Tackling human trafficking has been a priority on international, national and local policy agendas for some decades now. Yet a number of knowledge gaps stand in the way of how the issue is approached. Interdisciplinary research is essential if we want to expand our knowledge to benefit policy and pr…

Leiden astronomers published two articles on more sustainable astronomy in a special section of the journal Nature Astronomy. Among other things, they calculate that their online conference EAS 2020 consumed three thousand times less carbon dioxide than the face-to-face edition a year earlier. They…

A wide range of plant species is essential to our earth because of the different materials and foods these plants provide. But plant diversity has decreased drastically in recent decades. PhD candidate Kaixuan Pan explains what we can do to increase it once again.

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.

Roll-up solar panels, bendable phone displays, or better computer chips… The EU project STIBNITE investigated the next generation of semiconductors, made from organic materials based on carbon, nitrogen, and boron. The project has now concluded. During the Open Science Debate on 1 July, the group will…

For their honours internship, second year students of the Honours College 'Governance & Global Affairs' created the serious game Fallen Angels. In the game you take on the role of NATO, and have to deal with a crisis. Last month, a new generation of Honours students had the opportunity to be the first…

‘AI can’t do half as much as people think,’ says computer scientist and psychologist Roy de Kleijn. He tries to teach robots seemingly easy things, and keeps on discovering how smart human intelligence really is. Three things that computers are no way near doing.

Understanding the proces of electrochemical reactions is essential to improve the technology for the energy transition. Fuel cell cars, for example use hydrogen produced from the electrolysis of water. Mariana Monteiro did fundamental research on the process and won two prizes with her thesis.

Physicians and researchers of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and Leiden University are working on therapies for restoring damaged organs such as hearts and kidneys. They are even trying to construct tailor-made organs. Read more on this topic in the new science dossier on Vascular and Regenerative…

On Saturday 9 March 2019, Dr. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga got his first publication for his Marie Skłodowska Curie project on the Legal and Ethical Aspects of Healthcare Robot Technology.

Vibrating carbon monoxide molecules adsorbed at the surface of a salt crystal stop moving after a few milliseconds. Scientists now discovered this is dominantly due to the emission of electromagnetic waves. The role of the chemical bond at the surface thereby appears to be less important than previously…

That a switching protein plays a role in protecting a plant from too much sunlight was already known, but how exactly was not yet understood. The research group of Anjali Pandit has now discovered that this protein changes shape when there is too much sunlight. The results have been published in Nature…

On Thursday 8 November, the ILS Lunch Seminar of November took place. Philippe van Gruisen and Almut Breuer, Assistant Professors at the Institutes of Economics and Tax Law at Leiden Law School, presented their current research.

Mavlyuda Yusupova will be Central Asia Visiting Professor in November 2018. She will deliver two guest lectures for Leiden MA and PhD students.

Ecologist Rosaleen March from the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) will carry on her research on functional biodiversity: a measure to assign value to ecosystems. Following her previous Marie Curie co-fund, she now receives a full Marie Curie fellowship. March: ‘We need to know how losing biodiversity…

On 22 May, the Dutch House of Representatives invited one hundred citizens to pose critical questions regarding the Ministries’ annual reports. This followed on from the annual ‘Accountability Day’. Caspar van den Berg, Associate Professor of Public Administration, helped think about how citizens could…

A consortium of research infrastructures focused on water quality has received €4.18 million in funding from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This grant will support the transformation of outdoor laboratories at Leiden University, NIOO-KNAW, Radboud University, and Wageningen University & Research…

Childhood trauma can have a lifelong effect. Many therapists do not dare to confront these vulnerable patients with their past because they are concerned that the patients will be unable to cope. Research has now shown that exposure therapy can be helpful for this group of people.

As of November 1st 2019, Professor Anthonya (Thony) Visser will become Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Groningen and will leave LUCAS.

Konstantinos Zoumpoulakis, Research Assistant at the Institute of Criminal Law & Criminology, has written a report on this conference

Physicist Milan Allan will build an instrument that will bring superconductivity research further. He has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant of 2 million euros over the next five years. With his PairNoise programme he aims to detect paired electrons as they occur just above the temperature at which…

Can the academic year be structured in such a way to give students, lecturers and researchers a bit more breathing space? To find out, Leiden University is taking part in ‘smarter academic year’ pilots.

Artificial Intelligence is likely to have far-reaching consequences for all actors in the realm of academic publishing, including authors, editors, researchers, and readers. This symposium aims to foster the conversation about the various ways in which we evaluate, enrich, and disseminate academic knowledge,…

Researchers at eLaw contribute to groundbreaking volume on AI in radiology, offering legal and ethical frameworks, governance models, and solutions for responsible clinical integration.

