Early diagnosis, new treatments, and personalised care: all of these are possible if we can better unlock the wealth of information hidden in health data. Unfortunately, this data is often poorly organised, difficult to access, and not interoperable. The new international Leiden Institute for FAIR and…

The Dick Stufkens Prize 2018 for the best PhD thesis of the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry (HRSMC) will be awarded to Dr Stefan Vuckovic. In his thesis, Vuckovic presents a new and innovative approach to the quantum mechanical calculation of atomic and molecular energies. It lays the…

Collaboration is worthwhile. A joint LUMC and Leiden Law School project has received €142,500 from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This grant will advance research into the law and ethics of regenerative medicine.

The Faculty of Science has reinforced the collaboration in China during a group trip late November. Representatives from four institutes visited ten Chinese top universities and interviewed over 130 students in PhD workshops in Beijing and Shanghai.

Leiden University is partner of the Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH). This initiative brings together leading academic research institutes in the Netherlands in an open innovation network that responds to the theme: One Health. NCOH interviewed Doris van Bergeijk: PhD student of the project…

How safe are the nanoparticles in transparent sunscreen, anti-odour socks and bacteria-resistant plasters? Although microbes are present on all organisms, the tools that estimate the safety of nanomaterials still hardly take them into account. Bregje Brinkmann explored the role of these microbes during…

When we think of unethical medical experiments, we tend to think first of Nazi Germany. What is less well known is that experiments were also carried out in colonised areas without the explicit consent of the test subject. University lecturer Fenneke Sysling has received a European grant to research…

The steady decline in lethal gun violence in the EU came to halt in 2012 and some countries, such as Sweden, have even noticed an increase since then. An arms race among drug criminals and an increase in the availability of illegal firearms could lead to more criminal and gun violence. This is one of…

Researching DNA material for genetic disorders using the most powerful apparatus. This is what GenomeScan, a company on the Leiden Bio Science Park, does. Master's student Konstantina Konstantinopoulou is doing an internship there. 'It's a world where developments happen really rapidly so it's a fantastic…

Thanks to a clever research method, progress is being made in the quest for better tuberculosis medications. Within an American consortium that received a 30 million dollars grant, Leiden researcher Rob van Wijk plays a significant role. ‘The next breakthrough in tuberculosis research will come much…

Want to explore a different specialist field? Or maybe study a topic from your programme in more depth? This summer Leiden University is again offering a broad selection of Summer Schools.

Lecture, Part of a series

Andrea Evers has received an NWO research talent grant with Jelle van Leusden as the PhD candidate. This grant enables them to start a research project to examine whether automatically regulated responses, such as the circadian rhythm, can be conditioned during sleep.

Despite considerable progress in the design of multifunctionalized nanoparticles (NPs) that selectively target specific cell types, their systemic application often results in unwanted liver accumulation. The exact mechanisms for this general observation are still unclear.

Professor Biological chemistry Nathaniel Martin from the Institute of Biology Leiden is interviewed by the Netherlands Innovation Network on innovative scientific approaches. He talks about his work on designing new antibiotics and developing new molecules to make resistant bacteria susceptible again…

We use zebrafish as a model organism to study human development and disease as well as animal welfare and environmental impact.

Professor of Predictive Pharmacology Elizabeth de Lange has received an Honorary Doctorate from the Faculty of Pharmacy of Uppsala University. She will be honoured during the Uppsala Winter Conferment Ceremony on 31 January 2020.

This month, a paper was published in Nanoscale by scientists from Dr. Alireza Mashaghi group at the Systems Biomedicine and Pharmacology Division in collaboration with the group of Dr. Sander Tans from TU Delft/AMOLF. In this paper, the authors studied how nanoscale spatial confinement affects the fold…

New funding allows IBL-researcher Herman Spaink to purchase a measurement device for more studies on human diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis using zebrafish as the model system.

Amanda Foks (Division of BioTherapeutics) has been awarded a Horizon 2020, ERA-CVD joint transnational cardiovascular research grant. She will lead a consortium consisting of early career European scientists (Dimitrios Tsiantoulas, Medical University of Vienna, Austria; Julia Polansky-Biskup, Charité…

Four promising young researchers from Leiden University have received a Rubicon grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This grant will enable them to gain valuable research experience at top universities abroad.

Inhibiting specific protein production in the human body can serve as a crucial weapon in the fight against Alzheimer's, Eline van Maanen believes. PhD defence 23 November.

Scientists at the LUMC are working hard on potential virus inhibitors, antiviral screening and a treatment for COVID-19. SteunLeiden.nl has started a crowdfunding campaign for this research, under the hashtag #wakeuptocorona. Professor of Virology Eric Snijder explains why this is desperately needed…

Psychologist Lorenza Colzato is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, a new interdisciplinary psychology publication. The journal will contribute to a higher understanding of research aimed at enhancing human performance and creative potential.

The Executive Board has appointed Professor Hubertus Irth as Interim Dean of the Faculty of Science at Leiden University. Professor Irth will take up his post on 15 September 2019, replacing Geert de Snoo, who has been appointed as Director of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW).

Scientific director Herman Spaink brought almost all scientific staff members of our institute together in Noordwijkerhout for a two-day meeting about strategies for the future.

