On Friday 7 March 2025 Adam Knight successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Atoms and molecules are the basic units of matter. If we keep dividing a bar of gold or a glass of water into smaller parts, at the end we are left with a single gold atom or a water molecule.

This Element considers Kant's conception of self-control and the role it plays in his moral philosophy. It offers a detailed interpretation of the different terms used by Kant to explain the phenomenon of moral self-control, such as 'autocracy' and 'inner freedom'.

Regulating Relations: Controlling Sex and Marriage

How does task context affect children’s word productions?

What is the role of the noradrenergic system in human cognition?

On the 12th of October, Fatemeh Tabassi Mofrad successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Fatemeh on this achievement!

Promotor: Prof.dr. H.P. Spaink, Co-promotor: Prof.dr. A.H. Meijer

During my PhD research, I studied the photon statistics of light emitted by a microcavity that contains a single quantum dot (QD) on resonance.

This Thesis describes a strategy to synthesize 1,2-cis-oligosaccharides modulated by additives, such as dimethylformamide (DMF), triphenylphosphine oxide (Ph3P=O) and N-methyl(phenyl)formamide (MPF), using building blocks that carry solely benzyl type protecting groups and are therefore of uniform r…

Traditionally, vaccines are administered intramuscularly using conventional hypodermic needles, which cause pain and distress. Microneedles are very short needles (smaller than 1 mm) that are practically invisible to the naked eye.

Beenakker

This article illustrates how the term 'dual use' has become associated with a broader dichotomy between ‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate’ purposes.

In a modernist interpretation of migration controls, nation states play a major role. This book challenges this interpretation by showing that comprehensive migration checks and permanent border controls appeared much earlier, in early modern dynastic states and empires, and predated nation states by…

Can we establish a new quality control system for herbal medicines that is based on bioactivity rather than a few abundant chemicals?

Following their application to system biological models, control theory techniques have further potential to aid in the understanding and application of quantitative systems pharmacology models.

Bacteria are highly complex and diverse organisms that have adapted to survive in ecological niches ranging from the most extreme to the most heterogeneous environments.

The field of exoplanet research is rapidly advancing through the development of new technology, observing techniques, and post-processing methods.

Promotor: Huub J.M. de Groot, Co-promotor: Francesco Buda

This thesis describes how different colours of light affect various aspects of the growth and development of Arabidopsis and tomato plants⁠.

Governments in parliamentary democracies have limited time in office to fulfill their policy agendas. So, how do they optimise the timing of legislative bills to assure their passage and avoid lengthy parliamentary scrutiny? This question is especially puzzling under coalition governments, in which…

The infectious diseases malaria and tuberculosis are responsible for 2.1 million deaths every year. Leiden researchers are currently testing a new tuberculosis vaccine.

Primary Objective: The primary aim of the proposed RCT is to evaluate whether LF-TLP in blended form as an indicated prevention for anxiety complaints is more (cost-) effective than TAU according to the NHG guideline Anxiety. We hypothesize that in comparison to TAU, LF-TLP will result in a significantly…

Promotores: H.S. Overkleeft; G.A. van der Marel Co-Promotor: B.I. Florea

William Lippert investigates the effect of delegation to an agreement executor on success of conventional arms control agreements in Europe.

How do humans control their thoughts and actions, and what can high-field brain scanning reveal about the underlying processes?

Up to 45% of patients with Parkinson's disease experience impulse control disorders, characterised by a loss of voluntary control over impulses, drives or temptations. This study aimed to investigate whether previously identified genetic and psychiatric risk factors interact towards the development…

On 20 March 2019, Tim Dekkers defended his thesis 'Mobility, Control and Technology in Border Areas: Discretion and Decision-making in the Information Age'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. J.P. van der Leun en Prof. dr. M.A.H. van der Woude.

How can we help children and adults to acquire better reading comprehension? Paul van den Broek and his colleagues at the Brain and Education Lab are searching for an answer to this question by investigating reading and the related brain activity.

This thesis focuses on the role of chemokine receptors CXCR3 and CCR2 in the inflammatory process and infection control using the zebrafish model.

This project is funded by the Dutch Cancer Society. The project will be part of an ongoing research line aimed at identifying mechanisms of cancer therapy resistance and metastasis. In this project, it will be investigated how the Grainyhead family of transcription factors controls therapy response…

Jaroslaw Kantorowicz and Rok Spruk examine the contribution of institutional reforms to economic growth.

How does stress influence cognitive performance? What is the role of selective attention to threatening information in this effect? Could we prevent stress-induced decline of cognitive performance with pharmacological interventions? Could we use resting state theta/beta ratio as a biomarker for cognitive…

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is a major cereal crop that millions of subsistence farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) rely on. However, the scourging impact of the root parasitic weed Striga (Striga hermonthica, a.k.a. “witch-weed”) has remained a major constraint hampering the productivity of sorghum in…

We showed that constitutive and inducible chemical and morphological defenses against Western flower thrips differ between tomato and chrysanthemum plants.

To argue that people can control the relative contributions of goal-driven and stimulus-driven processes to decision-making and action selection.

Intensive public debates have erupted about integration of immigrants in Europe. The influx of refugees from the middle east during the summer and autumn of 2015, the increasing visibility of immigrants throughout European societies, but also the widely publicized occurrences on New Year’s eve in Cologne…

The central question in this book is whether there is a human right to family unification.

Authority and Control in the Countryside looks at the economic, religious, political and cultural instruments that local and regional powers in the late antique to early medieval Mediterranean and Near East used to manage their rural hinterlands.

Dit proefschrift beschrijft een collectie aan alternatieve strategieën voor het begrijpen, ontwerpen en toepassen van lipide nanosystemen, waarin de rol van de bio-nano interacties centraal staan. In het bijzonder wordt gekeken naar de interactie van RNA-lipide nanosystemen, bekend van de toepassing…

Promotor: P.J.J. Hooykaas, Co-Promotores: P.B.F. Ouwerkerk, M. Wang

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel, Co-Promotor: E. Vijgenboom

Irna Hofman defended her thesis on 10 January 2019.

The PID-directed shift in PIN polarity has been broadly accepted as one of the essential mechanisms for the regulation of auxin transport polarity.

Actinobacteria are Gram-positive bacteria that have a complex multicellular life cycle and are well known for their ability to produce a wide range of bioactive natural products (NPs).

The transition period in which men become fathers might provide an important window of opportunity for parenting interventions that may produce long-term positive effects on paternal care and, consequently, child development. Existing prenatal programs traditionally focus on maternal and infant health…