Chemical reactions go hand-in-hand with an energy exchange with the environment in which they take place. Surfaces offer a variety of energy dissipation channels, constituted by the nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom of the atoms at the interface. Aiming at an improved future harvesting of energy,…

Scientists have discovered that starlings and parrots can imitate the complex sounds of Star Wars droid R2-D2 remarkably well. Their study reveals how the structure of a bird’s vocal organ determines its vocal abilities – and how citizen science helps uncover it.

New research published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that these changes to the behavior of the immune system are persistent and can continue even after diet is improvedAlmost everyone knows that improving your eating habits will most likely improve your health. What most people may not…

The new institute manager of the IBL studied biology for six months, but went in a completely different direction: development cooperation and the financial sector. Three decades later, Resi Janssen is making a radical career switch. Or isn’t she? 'In ten years’ time I want IBL to be in a new, sustainable…

During post-embryonic development into adults, animals face an environment that fluctuates constantly. For example, in nutrient availability, temperature, and osmolarity (e.g., salt concentration).

From 1 October onwards, Dennis Claessen and Marcel Schaaf will be the new directors of education of Biology. They will replace Han de Winde. Schaaf will be responsible for the bachelor, while Claessen will mainly focus on the master tracks of Biology. We gave students and the education office the change…

This thesis introduces the concept of

Time and again synthesised substances have been shown to pollute the environment more than lab tests predicted. In her inaugural lecture on 16 November, professor of Ecotoxicology Martina Vijver gives a warning for the risks of new, man-made chemical substances and nanomaterials. Various media payed…

The power of personalized nutrition lies in being able to conduct clinical research on healthy people while capturing metabolic markers sensitive to the impact of environmental and metabolic stressors (e.g. diet, changing sex hormones and the menstrual cycle).

Promotor: J. van der Greef, T. Hankemeier; Co-promotor: H.A. van Wietmarschen

This thesis describes the development and optimization of the first molecular tools to study the enzyme PLA2G4E.

In this thesis, I targeted the orchid genus Lepanthes, one of the six genera of angiosperms that surpasses 1,000 species in the Neotropics, as a study model to investigate the evolutionary processes that promoted species diversifications.

Synthesis and application of chemical biology tools to study immunomodulatory signaling lipids.

Evolution is all around you every day. This is the message of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) of Leiden University and Naturalis that is offered free of charge to anyone interested.

Evolution is all around you every day. This is the message of the new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) of Leiden University and Naturalis that begins on September 19.

Lichens enthusiast Sander van Zon was eager to use his knowledge for his internship. He wrote an excellent thesis on lichens’ biodiversity in the city, of which his first scientific publication will appear soon. With it, he is nominated for the Leiden Science Young Talent Award 2022.

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.

In this thesis, the discovery and optimization is described of chemical tools to study the N-acylethanolamine (NAE) biosynthetic pathway.

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

‘Make more room for nature on farmland and you'll be surprised at the result.' This was the advice from Geert de Snoo in his Dies lecture.

Short description about 20th anniversary of CEDC, the fieldstation in Cameroon, and 20 years of cooperation between Leiden University with the University of Dschang in Cameroon.

This thesis explored the molecular pharmacological mechanisms of targeting CB2R via investigation of novel drug discovery concepts such as target binding kinetics, allosteric modulation and biased signaling.

Actinobacteria are Gram-positive bacteria that have a complex multicellular life cycle and are well known for their ability to produce a wide range of bioactive natural products (NPs).

‘Wadden Sea Sounds’ is the name of a new project launched by the Waddenvereniging in collaboration with researchers from Leiden University and the University of Groningen. The aim is to find out how underwater noise affects marine life in the Wadden Sea.

Graduation Ceremony

The dark matter of biology: clumps of sugar molecules that, for example, form sugary webs around pathogens. We know very little about them. Wouter Remmerswaal threw all his talent into the challenge – both in the lab and as a modeller – and succeeded. He received his PhD on 12th September.

Drug development is a time- and resource-consuming process that starts with the discovery and validation of a (protein) target that contributes to pathogenesis or disease progression.

Festival

Graduation Ceremony

Merijn de Bakker and colleagues of the IBL-research group of Prof. Mike Richardson provide a unique view on digit evolution in crocodiles and birds in their recent study published in Nature.

Marie-Jeanne Holveck and Katharina Riebel from Behavioural Biology at the Institute of Biology at the Faculty of Science published their research in Proceedings B of The Royal Society.

Biologists today have to be able to work with big data. Data analysis skills should be taught from the start of the degree programme, or - even better - in secondary school. This is the message of Vera van Noort, new Professor of Computational Biology. Inaugural lecture 22 January.

Roeland Merks is appointed as professor Multiscale Mathematical Biology (0.2 FTE) at the Mathematical Institute as from 15 January 2014.