Helping the University to become more sustainable. This is the task of seven students and three members of staff at the Leiden University Green Office that officially opens its doors on 27 September. Three members talk about why and how they want to make their colleagues greener.

‘Yamila Miguel brings along immense enthusiasm that sparks over to the students in the lectures,’ her students say about her. ‘She inspires us as scientists-to-be.’ The astronomer teaches master’s students with great passion and interactivity about exoplanets. She has been nominated for the faculty…

It's a no-brainer: of the candidates that you can vote for on 23 May, 14 studied at Leiden University. We asked four of them about their motivation and ambitions. In this article we interview Samira Rafaela, alumna of Public Administration, and Caspar Rutten, who is studying Law.

The buildings are closed and all classes have moved online: these are strange times for students at our university. And for international students, it is even more complicated. They are here without their friends and family, and had to decide whether to stay here or return home. Three of them share…

The Phase 3 clinical trial results of the promising Covid-19 vaccine of Johnson & Johnson are expected this month. The Dutch electron microscopy facility NeCEN helped develop the company’s vaccine, and they have now published their scientific findings in Nature Communications.

Islamic State may be losing ground rapidly, but Syrian President Assad's position is gaining strength. His torture chambers and the battlefield are scenes of countless criminal acts. Will these crimes ever come to trial, at the International Criminal Court, for example?

A vaccine based on sugar coats does have the potential to combat a multi-resistant staphylococcus. That is what Jeroen Codée and his colleagues from Utrecht state in Nature. In doing so, they are contradicting the earlier conclusions of German colleagues.

Peter Burger is a university lecturer at the master in Journalism and New Media and co-founder of Nieuwscheckers. He now teaches the course Factchecken at Leiden University. He also supervises theses and internships and conducts research into the trustworthiness of news and messages on social media.

In the booklet ‘Research with Windows Wide Open’, eight professors in the social sciences and humanities advise colleagues who want to make an impact with their research. They include Leiden professors Andrea Evers and Leo Lucassen. The booklet, published by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and…

Rachel Schats has been a familiar face at the Faculty of Archaeology since she started her bachelor’s in Archaeology in 2005. Now she is an assistant professor, working on her Veni project on malaria in the Middle Ages. ‘I have included in this project so many skeletal collections that no one has ever…

Building a fire involves many variables, such as size, choice of fuel, temperature, and burn time, that affect the way the generated heat can be used, and therefore the potential function of a fire. A group of Leiden archaeologists are, together with a team of international colleagues, investigating…

In his PhD research in the field of public administration, Mark Reijnders looked at why people do not receive the help they need. They lose their way in the labyrinthine support system or become bogged down in bureaucracy. In public administration this is known as non-take-up of social care. PhD defence…

The transition from single cells to multicellular organisms was a key step in evolution. Researchers from Leiden and Amsterdam developed a mathematical model that explains how this transition may have come about. They suspect cooperating cells may correct each other’s mistakes. Publication in eLife…

Imagine we could convert the greenhouse gas CO2 into synthetic fuels using sustainable energy. This would enable us to reduce the amount of CO2 and at the same time store wind and solar energy in an innovative way. Chemist Akansha Goyal (Leiden University) is conducting fundamental research to make…

In January 2024, Bachelor’s student in Law Beaudine Slijper left for Vancouver to spend a semester studying at a Canadian university. We asked her what it’s like to study at a foreign university and how you can arrange an exchange.

If an echo (or ultrasound) shows that a foetus has a heart or other defect, parents face difficult decisions. Then an idea of their child’s shorter and longer-term future is literally a matter of life and death. Haak will argue in her inaugural lecture that the cohort studies of rare diseases that are…

Bringing together chemists and physicists to thoroughly investigate how electrochemical processes work on the smallest scale. That is the goal of the new Advanced Nano-electrochemistry Institute of the Netherlands, or ANION for short. The consortium receives a Gravitation funding of 23.6 million euros…

If you want easy answers to governance questions, you might as well abolish democracy, says Dr. Carola Schoor. A democracy should challenge and raise questions. For a balanced and just rule of law, a 'rule of law compass' is needed.

EUROTYPES is a research project developed by political scientist Adina Akbik, for which she recently received a European Research Council Starting Grant. Her aim is to examine the impact of cultural stereotypes in European multi-level policy enforcement. One of EUROTYPES' innovations lies in its focus.…

At the Faculty of Science, forty per cent of the employees are of a non-Dutch nationality. Amongst PhDs that is even sixty per cent. How are they doing in a time of working at home in a different culture, when travelling is not possible? Biologist Astri Kusumawardhani is the second in this series to…

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.

A love of puzzles and the patience of a saint: these are two essential traits for linguists wishing to explore the Indo-European language family. Fortunately, Professor Michaël Peyrot possesses both. In his inaugural lecture he will take the audience on a voyage of discovery to the past.

Turning beer waste into a useful, sustainable product. That was the mission of students from Leiden at the international BISC-E event. The biology students challenged themselves and won third place in the Dutch finals of this competition. For this, they used the simple formula: Grain + fungus = coas…

After a turbulent first year as assessor, Jonatan Wirix-Speetjens starts a second term in September: 'In my second year as assessor I hope to become really decisive’, says Jonatan. We asked him about his experiences the past year and his plans for the coming academic year

Simulation is a formal scientific method used to develop, compare and test hypotheses (models). In the last few decades the use of simulation has increased dramatically in virtually all scientific disciplines, but is still limited in archaeology due to the technological barrier – coding skills. Starting…

Strong on substance, a good sense of humour and also a bit chaotic. This is how colleagues describe Suzanne van der Pluijm. She started as the new Executive Director at the Faculty of Science on 1 June. Who is Suzanne and what does she stand for? Get to know her in seven questions.

