Density functional theory (DFT) with so-called semi-local exchange has been remarkable accurate for some dissociative chemisorption reactions on metals, but it has notoriously failed for others. A team of researchers from the University of California at Irvine and the Leiden Institute of Chemistry have…

The widely used pesticide thiacloprid can cause a large-scale decline in freshwater insects. This was discovered by researchers from the Living Lab in Leiden. For three months they counted the flying insects in the 36 ditches of the lab. Their research appeared in PNAS.

The Economist published an article about a working paper about the effects of democratic elections on satisfaction with democracy. The paper was written by Dimiter Koshkov, Associate Professor at the Institute of Public Administration and Honorata Mazepus, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security…

The rare Ethiopian wolf is increasingly coming into contact with local cattle farmers. PhD candidate Girma Eshete explored ways of saving this elegant animal from being wiped out. Phd-defense on 5 September.

A semi-empirical version of the specific reaction parameter approach to density functional theory (SRP-DFT) has been remarkably successful at predicting dissociative chemisorption probability vs. incidence energy curves for reactions on metal surfaces. New quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations on the…

Persecution, conflicts and crises threaten academic facilities and researchers worldwide. This has major implications for science. Leiden University's Scholars for Scholars programme helps scientists in need through crowdfunding.

Seaweed, which is vital for marine life, is disappearing throughout the world at an alarming rate. Different currents and wave patterns can bring about recovery, but more research is needed. This is the conclusion of Achmad Adhitya. His PhD defence has a political edge because of his proposition and…

The symposium “Human-Wildlife conflicst in Africa” was held on the 27th October in the Academie gebouw of Leiden University in honor of the retirement of Prof.dr.ir. Hans H. de Iongh

On Tuesday, September 17th, the Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, will present the plans of the new government of the Netherlands. This government’s aspirations, led by the party (PVV) of right-wing nationalist Geert Wilders, are mostly defined by budget cuts. One of the sectors receiving such budget cuts…

This fall, LUCIS will have the pleasure of welcoming Professor Hugh Kennedy from SOAS University of London to Leiden. He is the fourth Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain Cultural Foundation Visiting Professor in Arabic Culture at Leiden University.

The world abounds with different footprints that calculate human impact on the environment. Environmental specialist Kai Fang is the first person to have developed a family of footprints that allow better measurement of environmental damage and the depletion of natural sources. PhD defence on 24 Nov…

Farmers who commit to environmentally friendly working methods also actively practise nature conservation in their farming - particularly when this is not financed by the government. These are the findings of research carried out by Anne Marike Lokhorst, who will receive her PhD on 17 September based…

On Friday 17 April Leiden Mayor Henri Lenferink will officially open the new Metabolomics Facility of Leiden University. The facility’s ultimate goal is to prevent disease and to improve health throughout the human lifespan.

Using N2 dissociation on Ru(0001) as a representative showcase (for catalysts employed in the Haber-Bosch process), we have shown for the first time that non-adiabatic effects can substantially reduce a molecule’s dissociation probability on a metal surface. These effects are currently completely unaccounted…

Researchers from Leiden and Delft have found a way to look inside early-modern bookbindings. An x-ray technique has allowed them to search for remains of medieval manuscripts hidden inside the bindings. After the Middle Ages many manuscripts were recycled, their pages pasted inside bookbindings to provide…

Paul Wouters received the RISE Award, an award by the women’s network RISE, for his commitment to increasing gender equality at the Faculty of Science. ‘It makes it clear that it is possible to truly make a change in 9 months. That is why I am happy with this award.’

Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and Leiden University (Faculty of Science) will be offering a master's programme in Pharmacy from September 2016. The programme has been accredited by the NVAO.

This fall, LUCIS will have the pleasure of welcoming Professor Maribel Fierro, Research Professor at the CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid), to Leiden. She is the third Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain Cultural Foundation Visiting Professor in Arabic Culture at Leiden University…

On Monday 14 November, the first spadeful of earth was dug for the construction of the Living Lab, an experimental test site to study living organisms in freshwater. A total of 36 ditches will be dug out to create a natural environment where researchers can study the effects of chemical compounds from…

Leiden University and Leiden University Medical Center have joined the Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH), further strengthening the academic network in which such problems as antimicrobial resistance are studied.

Astronomers at Leiden University have discovered the first planets using a new instrument: the planet hunter MASCARA. This instrument, developed at Leiden Observatory, looks specifically for planet transitions around the brightest stars in the sky, which surprisingly enough have so far have hardly been…

The year 2023 saw the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the Wagner Group rebellion and wildfires and floods as all the weather records were smashed. Our most-read stories were about the climate crisis and the elections: here’s the list.