Fiffy the chimpanzee had rapidly developed cataracts in both eyes that made her as good as blind. Eye doctors at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) have now managed to replace the lenses in both her eyes. As far as we know, Fiffy, who is thought to be between 30 and 40 years old, is the first…

From the Open Days and Student for a Day events to the option of following Online Experience modules: the university tries to prepare prospective students for their new study programme as well as possible. In this context, the bachelor’s programmes Dutch Language and Culture and English Language and…

After a week of shadowing for her master's degree in Public Sector Management, it has become very clear to student Loes what a manager's day looks like. 'He was putting out fires all day.'

American physicist and quantum computing pioneer Seth Lloyd is the 65th Lorentz professor. He will deliver the Ehrenfest lecture on 5 June, and several more lectures on quantum computing on 11, 18 and 25 June.

From filtering UV light in sun cream to preventing perspiration odour in socks and sterilising fridges and washing machines. The use of nanoparticles in products is increasing. But what is the impact of these miniscule particles on the environment?

Leiden Biology student Lukas Kiefer has won the Unilever Research Prize 2018 for his research into efficient production of a new antibiotic. Kiefer: ‘I want to make biological medicines available to people in need.'

On 21 March The Netherlands Centre for Electron Nanoscopy (NeCEN) hosted the Life Sciences Café. Around 60 people from neighbour companies from the Leiden BioScience Park visited the facility for cryo-electron microscopy to get a glimpse behind the scenes. Head of NeCEN Ludo Renault believes it was…

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.

Researchers of the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) and the Leiden Institute of Chemistry have made an important discovery about the commonly used anti-cancer drug doxorubicin. They have found a way to reduce its side effects without sacrificing the effectiveness of the medication. This is encouraging…

Population growth, economic expansion and the associated land use caused an increase in the number of bird species facing extinction and a reduction in carbon storage worldwide. These are the findings of an international team of scientists, also from the Leiden University Institute of Environmental…

Three research projects with researchers from Leiden University have received a Dutch Research Council Open Competition Science-M grant. This is for innovative, high-quality fundamental research within the science domain.

PhD candidate Dennis Wander searches for the best of both worlds. That is to say: a cancer drug that is effective and also has minimal side effects. To this end, he makes new molecules inspired by two existing medicines. And not without result: ‘We have created a new variant that is very promising.’…

The University's CO2 footprint has once again decreased. This is the conclusion of the 2022 Sustainability Report. The report also concludes that steps have been taken to integrate sustainability into Leiden University education and research.

Many people don't know exactly what Open Science is or why it is important. In a short interview, Anna van 't Veer explains her take on it.

Samineh Bagheri is the first PhD candidate to defend her thesis fully remotely.

‘Microscopy is by far the least understood, most inefficiently operated, and the most abused of all laboratory instruments,’ reads the quote on the office wall of microscopy unit supporters Joost Willemse en Gerda Lamers. It describes exactly why the two developed the microscopy course for starting…

Leiden political scientists Yvonne Kleistra and Niels van Willigen have advised the United States State Department as to how to evaluate its foreign policy. Point of departure was a scientific model that Kleistra and Van Willigen have developed on the basis of their work for the Dutch Foreign Affairs…

Many students are looking to contribute during this crisis but are not sure how and where to turn. A group of students from Leiden University and the TU Delft have developed a platform to facilitate this: www.studententegencorona.nl. The platform was created to link organisations trying to find answers…

Inside-Out Prison Exchange is a course in which students and prisoners work together on research questions in the area of crime, law enforcement and major social issues. The course takes place at a unique location: within the walls of a prison.

Without scientific knowledge, we won’t be able to tackle the grand challenges of the 21st century: climate change, energy transition, social inequality and coronavirus, for example. Professor by Special Appointment of the Social Value of Science Laurens Hessels is therefore calling for more transdisciplinary…

Twice a year, Gert Renkema, Head of Financial and Economic Affairs at FGGA, provides us with an update on the faculty’s finances. This time, he sits down with Niels Laurens, Director of Operations, over a cup of coffee and tea to share the results of the past year and the financial outlook.

Sugar excipients, needed to stabilize medicines, can be unsafe for patients due to an impurity discovered recently by Daniel Weinbuch. ‘The biopharmaceutical industry should now consider new excipient quality criteria for safer drug development,’ he says. PhD defence on 13 December.

Modified viruses can both kill cancer cells and activate the immune system. This is what an LUMC team discovered while researching a new prostate cancer therapy.

Current antibiotics only address very few target proteins in bacteria to kill them. Researchers know that there are more possible target proteins to tackle the bacteria. The question is: which ones. Thanks to the NWO Vidi Grant, Assistant Professor Molecular Physiology Stephan Hacker and his team can…

With the aid of artificial intelligence (AI), care professionals at the LUMC (Leiden University Medical Center) are able to calculate quickly and accurately whether a coronavirus patient has suffered serious lung damage. They do this by putting a CT scan through the AI software of the CAD4COVID-CT p…

Professor of Fungal Genetics and Biotechnology Arthur Ram explains how fungi can help us be more sustainable.