Promotor: Prof.dr. C.W.J. Beenakker

My research focusses on site-specific compositional and performance practices of music for organ and electronics and their musical-spatial values.

What is the effect of practicing with electronic books on reading skills for grade 1 students?

High throughput microscopy

Promotor: J. Zaanen, Co-Promotor: V. Juricic

Identifying natural plant-associated bacteria that provide targeted inhibition of pathogens through the production of antimicrobial peptides.

Bacteria have the ability to alter their morphology in order to adapt to changing environments.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the formation and growth kinetics of complexes between proteins and oppositely charged polyelectrolytes.

This doctoral thesis is an effort to understand how lipid phase-separation induced by diacylglycerol analogues in lipid-based nanoparticles affects their in vivo behavior, leading to specific nanoparticle-protein communications and selective cell targeting.

Promotores: G.W. Canters, T.J. Aartsma

Huub de Groot is professor in Biophysical Organic Chemistry. With his team he works in the field of photosynthesis and artificial photosynthesis. The molecular basis for photosynthesis is formed by protein complexes and organelles that contain chlorophyll molecules. The antenna systems herein capture…

The research in this thesis is focused on tomographic reconstruction based on two imaging modalities in electron microscopy.

With the powerful electron microscopes at NeCEN we study abnormalities in cells of blood vessels in cardiovascular disease, the interaction between pathogens and hosts in infectious diseases, molecular processes that cause cancer and the interaction between drugs and target proteins. Drug development…

In this thesis, bioorthogonal chemistry is combined with correlative light-electron microscopy to selectively label and study pathogenic intracellular bacteria within the host immune cell.

The INTERACT project strive to unlock the enormous biotechnological potential of microbes, leading to sustainable crop productions systems.

To explore the potential of marine microorganisms as producers of novel antimicrobial agents and as bioprotectants in aqua- and agriculture, using an integrative, ecology-based strategy for bioprospecting.

This thesis comprises the development of reproducible synthesis procedures for two-dimensional materials (composed of boron, nitrogen and carbon) on different metallic surfaces.

Plants and soils from natural ecosystems harbor great diversity of soil microorganisms, which could potentially contribute to the sustainability of horticulture. The knowledge about using wild plant species and soil from natural ecosystem to improve the crop health will advance the application of ecological…

Promotor: J.P. Abrahams, Co-promotor: T. Grüne

This thesis studies theoretical surface chemistry within the field of heterogeneous catalysis.

For the first time, physicists have visualized the ‘melting’ of electrons inside a special class of insulators. It allows electrons to move freely and turns the insulator into a metal and possibly later into a superconductor. Publication in Nature Physics.

Promotor: Prof.dr. J.W.M. Frenken

In order to gain insight into the structure and function of the molecular complexes involved in chemotaxis, we use electron cryotomography (ECT). This technique allows us to directly study microbes in their native state at resolutions capable of visualizing individual proteins.

The inverse electron demand Diels-Alder (IEDDA) pyridazine elimination emerged in 2013 as a new bioorthogonal reaction and constitutes a prime example of what is now known as dissociative bioorthogonal chemistry. The research described in this Thesis aims to develop synthetic strategies which enable…

Optical detection of a single electron using a single molecule has never been done. Leiden physicist Michel Orrit and his team have now identified a molecule that is sensitive enough to detect an electron at a distance of hundreds of nanometers. The results are published as a cover article in ChemPh…

This thesis explores how electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy can be used to investigate key biochemical processes.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most pressing challenges that humanity faces in the coming decades.

The endophytic microbiota is a community of various microorganisms that reside in plant tissue. These microbes are known to promote plant health and resilience, and their members do not simply exist side by side.

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.

Research groups in the Biological & Soft Matter Programme unravel mechanisms in biological processes and develop novel bio-inspired soft materials.

This dissertation revolves around the design and implementation of novel instrumentation and related measurement techniques, at the single molecule level, for use in biophysical research. Chapter 1 presents an introduction to the field of fluorescence-based single molecule measurements. In particular,…

Farmers do not love them all. Microbes can cause tragic consequences for crops. Even the presence of just one pathogenic fungus or bacterium can drastically reduce yields. Still, there are exceptions. In that case, a pathogenic microbe is present in the soil, but does not cause any harm. Adam Ossowicki…

In this thesis, we study systems of electrons in which strong correlations give rise to emergent exotic physics.

Did early farmers deliberately use animal manure on their fields?

Science Magazine has published three back-to-back papers on an important discovery in solid state physics. Leiden physicist Jan Zaanen wrote a Perspective article on the subject in the same issue of 4 March.

Promotor: B. van de Water

Promotor: B. van de Water

Leiden physicists found a surprising interaction between electrons and a resist layer. The resist appears to charge and discharge due to incoming electrons. Publication in Physical Review Letters.

Advanced microscopy to understand life and fight disease: that’s the goal of the new NL-BioImaging network that will develop and integrate state-of-the-art microscopy technologies and services. Researchers from all Dutch universities, including Leiden University and the Leiden University Medical Centre,…

From surface science towards industrial practice using high-pressure scanning tunneling microscopy.

‘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…

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