One of the largest roofs at Leiden University, that of the Snellius building, has recently been equipped with 590 solar panels and 57,000 sedum plants, making it the largest combined roof in the Benelux. The roof was officially opened on Monday 10 October by Annetje Ottow and Martijn Ridderbos, President…

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…

A collaboration of physicists and chemists organized the LEELIS conference on new computer chip technology in Amsterdam on 10-11 November. Leiden physicist Joost Frenken is director of the organizing institute ARCNL.

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…

In the new Annual Report 2022 we report on not only research and teaching at Leiden University but also ICT, real estate, personnel, finance, impact and knowledge transfer and more.

This month marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing. NINO, the Language Museum, Things that Talk and the National Museum of Antiquities are seizing the opportunity to organise the first Week of Ancient Writing.

'Writing is not science, but art,' Lucas van Osenbruggen says. Last semester, he attended the Honours Class 'Creative Writing'. Together with his teacher Pauline Slot, he looks back on a course that is 'really different'.

Professor Marc Koper researches how you can use electrical energy to make or break chemical bonds. He has just been awarded a Spinoza Prize, the Netherlands’ highest personal science award, for his fundamental research into how this form of electrolysis works.

Marc Koper, Professor of Catalysis and surface chemistry, has been awarded the EuChemS Gold Medal 2026. The prize is awarded every two years and recognises outstanding achievements in the field of chemistry in Europe.

Eurostat, the European statistical office, reports that inflation in the Eurozone has increased to 4.1 per cent. What are the implications for your wallet and your savings? And how can consumers respond?

Our fight against climate change is difficult and complex. We need every shoulder from student and employee to put below. They showed us that by sharing a photo of themsleves wearing their best sweater and blanket with the #warmsweaterdayLU on our socials!

Physics professor Jan Aarts starts a collaboration with chip manufacturer Intel to perform fundamental research in low-power, cryogenic computing.

On 16 November 2018 Armin Cuyvers presented some legal strategies to soften the much criticized absolutist approach to autonomy by the European Court of Justice in Achmea. His main argument was that, as a general principle, autonomy can and should be weighed against other general principles.

Dr Irene Groot (LIC) has been appointed professor of Surface and Interface Science with effect from 1 March. The appointment is an honour for Groot. 'It feels like recognition of your research, teaching and leadership qualities.'

We interviewed lecturers and students about their experiences with courses on sustainability.

In the fight for a liveable planet, we desperately need a fairer distribution of wealth and equal rights for all, argues anthropology professor Marja Spierenburg. ‘That will also generate broad-based support for sustainable development.’

‘A university is a slow-moving institution, which is in many ways a good thing,' commented student Josephine Rook at the opening of the Leiden University Green Office on 27 September in the Hortus botanicus. ‘Sustainability is not about following the latest trends, but about making structural improv…

Researchers, civil servants and local residents met on 27 September to talk about partnering for sustainability. What were the results? In a green ‘city oasis’ in the centre of The Hague they spoke about the energy transition, bottom-up initiatives and citizen science.

The 2025 Data for Policy conference at Leiden University explored how digital and green transitions can shape a more sustainable and inclusive future.

CML grants three Stans Awards each year, known as the best PhD paper, best student thesis and best outreach from the past year. The CML staff nominated students and colleagues and this year’s jury Prof.dr. Koos Biesmeijer and Prof.dr. Nicole de Voogd made the final decision.

A packaging-free shop, small mobile homes, solar panels on all Leiden's roofs… Jeroen Schrama, alumnus of Public Administration, is a creative world improver. ‘If we really want to save the world, we have to make much more radical choices.’

An all-optical transistor, a molecule-sized sensor and a new kind of single-photon source for quantum communication. All dreamed applications of fundamental physics that are one step closer thanks to Robert Smit. On 12 June, he defended his PhD thesis with distinction.

This week we welcomed a high-level delegation from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) to Leiden’s Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML).

Leiden University celebrated the Relief of Leiden with the 3 October University. This year the University also took part in the festive parade, to promote 444.

