The Dick Stufkens Prijs for the best PhD thesis of the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry (HRSMC) has been awarded to Dr Tatu S. Kumpulainen for his thesis “Proton-Transfer Reactions in ‘Super’ Photoacids and Supramolecular Assemblies”. It describes his innovative research into methods for…

The Dick Stufkens Prize 2017 for the best PhD thesis of the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry (HRSMC) is awarded to Dr Sven Askes. In his thesis

The Dick Stufkens Prize 2025 for best PhD thesis of the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry (HRSMC) has been awarded to Begüm Demirkurt for her thesis “Mechanical Contact Imaging using Fluorescence Techniques”. Demirkurt, who obtained her doctorate from the University of Amsterdam last March,…

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.

Research of the Leiden Institute of Chemistry into the development of a sustainable fuel cell has accidentally resulted in an exceptionally efficient catalyst for the production of hydrogen peroxide. The catalyst, discovered by Dennis Hetterscheid and PhD candidate Michiel Langerman, may lead to a more…

Sjaak Neefjes, Professor of Chemical Immunology at Leiden University, will receive the NWO Spinoza Prize this year. The Spinoza Committee called Neefjes an ‘exceptional researcher whose intelligence is matched by his boldness’. He will use the 2.5 million euro prize to pursue his research into cancer…

It has only recently been discovered that single-celled organisms (bacteria and archaea) also have histones—proteins that structure DNA. Now, Leiden PhD candidate Samuel Schwab has found that the histones in these organisms are much more diverse than previously thought. Schwab and his colleagues describe…

The International Institute of Air and Space Law’s (IIASL) Research in Aerospace Law & Policy series features early-stage research, policy analysis and position papers. Published work includes preliminary findings, policy recommendations and institutional reports through which the IIASL aims to inform…

A lecture series at Leiden University about fundamental and applied surface science. This collaboration between physics and chemistry is held in memory of the famous Dutch physical chemist Martin van Marum.

The recognition that there may be more, so-called allosteric binding sites on a given receptor has also fueled our synthetic efforts. Over the last few years we have focused on many drug targets (adenosine A1, A2A and A3 receptors, the mGlu2 receptor and a classic ‘anti-target’, the hERG channel) to…

Meet the core staff behind Global Transformations and Governance Challenges.

Due to the modern techniques of combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening, data on the biological activity of many millions of compounds is known. However, it is still very difficult to transfer this data into knowledge: if we know that compounds A and B bind to a certain protein with high…

This dissertation presents a new perspective on the life, work and character of the Dutch physical chemist Jacobus Henricus van ’t Hoff, first recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and one of the most important and colourful scientists in Dutch history. The image of Van ’t Hoff that emerges from…

Effective innovation methodologies which lead to sustainable educational transformation require room for the development of teacher agency and at same time solve systemic problems. The Change Laboratory methodology combines both.

Meet the core staff behind Global Transformations and Governance Challenges, which consists of a Professor, a postdoctoral researcher, three PhD candidates, and a Programme Officer.

Coordination chemistry is the chemistry of metal atoms

The book offers different theoretical perspectives to help examine the process of public sector reform. In addition it gives an overview of the major trends in the core areas of the functioning of the public sector.

The Quantitative Clinical Pharmacology group is led by Prof. Dr. Catherijne Knibbe. Her research group aims to define how to adjust a drug dose in special patient populations such as (prematurely born) neonates or children, obese individuals or critically ill patients. Through combining the statistical…

Scientific research is the main focus of our program. We expect new students to understand what it is and how it works.

PhD defence

Dr. in Biomedical NMR spectroscopy, LUMC, Leiden - The Netherlands

Professor at the School of pharmaceutical sciences, University of Geneva - Switzerland

On the 14th December 2016, Steven L. Schwarcz, Stanley A. Star Professor of Law and Business at Duke University School of Law gave the thirteenth Hazelhoff Guest Lecture. Professor Schwarcz questioned the often-heard assumption that systemically important financial institutions engage in excessive…

In the series 'PhD in the Picture', our PhD students tell us all about their research: what are their findings? How did they do it, and how does their research touch upon hot topics in our society today?

