724 search results for “liveable planet” in the Public website
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Astronomers find missing link for origin of water in solar systems
An international team of astronomers, including astronomers from Leiden University, has found the missing link in the path taken by water through star-forming clouds and young stars to comets and planets. They did so with the help of the ALMA observatory in Chile. The researchers published their findings…
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ESO instrument METIS passes important design milestone
The METIS instrument that’s being built for ESO's future Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in Northern Chile under the leadership of the Dutch Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) has reached an important milestone: the preliminary design has been approved.
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Ewine van Dishoeck receives ERC Advanced Grant for research into the chemistry of new worlds
Leiden Professor of Molecular astrophysics Ewine van Dishoeck has been awarded an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). She has been awarded 2.3 million euros in research funding for the MOLDISK programme. Within this programme, Van Dishoeck wants to connect chemistry and physics in…
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Pristine cometary dust under the microscope
An international team of researchers with Pascale Ehrenfreund from Leiden University has discovered that the dust particles of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko are made up of even smaller particles. This discovery confirms that clumps of dust form the basis for comets and planets.
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Media on environmental impact of food research by Paul Behrens
The environment also benefits when people follow national nutritional guidelines, Paul Behrens demonstrated in research published in PNAS. The publication attracted media attention both at home and internationally.
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Daphne Tona maps the brain
Psychologist Daphne Tona is one of the first to investigate a small nucleus in the brain stem 'in vivo' in living volunteers. That nucleus is involved in cognitive function and neurological and psychiatric disorders. With this research Tona is further mapping the brain. PhD defence on September 10.
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Leiden astronomers in astronomy podcast
Five Leiden astronomers tell about science in the podcast Astronomy et al. This podcast was set up by Ricardo Garcia Soto in September 2016 and is focused on anyone who is interested in science.
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BBC Science Focus names Ewine van Dishoeck as one of the six women who are changing chemistry
On the occasion of the Women & Girls in Science Day, BBC Science Focus Magazine highlighted 6 prominent female chemists. Among them is Leiden professor Ewine van Dishoeck: 'Astrochemist investigating the building blocks of life'.
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What's better for the environment, cotton or polyester clothing?
What clothing is best to buy if you want to consider the environment? That question isn't so easy to answer. You have to consider the entire life cycle of a garment: from production to the moment we dispose of it. In the segment 'What's better?' of the radio programme Living Planet, environmental scientist…
- LUGO Sustainability Day: 9 May 2023
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‘Collaboration is essential to scientific breakthroughs’
How do we create a healthy, inclusive, digital and sustainable society? And how do we keep it that way? If science is to provide answers to these questions, the universities of Leiden, Delft and Erasmus will need to work together. This is what Wim van den Doel, the new figurehead of the LDE Alliance,…
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Auke-Florian Hiemstra named Person of the Year
Auke-Florian Hiemstra is the Leidsch Dagblad Person of the Year 2022.
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Awards and Grants 2018
An overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2018, as well as special appointments and royal distinctions.
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Awards and Grants 2023
On this page you will find an overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2023, as well as special appointments at Leiden University and other institutions.
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Is extraction of raw materials in space allowed?
Asteroids, pieces of matter orbiting round the sun, have turned out to be extremely valuable. Asteroid Psyche contains a quantity of metals that together are worth more than the entire global economy. NASA is heading for it.
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Ewine van Dishoeck receives american prize for leading role in astrochemistry
The Dutch scientist prof. dr. Ewine F. van Dishoeck, Leiden Observatory, Leiden University and Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, will receive the 2018 James Craig Watson Medal from the american National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
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Long-awaited review reveals journey of water from interstellar clouds to habitable worlds
Professor Ewine van Dishoeck, together with an international team of colleagues, has written an overview of everything we know about water in interstellar clouds thanks to the Herschel space observatory. The article, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, summarizes existing knowledge and…
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Tracing space ice and the building blocks of life
An unprecedented space telescope, an astrolab that makes space ice and molecules that may lead to the origin of life… The Ice Age project has all the prerequisites to become a very fascinating research project – if it is not one already. Leiden astronomers Melissa McClure, Harold Linnartz and Will Rocha…
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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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Sarah de Rijcke wins ERC Starting Grant
With a success rate of approximately one in ten, receiving an ERC Starting Grant is a notable achievement. Recently, the European Commission announced that Sarah de Rijcke successfully applied for the project FluidKnowledge.
