306 search results for “plastic soup” in the Public website
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Students make recommendations for more sustainable university
Leiden University is working on sustainability and should give its efforts more publicity. This is the conclusion of Industrial Ecology master’s students who investigated the extent to which Leiden University is green and sustainable.
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How can we make better use of natural resources?
Mining for natural resources harms the environment. But we desperately need them, for both the development of countries and the transition to a sustainable energy system. Professor of Sustainable Resource Use Ester van der Voet researches how we can reduce the environmental impact of natural resources…
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Students seek sustainable solutions for businesses
Master’s students in Industrial Ecology and Governance of Sustainability have helped answer organisations’ questions about sustainability
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How cool is LEGO®? Leiden physicists use it for ice cold research
Tjerk Oosterkamp's group is conducting what is perhaps the coldest research in the world. The researchers have cooled a sensor to below 2 millikelvin - almost as cold as absolute zero. This allows them to make extremely sensitive measurements. PhD candidate Jaimy Plugge helped build the setup: ‘We are…
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Buckling on demand
Researchers from Leiden University, the Netherlands, designed a novel metamaterial that buckles on demand. Small structural variations in the material single out regions that buckle selectively under external stress, whereas other regions remain unchanged. The research is published in this week’s Early…
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Snouck Hurgronje Prize goes to Leiden Resuscitation Day
Quick resuscitation can save lives, but under 1% of the population of Leiden is a community first responder. Student associations and various partners in Leiden want to give a resuscitation course to 500 residents and students of Leiden. This special project has won the LUF’s Snouck Hurgronje Prize.
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Corona waste kills animals throughout the entire world
Face masks and gloves designed to protect us are, in fact, dangerous for the animals around us. Scientists from Leiden warn that throughout the world, on land and in the water, animals are ingesting corona waste, or getting entangled in it. The two biologists are asking for everybody’s help to better…
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Can we live longer? Leiden physicist makes discovery in protective layer in genes
With the aid of physics and a minuscule magnet, researchers have discovered a new structure of telomeric DNA. Telomeres are sometimes seen as the key to living longer. They protect genes from damage but get a bit shorter each time a cell divides. If they become too short, the cell dies. The new discovery…
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Catena wins 2020 Sustainability Prize
The Sustainability Prize of the Leiden University Green Office and the Local Chamber of Associations has been won this year by student association Catena. In the shadow of the corona pandemic, Catena worked exceptionally hard to improve sustainability.
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Student team hopes to heal skin with squid protein
Eleven ambitious Leiden students hope to heal burns with a special substance from squid teeth. They are taking part in the international iGEM competition. They need to raise almost 10,000 euros to fund their project this summer.
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Ester van der Voet appointed professor of Sustainable Resource Use
The energy transition is already a huge challenge for society, but sustainable use of resources is even more complicated. Yet it is at least as urgent. Ester van der Voet has been working on it for decades, for example within the United Nations. Since February, she is a professor at the Centre for Environmental…
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Ensnaring tumours in their own web
Erik Danen is looking at how to inhibit tumours that do not respond well to medicine – and he is making some headway. The Professor of Cancer Drug Target Discovery studies the interaction between tumour cells and their surroundings. Inaugural lecture on Friday 10 May.
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Comparing apples and oranges: What grinding and portioning can tell us about gender and atomicity
Lecture, Com(parative) Syn(tax) Series
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A promising marriage between Siemens and Leiden spin-off Culgi
Siemens recently took over the Leiden software company Culgi, founded by professor and inventor J.G.E.M. (Hans) Fraaije. We spoke to him about the algorithm that made him successful, the role of a university in our society and his ambitions at Siemens. ‘I was looking for Siemens, and they were looking…
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Reflections from the field: Linking the past with the present through pickling, fermenting, and food preservation in Gdańsk, Poland.
PhD candidate Ola Gracjasz writes about fermentation practices in Gdańsk, Poland.
- Publication highlights
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Recycling at microscale
Playing with tiny building blocks might sound like child’s play, but Vera Meester knows better. On June 7 she will defend her thesis on colloids: micro particles with which you can form larger structures. Meester developed a method to make unusable structures usable.
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Making a technology sustainable that doesn’t even exist yet
Industrial ecologists Stefano Cucurachi and Flora Siebler are part of the new consortium PROGENY, which received 3.6 million euros from the European Commission. PROGENY is an exciting project that will study the possibilities of soap films for innovations, such as ultra-thin screens.
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How sustainable is your coffee cup? Professor Jeroen Guinée finds out
What is the environmental impact of the fish on our plates? And is an electric car really more sustainable when we include the generation of electricity? Jeroen Guinée maps the environmental impact of products and technologies. He analyses them from raw material to waste disposal. He was appointed Professor…
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Een dag vol (nep)skeletten en mammoettanden
De Faculteit Archeologie bestaat dit jaar 25 jaar. Ter ere van dit jubileum opende de faculteit op 1 maart zijn deuren voor het brede publiek.
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Visitors to the Bachelor's Open Day: ‘They give you honest information’
It was busy at the Bachelor's Open Day of Leiden University. Over 7,000 prospective students had come to take a look at Leiden. What did they expect of their chosen programme? Would they join a student association? Would they move out of home? Feedback from five prospective students.
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An ERC Grant to predict the toxicity of nanomaterials in the ecosystem
Environmental researcher Martina Vijver is over the moon with her ERC Consolidator Grant. This prestigious grant is recognition, she says, of the study of the behaviour and possible toxicity of new nanomaterials in ecosystems.
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Rebellious birds make nests from anti-bird spikes
Innovation in nest building: bird nests made from anti-bird spikes. Researchers from Naturalis Biodiversity Center and the Natural History Museum Rotterdam describe this behaviour in a publication.
