Thomas Hansen is the recipient of the 2020 KNCV-Backer Prize for best organic chemistry thesis in the Netherlands.

Philosophical pragmatism has found more and more applications. But thus far it has not been applied to political crisis management. Political scientist Martin Bartenberger linked these two together and discovered that pragmatism, or the lack thereof, can help to explain how governments and public agencies…

On April 4 a new composition and a new instrument by researcher Aart Strootman will see the light of day at the 55th edition of Spring Festival 2022, presented by the Royal Conservatoire’s Composition department.

Daniel Rozen (45), at the IBL since September 2012, uses bacteria in laboratory tests on experimental evolution to study the ecology and genetics of adaptation. His research has applied importance, as it reveals how bacteria may be induced to produce new antibiotics. Last January, Rozen received the…

Where exactly on the surface of a catalyst do the chemical reactions occur? Until now, it has always been a challenge to identify the exact locations of these ‘active sites’. In a new article in Nature, Leiden chemists helped their international colleagues reveal new insights into this issue. Their…

The European ARTificial Intelligence Lab is now offering artists working with Artificial Intelligence the chance for a residency at the Leiden Observatory and the Ars Electronica Futurelab. Entries are possible until 22 July 2020

Chris Jacobs, former PhD-student of the IBL, received the national “Dissertation Award” for best PhD thesis of the year on insects. The award was handed out last Friday, the 18th of December, by Professor Matty Berg, president of the Dutch Entomological Society.

On December 4th, Flor Rhebergen received the 2015 Unilever Research prize for his study achievements at the IBL for his outstanding work in the field of Evolutionary Biology. Flor Rhebergen received the “Ovum” sculpture and was awarded €2.500.

Based on the results of a language-switching experiment, PhD candidate Fatemeh (Simeen) Tabassi Mofrad MA and Professor Niels Schiller have discovered that the traditional categorisation of brain areas is not sufficient. They published their research findings in the scientific journal NeuroImage.

The newly launched NWO funded research project ‘Bridging art, design and technology through Critical Making’ aims to interrogate Critical Making by experimentally applying it to a broad range of artistic practices.

Physicists have manipulated light with large artificial atoms, so-called quantum dots. Before, this has only been done so well with actual atoms. It is an important step towards light-based quantum technology. Publication on August 30th in Nature Communications.

Unconventional superconductors form one of the big mysteries in physics. Among them is strontium ruthenate, which stands out as a controversial superconductor. During his PhD, Leiden physicist Kaveh Lahabi has provided new insights into the nature of superconductivity in this material, leading to a…

During the annual LACDR Spring Symposium, the audience chose PhD student Rob van Wijk as best speaker. Furthermore, six PhD students won a poster prize. Matthias P. Mayer of Heidelberg University opened the symposium with a keynote lecture about chaperone proteins.

Alice Twemlow has been named professor by special appointment in the Wim Crouwel chair in the History, Theory and Sociology of Graphic Design and Visual Culture at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Amsterdam.

At the LION/Sterrewacht new year’s reception, Scientific Director of Casimir Tjerk Oosterkamp handed out the 2017 Hendrik Casimir Prize to physics students Nashwan Sabti (Leiden) and Nikolas Kavadias (Delft). The Casimir Research School yearly awards the prize to the best MSc students in (Applied) Physics…

The Leiden University Fund (LUF) awards grants to research and educational project in various academic fields once a year. This year, Andrei Poama, Jochem Jansen, Valérie Pattyn and Min Cho of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs were four of the recipients of such a grant.

Nematic liquid crystals form the key ingredients of most tv screens. The active version of these complex fluids forms a useful model for physicists to research the responses of active matter—like bacteria or traffic flows—to mechanical and geometrical cues. An international research team publishes their…

The Department of Medical Microbiology of Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) will investigate the efficacy of a new experimental vaccine from the pharmaceutical company Jansen against the coronavirus. The research is being conducted in collaboration with the The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies…

In the beginning of December 2016 PhD candidate Catarina Guzzo Falci was awarded a scholarship for a collections study by Musée du quai Branly. The Musée du quai Branly has implemented this scholarship programme to document its collections.

Electrons that spin synchronously around their axis, turn out to stay superconducting across large distances within magnetic chromium dioxide. Electric current from these electrons can flip small magnets, and its superconducting version could form the basis for a hard drive without energy loss. Publication…

Professor Claartje Levelt, together with Paula Fikkert (Radboud University), has received an NWO Open Competition grant for research into the development of word production in toddlers.

