We review the state-of-the-art in the theory of dissociative chemisorption (DC) of small gas phase molecules on metal surfaces, which is important to modeling heterogeneous catalysis for practical reasons, and for achieving an understanding of the wealth of experimental information that exists for this…

As of 1 June, Leiden University has appointed Sense Jan van der Molen as Professor Physics of Condensed matter. He investigates the unique electronic properties that arise when atomic thin layers are stacked on top of each other into new materials.

Multidrug-resistant pathogens and worldwide pandemics are increasing, making infectious diseases more prevalent. To develop new treatments, deeper knowledge of the interaction between bacteria and human cells is required. Ariane Briegel recently became a Medical Delta professor and studies such path…

A single self-assembled semiconductor quantum dot in a high-finesse optical microcavity - the subject of this thesis - is an interesting quantum-mechanical system for future quantum applications. For instance, this system allows trapping of an extra electron and thus can serve as a spin quantum memory,…

Research at the Catalysis and Surface Chemistry group is comprised of the following research themes:

Research at the MCBIM group is comprised of the following research themes:

In the Aarts lab we combine or structure materials, mostly in thin film form, in such a way that the hybrid has different and novel properties or functionalities.

What are the biological effects of Chinese herbal medicine in regulation of cancer cell metastasis?

A lot of our research is performed at temperatures close to absolute zero, among other reasons because this increases the sensitivity of the measurements. 

The study of orchid flowers, fruits, and inflorescences is crucial due to the remarkable diversity of orchid species and their unique adaptations to pollinators and seed dispersers. However, our understanding of the evolution and development of these organs within the orchid family remains limited.

Promotor: Prof.dr. H.P. Spaink, Co-promotor: Prof. dr. A.H. Meijer

In the research programme Drug Discovery & Safety, we are interested in the efficacy and safety of new drugs and novel means to decipher these aspects. Hence, we employ advanced imaging and high-throughput screening techniques next to computational approaches such as chem- and bioinformatics.

To get an idea of the science communication products and research that is possible, a few examples of student projects of recent years are shown below.

Promotor: Prof.dr. M.A.G.J. Orrit

Early time-resolved experiments by Frauenfelder on the ensemble of the kinetic rebinding of CO to myoglobin molecules resulted in a stretched exponential relaxa-tion due to a very large spread of the reaction rates of individual molecules.

Last Monday April 18, Bram Koster (professor at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), professor at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC)) and Ariane Briegel (professor at the IBL) gave a presentation to the mayor of Leiden, Henri Lenferink. The presentation took place at NeCEN, the open access…

Mapping of bacterial genomes to combat infectious diseases

In 2021 we will start with a weekly lunch time seminar series, online on Mondays from 12 noon onwards.

This thesis focuses on amyloid proteins, a class of proteins that convert into amyloid fibrils.

This thesis develops a method for direction dependent calibration of the ionosphere in radio interferometric data.

Governments are increasingly facilitating the roll-out of so-called “smart meters”, a technology for measuring energy consumption that are able to transmit and receive data using a form of electronic communication. However, implementation has been slow or even stalled.

Modern society is connected through electronic and mobile devices, which we call the Internet of Things (IoT).

As part of LUGO’s focus on responsible recycling of e-waste (electronic waste) we participated in the Funky Phone Challenge.

The physics of black holes appears to be as far removed from the physics of electrons in metals as it can be.

The focus of our theoretical physics research is the nature of macroscopic matter that is in one or the other way still in the grip of quantum physics.

Biophysicist Rolf Harkes has developed a microscope to optically localize individual molecules in living cells. It improves monitoring of diseases like cancer and Parkinson’s at the cellular level. Defende PhD thesis on t13 January 2016.

Special amplifying agents can make MRI scanners and NMR techniques hundreds of times more sensitive. Leiden physicists have now found a method to test their efficiency. More sensitive MRI scans could for example improve our understanding of cystic fibrosis or Parkinson’s disease. Publication in PCCP…

Physicists Lucia Bossoni and Martina Huber have been awarded an NWA Ideeëngenerator-grant for research into iron nanoparticles in the brain. These nanoparticles may be linked to air pollution and Alzheimer's disease.

PhD student Wen Yang discovered how certain cell receptors in E. coli bacteria signal 'smells'. With the use of ice-cold electron microscopy microbiologists from Leiden gain more insight into how bacteria respond to their environment. Publication in mBio.

Physicists, including Leiden researcher, Sanli Faes, have devised a new technique for studying processes at microscale rapidly and extremely precisely. This new method will make it easier to develop antiviral medication. And it doesn’t stop there. Publication in ACS Nano.

A passion for video games, visuals and science: it almost seems impossible to bring all of this together. Yet, scientific animator Vera Williams found that dream combination at NeCEN's microscopy lab. 'An image or animation can help clarify the content of complex research.'

Gold nanoparticles give us a better understanding of enzymes and other molecules. Biswajit Pradhan, PhD candidate at the Leiden Institute of Physics, uses gold nanorods to study individual molecules that would be challenging to detect otherwise. Resulting knowledge can be applied to many research fields,…

The annual LION Image award goes to the 30 micrometer long 3D printed microboat image that went viral earlier in October 2020, submitted by Rachel Doherty of the Daniela Kraft lab.

Working for a top faculty? Discover the vacancies at the Faculty of Science and apply immediately.

Commercial enterprises who want to make use of the expertise and facilities are referred to LAB , the commercial unit responsible for specialized laboratory work.

To be able to measure small forces or small deviations from Boltzmann, the external vibrations at the resonance frequency must be very low. To achieve this, we have developed a very soft vibration isolation system and combine it with several other measures to reduce vibrations in our dilution refrigerators.…

An overview of the research at the Cancer Dug Target Discovery group.

The Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) provides artistic research and education in the arts.

Prof. Dr. Ir. Marin van Heel, Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Biology Leiden (NeCEN), is one of the winners of the “Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences 2017”. This annual award is presented to recognize contributions that have opened new fields of research or have advanced concepts in a particular…

On 15 January, the winner of the famed LION Image Award will be announced. Submissions ranged from the famous 3d printed microboat to an eerily abstract graph depicting a Majorana fermion.

LACDR adheres to strict data management rules, with the aim to make our data findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable. For this reason all LACDR PhD candidates are required to prepare a data management plan and to implement data management rules accordingly. All PhD candidates follow a data…

Do e-waste workers display enhanced effects of adverse health effects due to informal e-waste processing in Nigeria? Is there a difference between the health outcomes of the exposed and the control groups? Are there difference in health effects within and between job groups (collectors, dismantlers,…

Numerous beads and pendants of amber, jet and bone have been found in Dutch Neolithic and Bronze Age context, both in settlements and in graves. Because ornaments are personal items, they are closely linked with people’s identity.

Bacteria caught red-handed, deeply frozen just as they were about to cause Lyme’s disease. Ariane Briegel is wildly enthusiastic about the wonders she observes thanks to three elements: a freezing technique, a camera-equipped microscope, and AI. ‘It’s fascinating. Every single cell is different.’

From molecule, to cell, to organism. The high-level drug research at the Cell Observatory aimes at reducing the spread of cancer and developing new medicines for tuberculosis.

We focus on a better understanding of the mechanisms of cancer drug resistance and metastasis.