The Multistakeholder Global Governance (MGG) Project is a four-year project which explores how far, and under what circumstances, multistakeholder constructions of global governance operate well, in terms of having capacity, effectiveness, and legitimacy.

For the first time, a group of international and interdisciplinary researchers led by Karline Janmaat and her former MSc Student Chirag Chittar, have tested the several hypotheses on music simultaneously in a modern foraging society during their daily search for tubers – their staple food. They found…

The focus of our theoretical research is understanding the behaviour of soft condensed matter, physical matter which is deformed or structurally altered by thermal fluctuations or small stresses.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the magna carta of civil aviation, the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention 1944), Professor Steven Truxal has written a leading piece for the European Civil Aviation Conference: The Chicago system: a steadfast legal blueprint for…

To overcome the limitations of slow and error-prone quality control, this research develops an advanced 3D imaging method for the rapid and reliable detection of internal defects in critical sectors.

With a MSc in Chemistry you are well prepared for a wide range of career opportunities. The chemical industry is one of the largest contributors to economic prosperity worldwide.

Chemotherapy, but without hair loss or extreme fatigue. It may be possible if the toxic drug only becomes active where it is ‘switched on’ by light. Matthijs Hakkennes has helped bring that idea closer to reality and obtained his PhD cum laude. ‘I received many thank-you emails from China and Bangla…

Of the 111 Spinoza Prizes that have been awarded since 1995, 28 have gone to researchers from Leiden University.

The ambition of the Medical Systems Biophysics and Bioengineering group led by Alireza Mashaghi is to develop and use physics and engineering concepts and tools for pathophysiology, diagnostics and therapy.

Promotor: J.G.E.M. Fraaije, Co-Promotor: A. Kros

This book explores how physicists, astronomers, chemists, and historians in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries employed ‘epistemic virtues’ such as accuracy, objectivity, and intellectual courage. In doing so, it takes the first step in providing an integrated history of the sciences…

The indane (2,3-dihydro-1H-indene) ring system is an attractive scaffold for biologically active compounds due to the combination of aromatic and aliphatic properties fused together in one rigid system.

Promoter: J.G.E.M.Fraaije, Co-promotor: A. Kros

The growing demand of energy indicates that global energy resources in the form of fossil fuels will not be sufficient in the future. In order to solve potential future energy problems development of a sustainable hydrogen economy is highly desirable.

Neurodegenerative diseases pose a large medical and societal challenge. The etiology of these diseases is still poorly understood, which makes drug discovery for these diseases difficult.

In tracing the deeper historical roots of what Xi Jinping contemporarily frames as a “Chinese dream” of “wealth and power,” the article discerns key actors, events, and organizing principles in a long process toward restoring China’s deemed rightful place in the regional system.

The International Institute of Air and Space Law is one of the leading international academic research and teaching institutes in the world, specialising in legal and policy issues regarding aviation and space activities in the broadest sense of the word.

Archaeological and related essays on the Jordan Valley in honour of Gerrit van der Kooij on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday

LUCDH presents a lunchtime talk once a month on recent research in Digital Humanities & AI. All Leiden University staff and students are welcome to attend in the Digital Lab, Huizinga 0.09 (as well as online). Lectures are announced via the LUCDH Webpages & Newsletter. Please register so we can keep…

Growth hormone profiles are pulsatile and highly variable between individuals, limiting the implementation of mathemathical models to quantify an individual's secretion.

The D&I Expertise Office works closely with the faculties of Leiden University.

Less than 1 in 10 drug candidates that enter phase 1 clinical trials actually gets approved for human use.

In the Catalysis and Surface Chemistry group, we investigate how catalysis works on the molecular level. The group is divided in six subgroups, focusing on different aspects of heterogeneous catalysis, homogeneous catalysis and electrocatalysis.

The Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) is the basis for research and collaborations of the Leiden chemistry groups. Chemistry is the central science enabling a healthy future in a sustainable society. Chemistry researchers at Leiden University take a fundamental approach in finding tailored solutions…

The CMCB brings together microbial cell biology expertise in Leiden. It aims at optimal resonance between the groups and maximal exploitation of the available infrastructure and to develop innovative cross-boundary technology platforms.

If idioms employed in codes of conduct could be as idiosyncratic as examples suggest, then to what extent did early modern language of vice, too, persist in this genre?