Leiden University researchers Gisela Hirschmann (Political Science) and Niels van Doesum (Psychology) have been awarded a LUF/Gratama grant for their research on the effects of musical peacebuilding initiatives. When ‘enemies’ make music together, does that change the image they have of one another?…

Daniela Kraft will be awarded the NWO Athena Prize 2019 in a ceremony at the CHAINS Chemistry Conference on 10 December. The prize recognizes excellent female chemists who carry out outstanding scientific research and act as role models for their fellow researchers. Kraft will receive the Athena Prize…

On December 12th & 13th composer and doublebass-player Christopher Williams will defend his thesis Tactile Paths to obtain his doctoral degree.

This weeks marks the 10th anniversary of the European Research Council. For the past decade, the council has contributed to many scientific projects all over Europe, including Leiden University. It has funded almost 7,000 researchers, leading to just short of 100,000 scientific articles. A total of…

The image of the Leiden microboat traveled all over the world, from the BBC up to Arab shipping blogs. But Daniela Kraft's research group has quite a few more different 3D printed microswimmers up their sleeves. Kraft receives a Vidi research grant for research into these variously shaped active par…

Leiden physicist Alexey Boyarsky, together with his colleagues from Lausanne and Copenhagen, has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant to research an extension of the standard model of particle physics. The leading house of the project is the Technical University of Lausanne. 580.000 euro goes directly…

Researchers from the Institute of Environmental Sciences of Leiden University started crowdfunding to raise 15.000 euro to build a laboratory in nature: The Living Lab. This is necessary to test the effects of chemical compounds in a natural situation.

If computers work on superconducting current, they won’t consume any energy. Leiden physicists have now gained control over a new type of superconducting memory elements. Publication in Nature Communications.

NWO has assigned Physics Vrije Programma grants to five collaborations of physicists. Leiden University is involved in three of them.

This event is in Dutch. De Verenigde Naties hebben 11 februari uitgeroepen tot International Day of Women & Girls in Science. De Universiteit Leiden viert deze dag met een open publieksevenement met vrouwelijke topwetenschappers van haar bètafaculteit. Iedereen is welkom vanaf 13:30 uur in het Kamerlingh…

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. This makes fundamental research on the precise cause of the illness of vital importance. One of the possible suspects is a certain protein filled with iron. Leiden physicist Lucia Bossoni (LION/LUMC) has now developed a new way of investigating…

There have been indications for decades that there is a link between increased iron levels in the brain and Alzheimer’s disease. Leiden physicists find this connection as well, thereby now making a distinction between different forms of iron. They identify specific iron forms that increase in Alzheimer’s…

Leiden physicist Milan Allan and his group have discovered an apparent paradox within a material that has zero electrical resistance. They measured trapped charges, while charges should in theory keep flowing in the absence of resistance. The discovery could provide a missing piece of one of the big…

In close cooperation with various partners, Leiden’s Administrative and Constitutional Law Department is seeking to expand its presence in The Hague - the International City of Peace and Justice.

On 3 February the Institute of Security and Global Affairs in The Hague hosted an experimental workshop in collaboration with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

The human brain stores not only individual words, but also all kinds of abstract information about these words. Research by Leiden linguists has shown that speakers have ready access to this information.

Many of our staff and students have won prizes over the past year. Others have been awarded a subsidy, or, because of their eminence in their field, they have been appointed members of academic societies or have taken up positions in the community. Reasons enough to be proud of them and to include them…

Jan Zaanen, Professor in Theoretical Physics of condensed material, has been awarded a Spinoza prize. His pioneering ideas about the collective behaviour of quantum particles and high temperature superconductivity have often given him the reputation of being something of a rebel.

Discover the effects of clothing value and lifespan on buyer-user-producer relationships through collaborative research with Localising Global Garment Biographies.

The major aim is to determine the psychophysiological responses to stress and stress-management interventions and to examine the role of stress and stress-related psychophysiological mechanisms (e.g., cognitions, behaviors, and physiological stress responses) in both healthy and medical populations.

An overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2018, as well as special appointments and royal distinctions.

To develop a new generation of brain science (and train scientists) focused on explaining complex real-world behavioural patterns.

The Microscopy Unit houses, maintains and coordinates most of the microscopy equipment of the IBL. The available equipment ranges from conventional light and fluorescence microscopes, to confocal laser scanning and electron microscopes. In addition, infrastructure is available for histology, including…

As a student in the MSc Chemistry programme offered by the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) you will focus your studies on one of the two main research areas of the LIC. Students in the research area Chemical Biology will study fundamental biological and biomedical problems to understand physiological…

You can find the Digital Lab on the ground floor of the Huizinga building. The Digital Lab is part of a collection of labs designed for staff and students who require a place to work, experiment, and find support for their digital research.

As a venue, Leiden University is a fitting setting for recognising the outstanding achievements of the award winners and celebrating the inspiration that they bring as role models for encouraging a fairer society by motivating one individual at a time.

African oral literatures, new media and technologies: challenges for research and documentation