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Planet in Peril: the relationship between mankind and the planet
What is the relationship between humans and nature like? And how can we use it to tackle climate problems? In the Master Honours Class ‘Planet in Peril’, students approach climate issues from the perspective of the humanities. ‘Things are not always as one-sided as they seem.’
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National Think Tank: a think tank and a do tank
From learning modules for primary schools to a ‘Fixer-Upper Day’ and from a platform for returning broken electronic devices to a call to government: the National Think Tank has presented ten solutions that should help create a circular economy. We spoke to three Leiden members of the Think Tank about…
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Growing awareness of sustainability and the environment
From underground heat exchangers at the Bio Science Park to drinking taps to replace water coolers. With its new environmental policy plan, Leiden University will become greener in the coming years.
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Leiden PhD candidate new face on ‘Faces of Science’ blog site
External PhD candidate Liselore Tissen (Leiden University/Delft University of Technology) has been blogging on the Faces of Science website since March about her daily work as a researcher. ‘Academia is anything but stuffy.’
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Conversion of renewable raw materials on platinum shows unexpected behaviour
The electrochemical reduction of a group of organic compounds on platinum is strongly dependent on the arrangement of the atoms in the platinum surface. Christoph Bondue, postdoc in Marc Koper's group, published this in Nature Catalysis on 4 March. The reduction of such compounds is an important process…
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It’s all about the cell wall for brand-new professor Dennis Claessen
Dennis Claessen has been appointed professor of Molecular Microbiology at the Institute of Biology Leiden. With his teaching and research on the cell wall, the professor wants to establish applications in the industry and the medical sector.
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Discoverer of the Year bridges science and medicine
Fascinated by science since high school, Alireza Mashaghi Tabari is driven to explore new ways of thinking in medicine. With a strong academic network, he educates students and gives public lectures. For his research at LACDR, he won the C.J. Kok Public Award 2018, making him the Faculty of Science's…
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Latin American diplomats come together at Wijnhaven
Every year diplomatic representatives of Latin American countries, researchers and students come together during a conference of the GRULAC region group. This year different researchers talked about their work during a visit to the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs in The Hague.
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Assessing total environmental impact is becoming even more important
Life cycle assessment (LCA) reveals the total environmental impact of products or production processes, and EU rules are going to make this even more important.
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Hague city councillors on working visit: ‘The Hague is becoming a real student city’
What does the University mean for The Hague? And what are researchers and students learning from the city and its residents? The Hague city councillors visited Campus The Hague on 27 September and spoke to administrators and researchers. ‘From Schilderswijk to Benoordenhout: we are a university for…
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How an elective at the Academy of Art enriches your studies
Students who also want to develop their artistic talents can take a year-long art class – Practicum Artium – at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. ‘I can express my creativity and am learning to approach subjects in a visual way.’
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Celebrating science on our Faculty with sparkling Leiden Science Family Day
Elephant toothpaste, a trip among the stars or a lecture on mathematical juggling: on Sunday 8 October 2023, the Faculty of Science opened its doors for the third edition of the Leiden Science Family Day. A programme jam-packed with workshops, demonstrations, lectures and peeks behind the scenes for…
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Honours Class reconciles students with the unpredictability of life
The course Designing Your Life helps students navigate their career pathways. As it turns out, these pathways are full of twists and turns and - as with many journeys - you only make progress once you gather the courage to take the first step.
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Joint Lectures on Evolutionary Algorithms (JoLEA)
Lecture
- Event: Unpacking the Problem of Packaging
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Women on the agenda in Leiden
Women are are on the agenda again at Leiden University. That was clear on 8 March in the Academy Building. First there was an informal get-together with women professors and talented researchers, followed by the 27th Annie Romein-Verschoor lecture, on happy and angry women.
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Food Citizens? featured in Horizon Magazine
Horizon Magazine published about urban food systems.
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Leiden University more sustainable by the day
10 October is the Day of Sustainability. What is the current status of sustainability at Leiden University? Things are moving ahead. Professor of Environmental Biology and Dean of the Faculty of Science, Geert de Snoo, outlines a new prospect: biodiversity.
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Student Bram wanted to be mayor as a boy
Bram Geurds (20) is fascinated by politics. When he was 12, a political debate on TV caught his attention. And he decided he wanted to be mayor one day. Unsurprisingly, Bram is studying political science and is politically active. It might seem like he’s on course to become a professional politician.…
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Leiden University celebrates curiosity at 449th Dies Natalis
How has evolution shaped our curiosity? And how does that curiosity ensure that we now have the technological ability to discover whether we are alone in the universe? This was all covered during the celebration of Leiden University’s 449th Dies Natalis.
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Not wrapping but folding: Bacteria also organise their DNA (but they do it a bit differently)
Some bacteria, it turns out, have proteins much like ours that organise the DNA in their cells. They just do it a bit differently. This is revealed by new research from biochemists at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry and the Max Planck Institute for Biology. The discovery helps us better understand…
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Finessage for ‘Touching: An Exhibition of Material Research Samples and Recipes’
Arts and culture
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FestiWell en EUniWell
Festival, FestiWell | Event vanuit EUniWell
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Female Researchers in the Spotlight for Physics & Astronomy Ladies' Day
On Thursday November 15th, Leiden University organizes its Physics & Astronomy Ladies' Day for female high school students. To mark this festive day, we put the spotlight on five female researchers, who talk about their experiences working in science.
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Joint Lectures on Evolutionary Algorithms (JoLEA)
Lecture
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Signs of life – Life, Living and Death in Modern and Contemporary Continental Philosophy
Conference
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Publications
Recent publications