Thijs Bosker, Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences at Leiden University College (LUC) and the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), has received funding as part of a large consortium to study the impacts of microplastics on agricultural soils. The project will receive 7 million euro of…

Although the official start of the academic year has to wait for another fortnight, Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) welcomed the Class of 2024 to the Anna van Bueren campus this week. The new cohort of 204 incoming students will spend the next three years studying different majors and minors…

Ten years, it is so hard to believe that it is already ten years ago that Leiden University College was officially opened on a sunny Wednesday in 2010 in The Hague. A day of achievement, joy, and dreams for the future. It seems so much shorter and yet so much has been developed and built, so many happy…

To what extent does human intervention influence the world’s biodiversity? And can we predict how biodiversity and ecosystems will change in the coming years? Inaugural lecture by Peter van Bodegom, Professor of Conservation Biology, on 8 May.

Five questions for James Shires, assistant professor at ISGA, about his new book, The Politics of Cybersecurity in the Middle East. The book is available to order now.

Dr. Mark Westmoreland (Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology) and Dr. Francesco Ragazzi (Institute of Political Science) have been awarded a Seed grant for their project, ‘Other “ways of knowing”: should we prepare for a post-textual turn in the social sciences?’. The grant amounts…

In response to an news article that appeared in Dutch newspaper the 'NRC

Having lectures on sustainability when you're a first-year student of Law, or a course on climate change when you're studying Public Administration may sound odd, but that is just what Associate Professor in Environmental Sciences Thijs Bosker wants to see happening. Together with his colleague Paul…

Leiden University's International Honours College, Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) experienced empty halls and empty classrooms this past year on the residential campus on the Anna van Buerenplein in The Hague due to the global pandemic. Dr Paul Hudson designed a Covid-proof course that enabled…

Dr. Brackney is a modern European intellectual and cultural historian with a Ph.D. from Yale University. Before coming to Leiden, she held postdoctoral teaching posts in the History & Literature program at Harvard University and the Pozen Center for Human Rights at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Josien de Klerk, Associate professor in Global Public Health at Leiden University College The Hague recently published some of her work on HIV/AIDS. In collaboration with a team of interdisciplinary researchers from the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development she came to the conclusion…

In his new book 'Flooding and Management of Large Fluvial Lowlands', Paul Hudson Associate Professor of Physical Geography at Leiden University College in The Hague, examines human impacts on lowlands rivers. The past twenty years the pressure on large fluvial lowlands has increased tremendously because…

Natalia Sobrino-Saeb, third-year student at Leiden University College The Hague, won the challenge by the Ignitor Fellowship Program held by the Nobel Peace Center for her essay on the threats to journalism in Mexico. On December 10th Natalia met the Committee of the Ignitor Fellowship in Oslo and attended…

Should Leiden University cut its ties with the fossil fuel industry forthwith? This was the main question in a debate between students and staff. The answer was clearer for some than for others.

The Sustainable 100 is an initiative by Dutch newspaper Trouw, consisting of a list of the top 100 sustainable civil initiatives. In October of 2020, the Jonge Klimaatbeweging (Youth Climate Movement NL) became the first youth organization to win first prize. An interview with LUC Alumna and Board Member…

Louis Sicking's Maritime Conflict Management in Atlantic Europe was awarded an 'Internationalisation in the Humanities' grant from NWO. What can we learn from how maritime conflicts were managed in the past?

The norms, institutions and power relations that have defined the last decades of international political and economic relations in the European Union are undergoing major transformations. With the return of competition between great and ambitious powers, like the US, China, EU and Russia, the need…

How does climate change affect the migration routes of birds? Mainly negatively, according to a new study from Yali Si from the CML. ‘It changes the timing of natural events differently in each region,’ she explains. ‘This can lead to a growing mismatch between the availability of food and the supposed…

Thomas Mareite is a PhD student at the University of Leiden. His PhD project focuses on slave refugees in Mexico, 1800-1860.

PhD defence

An overview of research projects at the Predictive Pharmacology group.

Curiosity is the driving force behind the research of ecologist Michiel Veldhuis. The associate professor investigates ecosystems in relation to climate change in the savannahs of Africa. More and more, he is also looking at social factors such as the influence of population growth. The KNAW rewards…

Take a walk through any city, and you are likely to come across a brightly coloured mural. Although these paintings often seem to serve solely as a backdrop for Instagram snapshots, art history professor Minna Valjakka says there are rich traditions and intricate histories that uncover more critical…

Sinds september 2010 werken Geerten Waling en Anne Heyer in het NWO project ‘The Promise of Organization’.

In 2018, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) is celebrating its 100-year existence. To commemorate this occasion, policy historian Pieter Slaman conducted a comprehensive survey of the ministry. We now look back on 5 crucial moments.