The research conducted at the Health, Medical and Neuropsychology unit investigates the psychological factors of health and disease, which allows for the development of innovative treatments.

Six Leiden University members of staff recently received the Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility grant for exchange projects with non-European partner universities. The total award of around 357,000 euros is used for approximately 50 international mobilities.

Have you had a busy week at work? If so, it’s better to take a walk in a natural environment than to go shopping in the city.

Dit blijkt uit het onderzoek ‘The Class Divide in Urban Indian Youths’ Lives; Their Time-Use and Adaptive Functioning’ van Radhika Bapat.

Prof. Dr. Ton Liefaard held a key note lecture at the 5th edition of the EFCAP Congress “Mental health needs of young offenders and victims: Assessment, intervention and legal issues”, which took place on 11, 12 and 13 May, 2016, in Porto, Portugal.

Philosophy master's student Timon Krause is 24, but it feels as if he’s already fully lived at least two lives. His show MINDGAMES is currently booked in 57 theatres, including Leiden’s Schouwburg on 18 January. ‘Philosophy is what my show’s all about.’

While offshore wind farms generate clean and green energy, scientists are becoming increasingly aware of the harmful impact they may have on marine life. To get a better overview of these impacts and to find the best locations for future wind farms, environmental scientist Yali Si and her colleagues…

Defending your PhD research in front of nearly 300 elementary school students: that was the challenge faced by PhD candidates Jo-Anne Verschoor and Marinka de Willigen during the VUURVLIEGEN competition organised by the Centrum JongerenCommunicatie Chemie (C3). After an exciting competition, the children…

Less meat and dairy means more space for nature, leisure, climate, biodiversity, more justice, and it's good news for the economy. That's according to the thought experiment conducted by Strootman Landscape Architects and Leiden environmental scientists. They presented their findings on 11 April.

A plant-based diet could improve the resilience of our food system. Moving to such a diet in the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) alone could replace almost all the production losses from Russia and Ukraine. That’s what an international team of researchers conclude in Nature Food. Leiden…

Exploring logging's real impact: Insights from Anthropologist Tessa Minter in the Solomon Islands.

Why do we need fundamental science? For a lot of reasons, speakers showed at the Lustrum Symposium ‘Science Matters’. This symposium was held on 18 March 2016 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Faculty of Science.

Reuse everything and stop producing waste. By 2050, the Netherlands should have a circular economy. However, the new Integral Circular Economy Report by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) shows that there is still a long way to go. For the report, the Institute of Environmental Sciences…

Fearing a trade-off with economic growth, countries feel discouraged to cut their CO2 emissions. But do the two really not go together? Environmental scientist Ranran Wang and her colleagues investigated the relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions in 73 countries from 1970 to 2016. Wang:…

PhD defence

PhD defence

Autism, Alzheimer’s, and bipolar disorder: can the development of these mental health conditions be influenced by the ketogenic diet? Increasingly, research suggests it might. 'For those it helps, it can be life-changing,' says neuroscientist Eline Dekeyster.

The rise of extremism in Europe has increased polarisation. The EU-funded DRIVE project, led by Tahir Abbas, Professor of Radicalisation Studies from Leiden University’s Institute of Security and Global Affairs, explores how social, structural, and individual factors contribute to radicalisation, offering…

Social resilience and security has never been more important. Over the last 2 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a considerable disturbance to our personal and social lives. As a result, the general population reports more stress, loneliness and decreased quality of life. At the same time, there…

Curiosity is the driving force behind the research of ecologist Michiel Veldhuis. The associate professor investigates ecosystems in relation to climate change in the savannahs of Africa. More and more, he is also looking at social factors such as the influence of population growth. The KNAW rewards…

As one of the first environmental scientists ever, Arnold Tukker received the honorary doctorate at Linköping University on Saturday 12 November. This Swedish university awarded Tukker for his scientific work to establish a circular economy.

Taking probiotics can help reduce negative feelings. This is shown by research by Katerina Johnson and Laura Steenbergen published in the journal npj Mental Health Research. They also investigated which people benefit most from these ‘good’ bacteria.