On Thursday the 24th of November, Tseard Hoekstra and Jeroen Ververs (members of the delegation Holland Rijnland), Geert de Snoo (Dean Faculty of Science), Martina Vijver (CML), Herman Spaink (Scientific Director IBL) and Klaas Vrieling (IBL) explored possibilities for collaborations between companies…

On Sunday 8 October 2023, during the Weekend van de Wetenschap, the Faculty of Science of Leiden University will open its doors to anyone curious about science from 11.00 to 16.00 hrs! Explore a world of wonder and discovery; where science is transformed into an unforgettable adventure. Intriguing…

Scientists are split over whether the benefits some microdosers experience are a placebo effect or something more. Michiel van Elk has been interviewed by several international news to talk about his research and to discuss the effects of psychedelics.

Three of the four Heineken Young Scientists Awards for 2022 have gone to researchers from Leiden: chronobiologist Laura Kervezee, physicist Jordi Tura i Brugués and health psychologist Liesbeth van Vliet.

In a series of six lectures, Jed Wentz, the Utrecht Early Music Festival’s artistic adviser, will acquaint you with subjects central to the developments in early music worldwide. First lecture starts 15 October!

An article that Holger Hoos, Professor of Machine Learning at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), wrote with his former Master student Jasper van Engelen has been selected by SpringerNature as one of six Research Highlights in Computer Science of 2020. After becoming an ACM Fellow…

As part Leiden University's interdisciplinary programme Social Resilience and Security, dr. Marieke Liem has been appointed Professor Security and Interventions effective 1 January 2020.

Last Friday the global Antibiotics Awareness Week begun: an entire week dedicated to antibiotic use. Antibiotics researchers from the LACDR therefore set out to tell primary school pupils about their research. Through role-playing, pupils were drawn into the world of antibiotics: 'Can the teacher not…

Philosophy alumna Naomi Rebekka Boekwijt returns to Leiden University on 20 June to present her latest novel Stemmen (Voices) in Plexus. ‘I wanted to show that things could be done differently in psychiatric care.’

In an interview with Leidraad Alumni Magazine (no. 2, 2019), Marieke Liem states that it is almost impossible to compare between murders. ‘In our society we are inclined to frame murderers as monsters. Sometimes there is a very fine line between perpetrator and victim.’

The flavour of foodstuffs can be predicted by measuring the dynamic of their chemical components. Researchers, including Thomas Hankemeijer, will receive a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) for research in this area. They will work with DSM and Unilever.

Publication by: Vanessa Frodermann, Janine van Duijn, Gijs van Puijvelde, Peter van Santbrink, Max Lagraauw, Margreet de Vries, Paul Quax, Ilze Bot, Amanda Foks, Saskia de Jager and Johan Kuiper. Journal of Internal Medicine. 2016;279:592-605.

Leiden biotech company In Ovo, a spin-off of Leiden University, has received a European Innovation Council Accelerator Pilot Grant. In Ovo will use this 2.5-million-euro grant in its mission to stop the culling of male chicks.

Last January, 20th, a new NSE-lunch-discussion took place. The NSE is an annual national survey among all bachelor and master students, and asks them about may topics regarding their programmes. During the lunch discussion, we highlighted several topics that stood out in the NSE-results for our program:…

On Tuesday 24 September the Marengo trial, also known as the trail against the so-called Mocro Maffia, continued behind closed doors after the fatal shooting of barrister Derk Wiersum. The main suspect is Ridouan Taghi. He is believed to be residing abroad along with several accomplices.

Professor Michiel Kreutzer has been appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Science at Leiden University. He will take up the role on 1 January 2020. At present, he is Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Director of Education at the Faculty of Applied Sciences at Delft University of Technology.…

Dr. Amanda Foks obtained a fellowship from the dr. E. Dekker-program for the project ' Can promotion of efferocytosis induce regression of atherosclerosis?', in which she aims to identify novel targets to promote regression of atherosclerosis. This research grant allows her to initiate independent research…

Resistance to antibiotics is a major problem in health care. Thanks to a grant from the Elise Mathilde Fund and the LUF, pharmacologist dr. Coen van Hasselt can look for new dosing schedules to reduce the development of antibiotic resistance.

Er is een nijpend tekort aan medicijnen. Volgens onderzoek van NRC is bijna één op de zeven Nederlandse patiënten aangewezen op geneesmiddelen uit het buitenland. Promovendus Koosje van Lessen Kloeke sprak over dit tekort met Mr.: ‘De Nederlandse geneesmiddelenwetgeving rammelt.’

PhD candidate at the Parenting, Child Care and Development programme group Wei Li examined longitudinally the role of parents in self-regulation of young children in the Netherlands and China during their first two years of life. Li also specifically focused on the role of grandparents in China. This…

In his new book 'The Politics of Borders', Leiden political scientist Matthew Longo redefines the concept of a ‘border’.

In the ‘Imaginary’ exhibition, its curators show how society is made up of mathematics. From algorithms that save lives to ones that generate art. The exhibition is from 2 June to 25 July at Oude UB in Leiden.

The winner of the 2022 Spring edition of the NWO Venture Challenge was announced during the Dutch Biotech Event. The innovative startup Iprotics has developed specific proteasome inhibitors that potentially treat multiple myeloma (MM) without the side-effects known from traditional proteasome inhibi…

Each month we will be spotlighting material we have been reading, or that have been recommended to us that relate to AI and a particular theme.