The local ordering of atoms at the surface of a metallic particle determines its catalytic activity and selectivity. As energy systems of the future will be based on efficient catalytic conversion of small molecules in closed cycles, we study how structural effects of catalysts can be used to our ad…

High throughput microscopy

In this thesis, we develop a novel technique called Optical Near-field Electron Microscopy (ONEM), which aims to combine the advantages of both optical and electron microscopy: the high resolution of electron microscopy and the low sample damage of optical microscopy.

The dissertation describes TEM experiments on heterogeneous catalysts.

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

Serge Rombouts is a physicist whose PhD thesis was about functional MRI (fMRI). This visualises activity in regions of the brain. The appealing images of glowing brain regions that emerge from the computer are the result of calculations. According to Rombouts, this isn’t proper artificial intelligence.…

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has made a subsidy of 17 million euros available to further develop a Netherlands network for electron microscopy (NEMI). The network comprises five UMCs and eight universities, with Utrecht in the coordinating role. From Leiden, the Institute…

To be able to measure small forces or small deviations from Boltzmann, the external vibrations at the resonance frequency must be very low. To achieve this, we have developed a very soft vibration isolation system and combine it with several other measures to reduce vibrations in our dilution refrigerators.…

Electrolysis is a technique that can be used to convert CO2 into fuels and other useful products. To do this efficiently and on a large scale, however, we need to understand exactly how electrolysis works. Professor Marc Koper is an expert in this field.

The master’s specialisation Research in Physics, Quantum Matter and Optics at Leiden University offers a thorough experience on the front line of physics research with a practical training of communicative and computer skills. The programme focuses on Condensed Matter problems, such as Molecular Electronics,…

Promotor: B. van de Water

Promotor: B. van de Water

In this thesis the combinatorial use of bioorthogonal labelling and Electron Microscopy (EM)-based imaging techniques is explored to enable observations of specific molecular targets in their ultrastructural context within the cell.

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,…

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

Molecular materials have been a subject of interest in fundamental research and applications for decades, and have been studied as bulk crystals, (thin) films and as individual molecules, due to the large variety in their properties. This dissertation explores pentacene crystals near the two-dimensional…

Promotor: Prof.dr. J.P. Abrahams, Prof.dr. M. van Heel

Microscopic insight on lipid-based nanomedicine in vivo remains limited to the perception of the knowledge that could be obtained: if we interpret only what we see, then we only believe to know. Although believing to know encapsulates an undefined amount of uncertainty in the exploration of lipid-based…

Leiden Physics Poster

In this thesis, the focus lies on studying glucocorticoid receptor dynamics in living cells with the aim of understanding how this transcription factor finds its DNA target sites to regulate transcription.

Bacteria are everywhere. They are the most abundant organisms on earth and impact all aspects of our lives. They determine our health and shape our environment. Ariane Briegel, professor of Ultrastructural Biology, freezes bacteria super fast to gain a true-to-nature image of the internal and external…

On February 2nd the book Beelden zonder weerga appears, written by professor in science history Dirk van Delft and biochemist Ton van Helvoort. They describe the rich history of electron microscopy, which comes to a conclusion in the final chapter with the current state-of-the-art ESCHER microscope…

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,…

Neuroscientist Anne Hafkemeijer is able to distinguish two different forms of dementia using advanced imaging techniques. This is the first step towards early recognition of dementia in patients on the basis of brain networks. PhD defence 26 May.

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

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.

The High Troughput Microscopy Dutch Flagship Node that includes the Leiden Cell Observatory Screening platform is now officially ratified as a Euro-BioImaging (EuBI) Node Candidate

What if you could watch a CT scan live, instead of analysing the images afterwards? If it is up to the Leiden mathematician Jan-Willem Buurlage, that will soon be a reality. He is developing methods to make the algorithms behind 3D scans faster. Quite a challenge: ‘Just like mathematicians, computers…

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.

There is an urgent need for more physiologically relevant cell culture methods to guide compound selection in pre-clinical stages of the drug development pipeline.

Source: Biochem Pharmacol, Volume 95, Issue 4, pp. 290-300 (2015)

This thesis focuses on using liposomes in two different treatment strategies; vaccination (or immunotherapy) and delivery of a small molecule, and in two different disease models; cancer and atherosclerosis.

Archaeometric analysis of glazed pottery assemblages from the Early Byzantine to the Early Modern periods in the Aegean.

PURPOSE: In the present study we investigated the root-cause of an interference signal (100-200 nm) of sugar-containing solutions in dynamic light scattering (DLS) and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and its consequences for the analysis of particles in biopharmaceutical drug products.

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

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…

Bacterial chemosensory arrays are protein assemblies that are the key structural and functional component for motile bacteria to sense their internal or environmental chemical signals.

Atoms and molecules are the basic units of matter. If we keep dividing a bar of gold or a glass of water into smaller parts, at the end we are left with a single gold atom or a water molecule.

This thesis is devoted to an in-depth examination of the various effects of disorder in the cuprate high-temperature superconductors.

Our group operates at the cross-roads of different disciplines: molecular and cellular microbiology, biochemistry, structural biology and biophysics. The group harbors expertise in a multitude of molecular and cellular approaches including:

Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a powerful technique used to visualize the inside of cells and to study specific protein complexes. Within this thesis, I describe the use of various cryo-EM techniques to gain insight into the structural changes of the human pathogen, Vibrio cholerae, as it…

Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden University and Philips are jointly receiving over 2 million euros from NWO to set up an artificial intelligence (AI) lab. The aim of this lab is to accelerate and improve MRI scans with AI. This is great for patients, and it helps make MRI more accessi…

Een samenwerking tussen het Leids Universitair Medische Centrum (LUMC), de Universiteit Leiden en Philips ontvangt financiering van wetenschapsfinancier NWO om MRI-scans te versnellen. Deze drie partijen vormen samen een van de 17 AI-labs die onder de naam ROBUST voor een periode van 10 jaar NWO-steun…

Promotor: J.W.M. Frenken Co-Promotores: I.M.N. Groot; L.B.F. Juurlink

Both Leon Jacobse and Thom Hersbach from Marc Koper's research group obtained their PhDs cum laude. They both investigated changes on the surface of a platinum electrode. Jacobse studied this at a positive voltage, Hersbach at a negative voltage. Platinum has the potential to convert renewable energy…

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