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Physics Nobel Prize for former Leiden Lorentz Professor
The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip Thorne for their work on the measurement of gravitational waves. Thorne was Lorentz Professor in 2009 in Leiden. Physicist Jan Willem van Holten explains why this is such an important discovery. ‘A new branch of astrophysics…
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Enjoy the photo exhibition in the Old Observatory from home
Two radio telescopes in Green Bank, West Virginia have brought together a few remarkable people. A new photo exhibition in the Old Observatory visitor centre gives an insight into the remote community. Due to the corona crisis, the Observatory is not open to the public. That’s why we’ve selected a few…
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Sustainability prize for research into the effects of a plant-based diet
Paul Behrens and his team have won the Frontiers Planet Prize of half a million euros for their research into the effects of switching to a plant-based diet.
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Astronomer Jos de Boer receives Chesneau Prize for best dissertation
Astronomer Jos de Boer has received the Chesneau Prize in Nice for his research into so-called protoplanetary disks. The prize is awarded to the best astronomical dissertation in the field of high angular resolution. 'I consider it a good opportunity to talk about my research.'
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Staring at stardust
Dust particles in space form the basis for new stars and planets. But what do these particles consist of and how do they behave? Sascha Zeegers studied this. PhD defence 1 November.
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Astronomy student searches for giant rings with pictures from 1890
Meticulous analysis of hundreds of photographic plates from the star J1407 between 1890 and 2007 show no stellar eclipses. Robin Mentel, a master student at Leiden University, could not detect eclipses of the star J1407 by a planet hypothesized to have giant rings, called J1407b. However, an eclipse…
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What do complex molecules tell us about star formation?
How do you progress from an immense gas cloud somewhere in the universe to a star with planets? Research by Astronomy PhD student Martijn van Gelder sheds more light on the earliest phases of this process. He will receive his doctorate on November 24th.
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Book: The Colours of Energy
Huub de Groot is one of the 55 authors for the book The Colours of Energy. The book consists of Essays on the Future of Energy in Society in which leading energy thinkers explore the future of energy in society.
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Can astronomers limit climate change?
Can astronomers mitigate climate change? This is what Leiden astronomer Leonard Burtscher and his colleagues discussed at the annual meeting of the European Astronomical Society. For the second year in a row, the meeting was online. And according to Burtscher, it should stay that way. During a special…
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Many planetary systems prematurely evaporate into thin air
When stars are born, large clouds of gas and dust form that are known as circumstellar discs. Research by PhD candidate Francisca Concha-Ramírez shows that strong radiation from neighbouring stars soon evaporates the dust in these discs, which can prevent planet formation at an early stage. PhD defence…
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Leiden astronomers calculate genesis of Oort cloud in chronological order
A team of Leiden astronomers has managed to calculate the first 100 million years of the history of the Oort cloud in its entirety. Until now, only parts of the history had been studied separately. The cloud, with roughly 100 billion comet-like objects, forms an enormous shell at the edge of our solar…
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Complex Organic Molecules Discovered in Infant Star System
For the first time, astronomers have detected the presence of complex organic molecules, the building blocks of life, in a protoplanetary disc surrounding a young star. The discovery reaffirms that the conditions that spawned the Earth and Sun are not unique in the Universe. The results are published…
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What if humans could have a different impact on Earth?
Starting 2 July 2022, a new exhibition will be opened to the public at the Old Observatory: More-than-Planet. This exhibit asks the question: how do we imagine our planet?
