MHC class I and MHC class II molecules present peptides to the immune system to drive proper T cell responses. Pharmacological modulation of T-cell responses can offer treatment options for a range of immune-related diseases.

I will give a general introduction to the field of molecular electronics, its history, methods and challenges. I will also introduce the subject of my investigation and provide a brief outlook to the remainder of our thesis.

Deficiency of glucocerebrosidase (GBA) underlies Gaucher disease, a common lysosomal storage disorder. Carriership for Gaucher disease has recently been identified as major risk for parkinsonism. Presently, no method exists to visualize active GBA molecules in situ. We here report the design, synthesis…

Heterogeneous catalyzed processes are highly significant to the chemical industry. Dissociative chemisorption (DC) of molecules on surfaces is always considered as a step with a high degree of rate control for heterogeneous catalysis.

This perspective addresses four challenges facing theorists whose aim is to make quantitatively accurate predictions for reactions of molecules on metal surfaces, and suggests ways of meeting these challenges, focusing on dissociative chemisorption reactions of H2, N2, and CH4.

Promotor: Prof.dr. T. Hankemeier, Co-Promotor: R.J. Vreeken

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.J. Kroes

Promotor: M. Ubbink, Co-promotor: G. Siegal

Promotores: Prof.dr. D. Bouwmeester, Prof.dr. A. Fiore (TU Eindhoven)

The goal is to reduce single use coffee cup use both at the university cafés and cofee machines.

In this thesis, we study different curved single crystals because of the diversity of surface structures across their curvature.

Leiden physicists have managed to detect a single molecule called dibenzoterrylene in a new crystal, and found that it is a candidate component for a quantum network. Future quantum computers will need such a network to work together while maintaining their advantages. Publication in ChemPhysChem jo…

Several techniques are explored for going beyond the born-oppenheimer static surface model for molecule-surface reactions.

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:

An Ancient Egyptian System of Workmen’s Identity Marks

Individual molecules are extremely hard to see through feeble fluorescence. Tiny gold nanorods serve as new antennas to intensify their signal 500 times. Publication on 24 February in Angewandte Chemie.

Promotor: J.M. van Ruitenbeek, Co-Promotor: S.J. van der Molen

This thesis examines the link between simple molecules and the underlying structure and chemistry within protoplanetary disks - the birthplaces of planets.

Relevant publications of the CIGR participants.

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.

The Division of Systems Pharmacology and Pharmacy (SPP) aims to develop precision medicine approaches to characterize and predict variation in treatment response and enhance translational drug development strategies.

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

Specific fatty acid-sugar molecules allow leprosy bacteria, among others, to hide from our immune system. How exactly is not entirely clear. Hessel van Dijk, who received his PhD on 13 October, replicated the molecules, helping to solve a piece of the puzzle. Van Dijk's dissertation is titled: Synthesis…

Advances in the field of high-performance Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets, by re-engineering their microstructure to make them more powerful while reducing rare earth content.

Consequences for sediment stability and seston trapping

The use-wear analysis of domestic implements provided new insights of the Single Grave Culture population in the Netherlands.

Curved single crystals provide variable, but well-defined surface structures.

Promotor: M. Ubbink, Co-promotor: G. Siegal

Self-assembly offers a promising route to create complex structures and materials using simple building blocks. Through, colloidal self-assembly, we can understand the governing principles of the self-assembly process and unlock its potential in diverse applications in materials science, photonics and…

Promotor: Prof.dr. T. Hankemeier, Co-promotores: Heiko van der Linden, Paul Vulto

Viral diseases constitute one of the major challenges in modern medicine. Membrane-targeting have broad-spectrum potential and could distinguish viral membranes from the host cell plasma membrane by the difference in membrane curvature.

Catalysis is of extreme relevance in the production of everyday materials and plays a central role in many aspects of our life.

Gold nanorods are biocompatible nanoparticles that present an excellent two-photon signal that can be used to get high spatial resolution inside living cells. Gold nanorods are photostable and therefore can be followed inside cells for long time, with possible applications as trackers in live cells.

A single self-assembled semiconductor quantum dot in a high-finesse optical microcavity - the subject of this thesis - is an interesting quantum-mechanical system for future quantum applications. For instance, this system allows trapping of an extra electron and thus can serve as a spin quantum memory,…

NNMT wordt beschouwd als een nieuw potentieel farmacologisch doelwit in de behandeling van een verscheidenheid van kankers, stofwisselingsziekten en andere pathologieën. Het toenemend aantal publicaties waarin de rol van NNMT bij ziekten wordt opgehelderd, heeft op zijn beurt de ontwikkeling van krachtige…

The central aims of MicroClock project are to describe the B. subtilis circadian clock at molecular and functional levels, and discover the mechanisms of clock-regulated bidirectional signaling between B. subtilis and the model plant Arabidopsis

Promotor: Prof.dr. T. Schmidt, Co-Promotor: Dr. ir. S.J.T. van Noort

Acute cardiovascular syndromes, including myocardial infarction or stroke, are the principal cause of death in the Western society. The main underlying pathology of cardiovascular diseases is atherosclerosis, which is caused by the accumulation of lipids and inflammatory cells in the vessel wall, in…

Microneedles represent promising tools for delivery of drugs to the skin. However, before these microneedles can be used in clinical practice, it is essential to understand the process of skin penetration by these microneedles.

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 project combines an extensive new open database on linguistic distributions, spatial modelling and areal linguistics in order to disentangle the roles of social and environmental factors on the emergence of linguistic diversity patterns of South America.

Although Sander Wezenberg just started working in Leiden in March this year, he already managed to win a Vidi grant from NWO. Inspired by nature, Wezenberg wants to bring synthetic molecules to life and teach them to communicate. But who exactly is Wezenberg and what drives him?

Lisanne Rens has been awarded the 2017 H. D. Landahl Mathematical Biophysics Award. Rens is a PhD student at the CWI (Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica) in Amsterdam and also affiliated with the Leiden University Mathematical Institute.

The aim of the research presented in this thesis was to develop new methods forchallenging systems in liquid-state NMR using paramagnetic effects generated by thetwo-armed probe CLaNP-5.

Creation of a framework for environmental parameter estimation that benefits from the consistency of physics-based theory-driven models and the accuracy of the machine-learning-based data-driven models

All life on earth contains DNA, which is used to store biological information. Organisms compact their DNA in order for it to fit inside their cell(s).