Proteins organize themselves around our body cells through a self-induced force. They indent the cell membrane, which makes them roll towards each other. This discovery provides new insights into processes like nutritional uptake and brain signaling, as well as into such diseases as Alzheimer’s. Publication…

Scientists have long been puzzled why it is easier to produce hydrogen from water in an acidic environment than in an alkaline environment. Marc Koper comes with an explanation: the reason is the electric field at the surface of the catalyst, which is larger in an alkaline environment, as he writes…

Physicist Sense Jan van der Molen researches materials that do not exist in nature. ‘It’s fascinating to see how the properties of a material change if we manage to make it super thin.’ He will give his inaugural lecture on 21 October.

Bitcoin is the most popular virtual currency to date but it is starting to have some serious physical effects on the environment. A study shows that in an optimistic case the growth of demand on electricity is little, but in the pessimistic case this may lead to a total electricity demand similar to…

Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (VVD) has resigned as Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management with immediate effect. She has decided to take up a position outside politics and will become chair of the lobby organisation for the energy sector, Energie Nederland.

A new Horizon 2020 project has been awarded to Mingming Hu and Jeroen Guinée of the Department of Industrial Ecology of Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML).

You can eat for charity in 2017 at Happietaria in Leiden. This pop-up restaurant, located in the New Energy building, is run by volunteers from different Christian student associations.

Leiden students organised a Model United Nations (MUN) from 3 to 6 May in The Hague. An MUN simulates the working of the United Nations and is intended to allow students to learn about the practice of international relations. View the photo series.

What are the implications for life on Earth of the declining numbers of insects? How does the ever increasing stream of of energy and material flowing through our cities impact the global environmental ? Find out the answers to these and more questions on sustainability in the new monthly lecture series…

Solving a scientific problem after decades: it’s a long-lasting dream for many scientists. Consequently, the research of Leiden and Eindhoven chemists gained a lot of media attention, for instance from the Belgian news website VRT Nieuws and science website Phys.org.

Astronomer Koen Kuijken and physicist Tjerk Oosterkamp have each been awarded a major subsidy by NWO. The funding will allow them to construct new research facilities.

Experimental physicist Jan Aarts has received a FOM Projectruimte grant of 545,000 euro. He will use the budget to study the interaction between superconducting currents and ferromagnetism. In the future, this might lead to computer memory with negligible energy consumption.

Anthropologist Marja Spierenburg talks in the Dutch newspaper NRC about the neoliberal system and how it has to change in order to solve the energy crisis in South-Africa.

Leiden chemists have created a new ultrathin membrane only one molecule thick. The membrane can produce a hundred times more power from seawater than the best membranes used today. The researchers have published their findings in Nature Nanotechnology.

Graphene and other layered materials combine into completely new substances. Leiden physicists establish the ground rules for designing such materials by measuring how the layers in the stack interact. Publication on November 29 in Nature Communications.

Two Leiden Science researchers received an NWO-XS grant for their research. Both projects are highly promising, but also high-risk. Macrophages that trap bacteria and data storage made from 2D materials convinced the board of their potential.

A complete transformation of the steel cycle in the Netherlands with the ultimate goal of a CO2 neutral steel sector by 2050. For this purpose, the Growing with Green Steel program receives €100 million from the National Growth Fund. From Leiden, Professor of Industrial Ecology René Kleijn is involv…

Using a clever experiment, PhD candidate Shengxiang Yang discovered how gold electrodes convert water into oxygen. He is the first to unravel the mechanism of this reaction. Yang published his results in the journal ACS Catalysis.

Offshore wind farms host more soil animals per square meter than the North Sea floor, discovered Leiden researchers. After 25 years, hundred times more animals and a doubling of the number of different species could live on the foundations of wind turbines. The researchers published their findings in…

The development plans for the Humanities Campus are changing somewhat. The financial challenges at the Faculty of Humanities and the higher education cuts mean Leiden University has to reduce its spending. One consequence is the Lipsius building will not be rebuilt after demolition in 2031.

The Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) is a proud member of the NExt ApplicationS of Quantum Computing (NEASQC) consortium, which recently received an ERC H2020 grant to stimulate the state-of-the-art in industrial quantum computing. LIACS contributes research and development of new…

An unexpected phenomenon in a merger of a cluster of galaxies. An international team of astronomers led by Francesco de Gasperin has witnessed a gas tail of a galaxy, that slowly extinguished, but then lightened up again