There is a lot of measuring going on in mental healthcare, but not enough use is being made of the information from these measurements. This is what Edwin de Beurs concludes in his inaugural lecture ‘Measuring, knowing and then what?' on 27 November. The professor by special appointment of ROM and Benchmarking…

Clear information about support services, a well-being self-test and advice on finding a room. YounginLeiden.nl helps students and other young people get started, literally and figuratively. Why is this site so desperately needed?

Tessa Verhoef from the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science and Eduard Fosch-Villaronga from eLaw- Center for Law and Digital Technologies have written an article on how affective computing should be inclusive, diverse, and work for everyone.

The first day of the Online Well-being Week covered the topic of your mental health. And more specifically, how to not be too hard on yourself and how you might feel in these weird times.

In a new piece for The Conversation UK, Michiel van Elk examines whether mystical experiences are essential to psychedelic therapy. 'If the field is to mature, it may need to move beyond the assumption that transcendence is the secret ingredient.'

From social inequalities in prehistory to placebo effects in medical treatments. Four researchers from Leiden University have been awarded a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant worth EUR 2.5 million to develop their research.

During a well-attended Studium Generale lecture at Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, Professor Ellen de Bruijn demonstrated how hormonal fluctuations influence the female brain. 'We urgently need more attention for the mental health of girls and women during transitional periods.'

A million people in the Netherlands attempt to quit smoking each year, often without lasting success. Health psychologist Kristell Penfornis carried out doctoral research into the role of self-image in smoking cessation. “If smoking is normal in your social circle, it more easily becomes part of your…

The company QuantActions promises that through capturing and analysing the data of smartphones it will be able to “detect important indicators related to mental/neurological health”. Neuroscientist Arko Ghosh is the company’s cofounder and talks in The Guardian about tappigraphy patterns.

Stay tuned for updates on relevant media appearances of Anne-Laura van Harmelen.

PhD defence

PhD defence

It’s Not Easy Being Green – but we’re here to help! Do you want to live more sustainably but have no idea where to start? Are you interested in making the world greener and do you want to get to the bottom of hot topics? Or are you sceptical about climate change and do you want to hear about the…

It’s better to cut our nitrogen emissions now than to solve the consequences later at great expense. That’s the lesson we can learn from the Dutch nitrogen crisis, according to nitrogen expert Jan Willem Erisman. In Science, he shares this lesson with other countries. According to Erisman, we should…

Not all sustainable business models have the impact they claim, Leiden researcher Levon Amatuni revealed. Car sharing and phone reuse, for example, have a smaller positive effect than previously thought. Amatuni advises people to ‘pay attention to actual changes in their consumption behaviour rather…

The first year cohort of Leiden University College The Hague recently under took a local lesson which saw them collect 10200 pieces of plastic from their local communities. Of the total collected, 52% was plastic.

In a landmark ruling, the International Court of Justice says that states are obliged to protect the climate. Jolein Holtz, a climate and human rights expert, believes the Court is too vague about the impact for future generations: ‘A missed opportunity’.

There’s a lot that goes wrong in the treatment of patients with PTSD caused by childhood trauma. Endowed professor Maartje Schoorl wants to resolve this by bringing scientific research closer to the practice. Inaugural lecture on Friday 29 April.

Leiden University is involved in five new NWO Gravitation projects. Two relate to mental disorder and the remaining three to a healthy lifestyle, the combination of human and artificial intelligence, and the special relationship between plants and microbes.

Adolescents with good friendships experience fewer anxiety and depression symptoms, PhD student Iris Koele discovered in her research on high school students' social relationships. 'As a psychologist, I include friends in the treatment plan: who do you call when things are not going well?'

A study carried out at the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) on the wellbeing of PhD candidates at Leiden University has shown that a number of them experience so much stress that they can develop mental health problems. The supervision of PhD candidates is a continuing focus of attention…

Most students of Psychology want to work in mental healthcare (GGZ). This makes the master’s specialisation in Clinical Psychology a logical choice. It was an option for alumna Ruth van Vugt for a long time, but she decided to explore further and has since successfully completed the Health and Medical…

Plastic pollution is a major global problem. In Geneva, world leaders are discussing a possible plastics treaty. Lecturer Esther Kentin talked to Dutch news platform NU.nl about the UN summit: ‘A treaty is only a small part of the solution.’