In 2018, the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), born out of activism, exists for forty years. The institute celebrated this on 28 June in the Stadsgehoorzaal in Leiden. In the morning, proud directors and researchers looked back and forth. After this several experts discussed the current environmental…

Gerard van Westen has been appointed full Professor or Artificial Intelligence and Medicinal Chemistry. This chair has been jointly created by the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR) and the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) as part of SAILS, the university stimulus program in Artificial…

On Friday 28 October, Leiden University organized its annual Physics Ladies Day for female high school students. To mark this festive day, we put the spotlight on four female researchers, who talk about their experiences in physics.

The European Research Council has awarded a Starting Grant to five early career scientists from Leiden University. They received funding up to 1.5 million euros to further expand on their research subject.

The Dutch National Research Agenda announced today that it will provide 17 research projects with a total of 61 million euros in funding. Researchers from Leiden University or the Leiden University Medical Center are involved in five of the projects. All of the projects are interdisciplinary partnerships…

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.

The Spanish Society of Soil Science has chosen as the best thesis of 2015 (call 2016) in Spain to the CML-researcher Daniel Arenas Lago, for his research at the University of Vigo that expands and deepens in new knowledge about adsorption and retention of heavy metals in soils, an issue increasingly…

A flint tool covered with a tar-like substance has turned out to be a top scientific find. Research by a Dutch team of scientists showed the find to be a piece of birch tar that was extracted 50,000 years ago by Neanderthals using complex techniques. The tar was used as an adhesive to make it easier…

On Friday 30 November 2018 more than 70 students became acquainted with the large range of companies that Leiden Bio Science Park has to offer. In addition to the companies with eye-catching façade names along the cycling route to the faculty, like CHDR, BaseClear and Astellas, there is much more to…

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.

Both Leon Jacobse and Thom Hersbach from Marc Koper's research group obtained their PhDs cum laude. They both investigated changes on the surface of a platinum electrode. Jacobse studied this at a positive voltage, Hersbach at a negative voltage. Platinum has the potential to convert renewable energy…

Just about everything that's known about Charles Darwin has already been said or written. Even so, Norbert Peeters – together with Tessa van Dijk – has managed to write an original book about the great English scholar. In the run-up to Darwin Day (12 February) he tells us about his new book.

In brain diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, proteins clump together to form fibres. ‘Chaperone proteins’ unravel those fibres, but in the test tube biochemist Anne Wentink saw that this can also cause new problems. She is going to find out what happens inside cells to determine what a drug…

From 1 October onwards, Dennis Claessen and Marcel Schaaf will be the new directors of education of Biology. They will replace Han de Winde. Schaaf will be responsible for the bachelor, while Claessen will mainly focus on the master tracks of Biology. We gave students and the education office the change…

It is partly thanks to Leiden professor Michel Orrit that we are today able to study individual molecules. He just missed winning a Nobel Prize, but is today the recipient of another important scientific award: NWO’s prestigious Spinoza Prize.

Elephant toothpaste, a trip among the stars or a lecture on mathematical juggling: on Sunday 8 October 2023, the Faculty of Science opened its doors for the third edition of the Leiden Science Family Day. A programme jam-packed with workshops, demonstrations, lectures and peeks behind the scenes for…

Lecture

Lecture

Two things are needed to produce fuel from sunlight: an antenna that harvests light, and a light-driven catalyst. The most efficient antennae contain bacteria. An international team headed by Huub de Groot imitated them and discovered how they function.

Streptomycetes are similar to moulds, but these bacteria live in the soil. They are very popular in biotechnology because they produce a great many antibiotics and enzymes. Gilles van Wezel will be using his Vici subsidy to study ways of increasing their production.

Fourteen promising researchers from Leiden University have been given the opportunity to realise their research plans for the coming years thanks to a Veni grant from the NWO. This year, these subsidies have been granted to studies of the influence of noise on the great tit, the conditions necessary…

PhD defence

Lecture

PhD defence

Nineteen researchers who have recently been awarded their PhD are to receive a Veni grant of up to 250,000 euros. Science funding agency NWO has awarded a total of 158 Venis in this round; Leiden University's share of the awards is 12 percent.

Lecture, Studium Generale

On Thursday November 15th, Leiden University organizes its Physics & Astronomy Ladies' Day for female high school students. To mark this festive day, we put the spotlight on five female researchers, who talk about their experiences working in science.

Over the past year, many of our staff and students have won prizes, been awarded a substantial grant or been appointed to an academic association or a position in public life. All of these are good reasons to include them in our 2018 Hall of Fame. We are proud of them all.

Over the past year, many of our staff and students have won prizes, been awarded a substantial grant or been appointed to an academic association or a position in public life. All of these are good reasons to include them in our 2019 Hall of Fame. We are proud of them all.

Below thesis archives will be moved shortly (work in progress) to the Leiden Repository. Once this is done, theses submitted by MI students (from 2008 onwards) can be accessed via the Repository and will be removed from this site.

The biweekly Lunch Time Seminar is an online only event, but it is not publicly accessible in real-time. If you would like to attend one of the upcoming sessions, please send an email to sails@liacs.leidenuniv.nl.