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

Metal-organic compounds hold great promise as photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT) agents, leveraging their unique geometric and electronic properties to achieve precise spatiotemporal control over drug activation.

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has awarded a KNAW Early Career Partnership 2023 to Philippe van Gruisen for interdisciplinary research on (labour) migration from a broad perspective on societal wellbeing.

How the systematic destruction of valuables created value in Bronze Age Europe, c. 2300-500 BC

Galaxies form and evolve through close interaction with their surroundings. As a result, the heavy elements ('metals') that are synthesized in stars, are found both inside and outside galaxies.

The goal of this thesis is to understand how interfacial parameters, such as the addition of organic additives, bulk pH or metal cations of the electrolyte, affect the relevant electrocatalytic reactions, i.e. electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction or hydrogen evolution reaction.

We use DNA strands to stabilize few-atom silver clusters, which show unique optical and chemical properties. This thesis involves the study of these constructs for various applications.

Promotor: M.T.M. Koper, Co-Promotor: L.B.F. Juurlink

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.

An Investigation into the role of copper-alloy craft production in the early medieval economy of northwest Europe.

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.

Bachelor projects are available in

The Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) is the basis for research and collaborations of the Leiden chemistry groups. Chemistry is the central science enabling a healthy future in a sustainable society. Chemistry researchers at Leiden University take a fundamental approach in finding tailored solutions…

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?

Sinds vorig jaar staan er gekleurde pilaren op de universiteitscampus. Met deze ‘Act of Kindness Pillars’ wordt eenzaamheid bij studenten tegengegaan.

It has already been a huge success in The Hague, and now the Lipsius building has one, too: an Acts of Kindness pillar. The official opening took place on Tuesday 20 September.

Surface plasmons (SPs) are surface waves at the interface between a dielectric and a good metal, and are formed by the interaction between light and the free electrons at the metal-dielectric interface. They provide strong field confinement for optical fields, opening new possibilities for enhanced…

The emissions of the Chinese industrial sector alone comprise 24.1% of global emissions (7.8 GtCyr−1 in 2015). This makes Chinese industrial emissions of unique national and international relevance in climate policy. This study reports a literature survey that quantitatively describes the evolution…

Climate change is one of the largest challenges faced by humanity. To combat this research into alternatives to fossil fuels is ongoing. Dihydrogen is considered a good alternative fuel, since its burning only forms water.

Cultural biographies of persons, objects and 'natural' places in the Bronze Age of the Southern Netherlands, c. 2300-600 BC.

Promotores: Prof.dr. J. Aarts, Prof.dr. J.M. van Ruitenbeek

The demand for neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets is rapidly growing, while the neodymium supply chain is under pressure. Recycling can alleviate these issues. This thesis investigates the potential for deploying novel magnet recycling technologies and their environmental consequences.

The focus throughout this thesis will be on gathering fundamental studies of the detailed structure and composition of the electrode/electrolyte interface effect on the rate and mechanism of key electrocatalytic reactions.

Despite the history of studies on methanol formation from CO2, the dominant elementary reaction steps that constitute the chemical mechanism for this catalyzed process are not determined.

Materials with strongly correlated electrons show some of the most mysterious and exotic phases of quantum matter, such as unconventional superconductivity, quantum criticality and strange metal phase.

The main subject of this thesis is the design and synthesis of paramagnetic molecules for protein studies with NMR and EPR spectroscopy.

In condensed matter systems electron-electron interactions, negligible in everyday metals, can dramatically alter the electronic behavior of the system. Examples of such altered behavior include high-temperature superconductivity and modulation of the electron density.

Leiden University has developed a radically different method for large scale production of diverse nanoparticles and their alloys.

This thesis focuses on the X-ray spectral analysis of merging galaxy clusters and the plasma code development for future high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy observations.

In Bronze Age Europe, an enormous amount of metalwork was buried in the ground and never retrieved.

The redox-conversion reaction of metal-disulfide and metal-thiolate complexes are important, as they may shed light on electron-transfer reactions that often occur in Nature.

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

Every year the newly arriving Archaeology students are invited to join an active introduction day during which they get to know the Faculty and each other in a playful and fun way. The activities are organised by Study Adviser Cleody van der Eijk. ‘It helps people to loosen up and get to know each o…

In the Catalysis and Surface Chemistry group, we investigate how catalysis works on the molecular level. The group is divided in six subgroups, focusing on different aspects of heterogeneous catalysis, homogeneous catalysis and electrocatalysis.

Promotor: E. Bouwman, Co-Promotor: S. Bonnet

Metal-based prodrugs based on ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes have proven to be very suitable for application in both photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photo-activated chemotherapy (PACT).

Promotor: Prof.dr. E. Bouwman

Twenty years from now, the world population is estimated to be around 9 billion people (now 8 billion). In combination with the improvements in living standards and the corresponding growth in consumption, this population will result in an enormous increase in the demand for food, consumables, water…

Chemotherapy that does nothing until you irradiate it with light. Sylvestre Bonnet receives a Vici grant of 1.5 million euros for the development of this treatment. The Leiden chemist wants to build a new molecule to fight tumours that are at the time still difficult to treat.

Research at the Catalysis and Surface Chemistry group is comprised of the following research themes:

Chemotherapy that does not harm the body, but effectively fights cancer cells: that is the goal of chemist Sylvestre Bonnet and his team. During his PhD research, chemist Xuequan Zhou brought that goal a little closer. He developed molecules that, upon injection in the bloodstream, self-assemble into…

To design the ideal water oxidation catalyst, understanding of the catalytic mechanism and decomposition pathways is essential.

Theorists have recently made substantial progress in simulating reactive molecule-metal surface scattering but still face major challenges. The grand challenge is to develop an approach that enables accurate predictive calculations of reactions involving electronically excited states with potential…

In this thesis, the researcher developed a nanosystem based on the metallophilic Interaction between cyclometalated complexes.

Promotor: E. Bouwman Co-Promotor: S. Bonnet

Contact Metals in Catalysis, Biomimetics & Inorganic Chemisrty

Photocatalysis has emerged as a powerful tool for enabling challenging transformations in organic synthesis. This thesis explores the development of several photocatalytic reactions designed to form carbon-heteroatom bonds from less-functionalized precursors.

The electrochemical hydrogenation reaction is an alternative approach for the transformation of unsaturated bonds without the use of flammable dihydrogen gas.