Natural history collections provide invaluable sources for researchers with different disciplinary backgrounds, aspiring to study the geographical distribution of flora and fauna across the globe as well as other evolutionary processes.

The development process of any software has become extremely important not just in the IT industry, but in almost every business or domain of research.

Roeland Merks is appointed as professor Multiscale Mathematical Biology (0.2 FTE) at the Mathematical Institute as from 15 January 2014.

Theoretical physicist Carlo Beenakker has been awarded a €2m Advanced Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). He will use this to try to create the ideal building blocks for a quantum computer: ‘braided’ Majorana fermions. An ambitious project that may just lead to a major breakthrough.

In cryptography, the sky is the limit according to the new professor Mathematical Cryptology Léo Ducas. He already designed several cryptosystems as part of his research at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), some of which might soon be adopted as new international standards. Since December,…

The research within the Division of Cell Systems and Drug Safety, headed by Prof. Bob van de Water, is focused on novel therapeutic modalities and novel concepts in early drug discovery, in order to develop more effective and safer therapeutic strategies. We generate advanced cell and computational…

The ‘Stans Prize 2010’ has been awarded to Leontien Cenin and Lisanne Daniëlle Korpelshoek for their research on impacts of landuse on three migrant harriers in northern Cameroon.

Nine students dove into a challenging iGEM project this summer. With their idea, they aim to make antibodies more efficient - and in the meantime learn at least as much about collaboration, creativity and their own future.

What are the genes and molecular mechanisms involved in bacteria-mediated plant drought tolerance?

In this project, we aim to develop mathematical models to mechanistically and quantitatively predict the dynamics of cellular stress pathway activation and its relation with toxic effects when cells are exposed to various toxicants.

Supervisor: Gerard van Westen

On 27 November 2015 Prof. Dr. Grzegorz Rozenberg receives his sixth Honorary Doctorate.

Research groups in the Quantum Matter & Optics programme investigate electronic properties of matter and light-matter interactions with emphasis on quantum information.

On Monday June 15 Prof. Dr. Grzegorz Rozenberg received his fifth Honorary Doctorate.

The Leiden students who participated in the iGEM synthetic biology competition have won the prize for best production. They developed a way to have bacteria produce the substance suckerine, a protein derived from the Humboldt squid. By doing so, they want to help heal burn wounds. ‘The announcement…

Human language is constantly evolving with its linguistic structure being shaped by language users at both individual and population levels. Focusing on the interplay between processes of language acquisition and communicative need in shaping human languages, this thesis introduces a novel computational…

Can a virtual character’s friendly non-verbal responses stimulate eye-contact in individuals with varying levels of social anxiety?

Promotor: M. Ubbink, Co-promotor: G. Siegal

“Temminck’s Order” is the scientific biography of Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778–1850), a Dutch naturalist and the first director of ’s Rijks Museum van Natuurlijke Historie in Leiden.

The adenosine receptors are proteins that reside in the extracellular membranes of cells. Activation of adenosine receptors plays a role in many physiological and pathological processes, such as immune responses and cancers.

Songbirds apparently use mnemonics rather than more complex grammatical rules to recognise structures in which they have been trained. Leiden behavioural biologist Caroline van Heijningen published an article on this subject on Tuesday 17 November in PNAS.

The Ig Nobel prize is awarded annually to ten studies that first

Three speakers, three fascinating science stories and a well-filled lecture hall. The Niko Tinbergen Lecture had a successful restart on 10 December 2019.

Students of the Leiden University master Computer Science are the first students in the world that have been educated in programming with a quantum computer. ‘With this system, it is finally possible to solve complex real-life problems of society.‘

Leiden Biology student Pam Engelberts received the annual award for being the best BSc-student in 2016 from the “Stichting Professor Dr. K. Bakker-fonds”.

The new book of Professor of Character evolution and biodiversity Menno Schilthuizen gained a lot of media attention. ‘Darwin comes to town – how the urban jungles drives evolution’ was published in English in February and will be available in Dutch soon.

Bernard van Heck has won the Christiaan Huygens Prize 2016 for his Leiden PhD research on electrical circuits for quantum computers. On behalf of the KNAW, the Dutch minister of Education, Culture and Science awards this prize annually to a researcher who has made an innovative contribution to scien…

The bacterium Vibrio cholerae is a serious threat to our health because it is the causative agent of cholera. Worldwide, over a billion people per year are at risk of cholera infection. New strains of V. cholerae are resistant to the multiple drugs used to treat cholera, meaning that new types of drugs…

Leiden Biology student Bregje Brinkmann received the annual award for being the best BSc-student in 2014 from the “Stichting Professor Dr. K. Bakker-fonds”.

Can Zebra finches learn to distinguish two very similar Dutch words? Research by behavioral biologist Verena Ohms proved that they can identify 'wit' and 'wet'. Ohms published her findings in

We explored how to morphologically classify well-resolved jetted radio-loud active galactic nuclei (RLAGN) in the LOw Frequency Array (LOFAR) Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) using machine learning.

Sonja Boas developed new techniques to study vascular growth computationally. The results of her research provide a better understanding into mechanisms behind vascular growth, which is relevant to the development of medical therapies. She defends her thesis 'Computational modeling of angiogenesis'…

In the future, computers will be able to base their decisions on intuition. Professor Jaap van den Herik, director of the Leiden Centre of Data Science, posed this statement today in his Valedictory Address at Tilburg University.

Algorithms solve problems. But which algorithm is best suited to which problem? During his doctoral research, Diederick Vermetten developed methods to figure this out. And that is important for the entire field.

Lecture

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.

The Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition is a network that stimulates interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and expertise on topics related to brain and cognition and focuses on science valorisation and outreach. Its research members come from a broad and diverse spectrum of specialized academic…