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Additional efforts needed to avoid conflict in Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations aim to improve all issues simultaneously: social, economic, and environmental outcomes. However, a new study shows that eliminating extreme poverty and reducing income inequality often leads to higher environmental impacts. Therefore, additional…
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Space Awareness launches free online course
On 5 September 2016 Space Awareness launched their first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on teaching with space and astronomy in the classroom.
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Ewine van Dishoeck receives the Niels Bohr medal
Leiden professor of molecular astrophysics and astrochemistry Ewine van Dishoeck was presented with the Niels Bohr International Gold Medal on Friday 7 October. The medal, instigated by the Danish Society of Engineers IDA, was awarded by Queen Margrethe of Denmark at a ceremony at the Carlsberg Academy…
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‘Building blocks for life' may originate in space
Amino acids are the building blocks for life on earth. They may originate in space and reach the Earth via comets and meteorites. Daniël Paardekooper examined part of this hypothesis. PhD defence on 5 July.
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Krijn Rietveld Memorial Awards
In honour of Krijn Rietveld (1956 - 2018), Leiden University Fund and dsm-firmenich have created the Krijn Rietveld Memorial Awards to reward researchers who make extraordinary efforts to bring about an impact beyond scientific understanding in the field of life sciences, health science, biotech, or…
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Formulation and Characterization of Vaccines
Vaccines are an extraordinary category of biopharmaceuticals. They are usually prophylactic and come in many types, from whole bacteria to peptides and nucleic acids. They are very cost effective and almost every human on the planet is vaccinated. The latter mandates that vaccines have to be extremely…
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Global Brexit: the international ramifications of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU
Ending the United Kingdom’s (UK) forty-seven year European Union (EU) membership has fundamentally transformed its relationship with the EU. After years of tumultuous negotiations, international law now once again governs the UK’s relationship with the EU. This has resulted in a sophisticated body of…
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Education
Leiden University College offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees within a Liberal Arts & Sciences programme that focuses on four Global Challenges: Peace & Justice, Sustainability, Prosperity, and Diversity. The programme’s environment is characterized by small-scale, interactive sessions…
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Material: the mother of innovation
It is not man’s ingenuity, but rather materials that are the source of innovation and progress. This is what archaeologist Maikel Kuijpers concludes based on his research into craftsmanship and material processing in the Early Bronze Age.
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To the edge of space and time
Large telescopes can look so deep into the Universe that they can also look back billions of years in time. From 2018, the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, will be able to see the period just after the Big Bang, when the first stars and galaxies formed. Astronomers…
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About the programme
To maximise your personal development, we ensure tutorials are small-scale and staff members extremely accessible. In year one, you’ll have an average of 12 contact hours, half of which comprise lectures (in English) and the remainder tutorials (optionally Dutch or English).
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Programme structure
The international bachelor's programme in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology covers three years, allowing you to establish a firm foundation and specialise in topics that you find interesting.
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Majors
LUC's Liberal Arts and Sciences programme offers you the opportunity to specialise in one of six Majors while keeping the Global Challenges at the centre of your studies.
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Global Health, Innovation and Society (BSc Major of Liberal Arts and Sciences: Global Challenges)
Although the world has made tremendous progress in health, education, sanitation and hygiene, global public health challenges still exist. Disparities in health exist between and within nations as evidenced by inequalities in disease burden, mortality, nutrition and environmental well-being. How does…
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Tanja Masson-Zwaan discusses Space Mining on BBC Radio
Tanja Masson-Zwaan, an assistant professor at the Institute of Air and Space Law, spoke on Friday 14 April about space mining on BBC Radio.
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CML researchers contribute to development of Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas
CML researchers has contributed to development of the first-ever Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas , which has been published recently by the European Joint Research Centre (EU JRC) and the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative (GSBI).
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World Environment Day
Since 1974, World Environment Day has been celebrated every year on 5 June, engaging governments, businesses and citizens in an effort to address pressing environmental issues.