Marco van Eijk is the new Educational Director of the Bachelor's Life Science and Technology (LST). Since 1 September he has been responsible for ensuring the quality of the programme. ‘LST is a unique programme and everyone has to keep working hard for that. That is my main task.’

It’s about much more than learning how to write a readable piece or give a presentation that doesn’t send the audience to sleep. The intensive Science Communication Summer School gives young scientists the chance to really make contact with the public.

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

Research Master’s students in Archaeology Rosa Seepma and Aida Tadesse received an Incentive Prize from the Dutch Association for Physical Anthropology (NVFA). They were awarded this honor for their ongoing study on the human osteology collection at the Allard Pierson Museum.

For a lot of students, the covid crisis means that a sense of community is hard to find during their studies. Lettie Dorst, university lecturer of translation studies and English linguistics, explains how she tries to create a 'community of learners’.

Let’s admit it, in an era of fast paced global dynamics and growing society needs, biotech becomes crowned as the king among the “coolest” industries. Boston is considered to be at the heart of these biotech events. What it really is though, is the heart of innovation itself. There is a very strong…

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded chemist Dr Alexander Kros a Starting Independent Researcher Grant of 1.4 million euro. He will be using the grant to study how molecules penetrate the natural barrier of a cell membrane. If his research is successful, it will in time bring about a revolution…

Vivian studies the Global Political Economy specialisation of the MA International Relations and is the coordinator of the Humanities Buddy Programme. Originally from Malaysia, she has been studying abroad in various places. At Leiden, she focuses her studies on illicit political economy and ensures…

Some people are more sensitive to depression than others. But why is that the case? Clinical psychologist Niki Antypa studied how vulnerability to depression is influenced by cognition. She also found a first careful indication that a treatment with omega-3 fatty acids might provide a solution.

How adolescents perceive parenting is related to their mood. Differences between the perspectives of parents and adolescents are also of importance for adolescents’ mood. That is what research by Loes Janssen and her Leiden University colleagues in Clinical Psychology shows. Open Access publication…

University lecturer of modern Dutch literature Rick Honings, associated with the Faculty of Humanities, has received a Vidi grant of 800,000 euros. This allows him to carry out research into a more nuanced image of our colonial past.

Fancy seeing how your job is done at a university abroad? Project Managers Christina Schlüpen and Jeannette de Wolf from the Leiden Institute of Chemistry did just that. They both spent a week shadowing a European colleague: one in Bologna and the other in Berlin. This was through the Una Europe alliance,…

A shepherd, but also a comparativist and historian with very broad interests. That is how Professor Philippe Buc describes himself. As of 1 August 2021, he will hold the chair of professor of Medieval History at the university. In an introductory interview, Buc introduces himself, his research and his…

What is the significance of the history of slavery for our present-day society? A special exhibition in the inner courtyard of the Academy Building features eleven insightful portraits of students and staff, and their answer to this question. The aim of the exhibition’s initiators is to make the subject…

Rather than one key and one strong lock, biology often uses tens or hundreds of weaker links to bind parts together, such as cells membranes. This allows for selectivity and also reversibility: the binding can also be undone. Researchers first caught this phenomenon using spheres or colloids, and published…

At the beginning of 2020, Maite Boden became the first student ever to receive the Young Star award. She received the award for her contribution to research into the notorious ghost particle: the neutrino. With her master's degree in the pocket as well, she is now looking for a job in data analysis.…

The fact that Tim Meijers ended up becoming a philosopher came as no surprise. Even as a child, the university lecturer endlessly asked questions to himself and others. Now that is his job at the Institute for Philosophy at Leiden University. Tim Meijers researches sustainability and justice between…

Following in the footsteps of Professor Jan Zaanen, visiting fellow Louk Rademaker is exploring quantum effects in so-called strange materials. His research is paving the way for new materials that could be used in emerging technologies.

Matt Young, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Public Administration, has won the 2022 Camilla Stivers Award last week. Young and his co-authors received the award for the article ‘Artificial Intelligence and Administrative Evil’. The Camilla Stivers Award is given annually for the best article…

A single tiny molecule that can destroy flu, corona, HIV and Zika viruses? Yes, it really does exist. Biophysicist Niek van Hilten, who will receive his doctorate on 14 September, contributed to this discovery.

What is the relationship between humans and nature like? And how can we use it to tackle climate problems? In the Master Honours Class ‘Planet in Peril’, students approach climate issues from the perspective of the humanities. ‘Things are not always as one-sided as they seem.’

The Ministry of Justice and Security and Leiden Law School are planning to collaborate on a more structural basis. This is the outcome of a meeting that took place at the Academy Building in Leiden on 19 October. Those present at the meeting included the Minister for Legal Protection, Franc Weerwind,…

Dear friends of the NVIC,

The Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) has appointed two new directors. Maribel Adame Valero will become the new Director of Operations on 1 August, and Hubertus Irth will start as the new Scientific Director on 1 September. This completes the new collegial management for IBL, following the earlier appointment…