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.

On 1 April 2023, Rowie Stolk of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law started a new appointment for 0.7 FTE at Empirical Legal Studies Leiden (ELS@Leiden). ELS provides a platform that brings together legal scholars and social scientists to collaboratively explore legally relevant…

On 8 December, on the occasion of her 65th birthday, Cisca Hoogendijk was surprised with a festive bundle of 56 text editions by friends and colleagues, edited by her former students Dr Joanne Vera Stolk and Guus A.J.C. van Loon, MA.

How can we organise society so as to keep our planet habitable for us and for all other life forms around us? To answer this question, Leiden researchers collaborate across disciplines, from biology to data science, and from environmental economy to archaeology.

Lecture

It is mostly rainfall and soil acidity that determine which microbes survive in a particular habitat and which do not. This knowledge is important for maintaining biodiversity. Leiden environmentalists contributed to the research. Publication in Nature on 1 August.

What is the effect of pesticides, fertilizers or plastic on water quality? And how do wind and rain affect the data? These are just some of the things that Leiden environmental scientists study in the 32 ditches of the Living Lab.

Urban, Food, Water, Biodiversity, Resources and Energy: these are the main research topics of the Institute of Environmental Sciences. We always strive to be a global leader in our field. And make a real impact with both our research programmes.

You pour a scoop of ditch water in the DNA scanner, and voilà: you know exactly which plants and animals the ditch accommodates. Well, it is not that simple yet, but according to PhD candidate Kevin Beentjes, we can already use DNA techniques to monitor the quality of freshwater. For his PhD research,…

Industrialised countries extract natural resources in the territories of indigenous peoples, and appropriate the knowledge and culture of these peoples. Leiden anthropologists work to protect the rights of indigenous peoples. Their knowledge and advice enable governments to source sustainable produc…

The plans for making the University Library (UB) more sustainable will be carried out in three steps: first the glazing at the front of the building will be replaced with HR++ glass, then the skylights will be renewed and finally the air conditioning system will be updated. Once these steps have been…

How to bring together different footprints into an integrated family and what are the synergies? What are the roles of inventory analysis and characterization in measuring individual footprints and how these affect a footprint family? How to benchmark environmental footprints against related planetary…

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…

The research aims to understand how did Cuban and Dominican landscape encapsulate historical conceptual transformations about human –nature spiritual interaction after the Spanish conquest? More specifically, what are the present day cultural associations with Cuban and Dominican natural landscape?…

Sustainably produced food reduces CO2 emissions during production and promotes the region’s economy. The University is working to increase the number of organic, fair trade, vegetarian and vegan products in its restaurants.

Promotor: Prof.dr. M.L. van Hecke

The book ‘Pesticides and the Environment’ gives a transparent overview of facts and figures concerning pesticide use in the Netherlands and the impact of pesticides on the environment.

Below you will find the most important practical information.

The Grachtwacht (Canal Watch) conducts research on urban wildlife and the impact of plastic on nature. With our clean-ups, we not only collect waste, but also data. This way we try to find out the source of the waste and turn off the tap on shore. This way there is structurally less plastic in the c…

The walking club is a ProParte sub-group.

PNEC-pro is a user-friendly screening tool for professionals dealing with the assessment of surface water quality. The tool calculates local, watertype specific no-effect concentrations (PNEC) of copper, lead, nickel, and zinc based on biotic ligand models (BLMs).

Promotores: Arjen Doelman, Jens Rademacher, Max Rietkerk

How can we develop and further improve life cycle impact assessment methods, characterisation factors and normalisation factors?

Over time, the temperature in all buildings will be regulated in a sustainable manner. In this way, using gas will not be necessary anymore.

The main goal of the THEOR CHEM group, headed by Prof. Geert-Jan Kroes, is to characterize, and to accurately predict the outcome of chemical reactions at gas-solid and liquid-solid interfaces. Here the solid surface is typically a metal or an ice surface. These goals are important to many areas in…

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are used as a current carrying substrate in investigation of current-induced forces in a low-temperature STM (chapter 2).

The aim of this thesis is to develop and study a robust and adaptable scaffold for supramolecular polymer self-assembly in water.

Supramolecular polymers are class of materials that are formed by non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, π-π interactions, electrostatic interactions and the hydrophobic effect.

Like a mixture of oil and water, lipid membranes separate into two liquid phases.

Promotor: Prof.dr. P.G.L. Klinkhamer, Co-Promotor: T.J. de Jong

This publication by Cornelis van Tilburg, will be published at Sidestone Press on September 28, 2022. It discusses various aspects of city gates in the Western Roman Empire: Italy, Spain, Gaul, Germany and Britain.

For Leiden University’s operations, sustainability is an important topic, especially looking at the CO2-footprint, renewable energy and the greening of buildings.

We depend on nature for so many things: from clean water, wood and food to carbon absorption, water purification and coastal protection, as well as for relaxation, inspiration and identity. Nevertheless, our modern world putting increasing pressure on these ecosystem services. Leiden researchers investigate…

The main research theme in the group of Dennis Hetterscheid is to understand and mimic bioinorganic multi-electron processes that are relevant to our future energy infrastructure. Reduction of protons generates hydrogen that can be used as a chemical fuel. Alternatively to gaseous hydrogen, the reduction…

Huub de Groot is professor in Biophysical Organic Chemistry. With his team he works in the field of photosynthesis and artificial photosynthesis. The molecular basis for photosynthesis is formed by protein complexes and organelles that contain chlorophyll molecules. The antenna systems herein capture…

While bioinformatics methods deal with the analysis of sequence information (be it proteins or DNA), the field of cheminformatics is concerned with the analysis of small-molecule datasets.

This research aims to investigate how different social forces interact with hydropolitics in the Eastern Nile Basin and what are the constraints of engagement.

Possible improvements for the assessment of abiotic depletion in LCA.

What are the main factors associated with the stranding of the two seal species? What are the factors influencing the prevalence of disease in the two species? Which human-related factors influence the populations of the two seal species?

Natural resources often stretch across borders that separate modern nation states. This can create conflict and limit opportunities for regulated consumption of their goods and services, but also provide opportunities for joint multinational efforts that exceed single country capabilities.

On 20 September 2023 Mark van de Water successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

This thesis takes steps toward understanding the interaction between gas-phase and solid-state molecules in star- and planet-forming regions.

In surface science there is great effort to move from studying simple, flat model surfaces in vacuum to investigating more complex model catalysts in gas environments (in situ). This thesis gives three examples of such studies using microscopy and spectroscopy.

My PhD thesis investigates the ecological significance of resistance against drought-induced air bubble formation inside the water conduits of plants (embolism), and the plasticity and functional aspects of stem anatomical traits in woody and herbaceous species.

Promotor: W. Jiskoot, Co-promotor: H.A. Every

Promotores: A.P. IJzerman, H.W.T. van Vlijmen

Promotor: Prof.dr. E.F. van Dishoeck, Prof.dr. F.F.S. van der Tak (RUG)