city that’s brimming with history and boasts a student culture that’s tangible just about everywhere. Read on to discover what Leiden has to offer and get a foretaste of what you can expect.

Sonorous phenomena are always on the verge of becoming something else. As it unfolds, sound constitutes spaces, mediates presence, articulates time. Furthermore, it may prompt emotions, generate awareness, organise patterns of behaviour or trigger a sense of belonging. As sound becomes audible, it is…

We depend on nature for so many things: from clean water, wood and food to carbon absorption, water purification and coastal protection, as well as for relaxation, inspiration and identity. Nevertheless, our modern world putting increasing pressure on these ecosystem services. Leiden researchers investigate…

Huub de Groot is professor in Biophysical Organic Chemistry. With his team he works in the field of photosynthesis and artificial photosynthesis. The molecular basis for photosynthesis is formed by protein complexes and organelles that contain chlorophyll molecules. The antenna systems herein capture…

The main research theme in the group of Dennis Hetterscheid is to understand and mimic bioinorganic multi-electron processes that are relevant to our future energy infrastructure. Reduction of protons generates hydrogen that can be used as a chemical fuel. Alternatively to gaseous hydrogen, the reduction…

This thesis takes steps toward understanding the interaction between gas-phase and solid-state molecules in star- and planet-forming regions.

In surface science there is great effort to move from studying simple, flat model surfaces in vacuum to investigating more complex model catalysts in gas environments (in situ). This thesis gives three examples of such studies using microscopy and spectroscopy.

My PhD thesis investigates the ecological significance of resistance against drought-induced air bubble formation inside the water conduits of plants (embolism), and the plasticity and functional aspects of stem anatomical traits in woody and herbaceous species.

Promotor: W. Jiskoot, Co-promotor: H.A. Every

While bioinformatics methods deal with the analysis of sequence information (be it proteins or DNA), the field of cheminformatics is concerned with the analysis of small-molecule datasets.

This research aims to investigate how different social forces interact with hydropolitics in the Eastern Nile Basin and what are the constraints of engagement.

On 20 September 2023 Mark van de Water successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Possible improvements for the assessment of abiotic depletion in LCA.

What are the main factors associated with the stranding of the two seal species? What are the factors influencing the prevalence of disease in the two species? Which human-related factors influence the populations of the two seal species?

Natural resources often stretch across borders that separate modern nation states. This can create conflict and limit opportunities for regulated consumption of their goods and services, but also provide opportunities for joint multinational efforts that exceed single country capabilities.

Our facilities cover:

Projects in the department of Industrial Ecology

Promotor: Prof.dr. E.F. van Dishoeck, Prof.dr. F.F.S. van der Tak (RUG)

Pathways of toxicity

The central research question focuses on identifying shifts in the urban social network in terms of private, semi-public and public space by means of mapping the spatial distributions of wells and cesspits in the town of Haarlem in the course of the pre-industrial period (1200-1800). Shifts may be indicative…

PhD defence

How did Angkor interact with regional urban centers? How did the settlement system impact the society's agricultural system and regional resilience?

Biodiversity in the Netherlands is having a tough time. Professor of Natural Capital Koos Biesmeijer combines research with practical advice: from the greening of industrial parks to solutions inspired by hi-tech nature. Inaugural lecture 9 March.

Mapping sanitary infrastructure in large urban societies in the Low Countries, 1200–1900

Lecture, PCNI Research Seminar

Establishing human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) CRISPR-Cas9-based fluorescent reporter cell lines for NF-kB signalling. We will use this to enable studying the dynamic activation and downstream signalling of Toll-like receptor and cytokine signalling in iPSC-derived differentiated cells in a…

Mechanisms fro drug resistance

Analysis of drug adversity

Curious about how sustainability fits into our university's strategic plan, or how much energy and water we consume? Read about it here.

The Advisory Board is an external Advisory Council, to advice the Board of Directors of CML about general strategies, research and education activities and evaluation procedures (Dutch: visitatie).