The overarching goal of this thesis is to set the foundations, but also make the first essential steps towards establishing a comprehensive, mesoscopic, hydrodynamic theory of epithelial tissues. The stage is set by an exhaustive study of topological defects in passive p-atic liquid crystals, singularities…

Promotor: G.F.A. Kersten, W. Jiskoot, Co-promotor: B. Metz

The Aging and Immunity group is led by Dr. Amanda Foks. In this group we aim to investigate how aged immune cells contribute to atherosclerosis and identify novel therapeutic targets and strategies to extend health span and inhibit cardiovascular disease.

This thesis describes the functional analysis of the Arabidopsis AHL15 gene.

The genetic information of all living organisms is contained in their DNA. Cells modify the degree of DNA compaction by epigenetics, which largely determines what genes are read out and which genes are transcriptionally silent.

MT3 is a globally unique programme led by professors and expert authors that covers the most up-to-date knowledge possible in the area of Classical Transfusion Medicine and Cellular and Tissue Therapy. It provides access to high quality knowledge and skills via a completely online system.

For the first time, researchers were able to grow organoids from snake venom glands. The lab-grown 3-D structures can produce snake venom molecules. This is a major step in finding treatments to tackle snakebite, which causes over 100,000 deaths each year. Publication in top journal Cell.

With a Vici grant of 1.5 million euros, Professor of Mathematical biology Roeland Merks will look for ways to fix messy and leaky blood vessels in tumours. His research combines mathematical simulations and lab experiments in a unique way.

The Biology and SCS master specialisation gives you the opportunity to combine fundamental Chemistry research with different aspects of science communication.

Combine biology research with different aspects of business studies. Learn to build bridges between science and business.

The adventure of iGEM Leiden has come to an end. The result: prizes for Best Therapeutic Project and Best Model, a gold medal, a successful crowdfunding campaign and of course their open-source research findings, which are available for the scientific community.

Though tuberculosis can be cured today, new resistant strains of the bacteria are becoming a growing problem in the medical world. Biologist Annemarie Meijer and her colleagues are studying resistance to this disease. Their research is already yielding several interesting clues that could help the development…

The construction of the new building for the Faculty of Science is in full progress. The Cell Observatory of the Institute of Biology Leiden will be moving to the new building in the beginning of 2016. Professor Annemarie Meijer and Dr. Marcel Schaaf had a sneak preview.

In 2022, many of our staff and students won fantastic prizes and were awarded important research grants.

Do you have questions about the Master Biology? Please contact us!

On this page you can read about our keynote speakers.

Leiden University-European Center for Chinese Medicine

A team of researchers at the Institute of Biology Leiden, in collaboration with scientists from Utrecht University, has discovered a novel approach to improve the production of antibiotics and enzymes in the soil bacteria Streptomycetes.

Australian cell biologist Melissa Little and Dutch physicist Robbert Dijkgraaf will each be awarded an Honorary doctorate at the Dies Natalis of Leiden University in February 2019. They are receiving these awards for their services to science.

Leiden researchers have developed a groundbreaking model to advance cancer immunotherapy. Using a 3D printer, they create mini-tumors within an environment that closely mimics human tissue. They have also developed a method to monitor real-time interactions of these mini-tumours with immune cells during…

PhD defence

Chair of LU-European Center for Chinese Medicine and Natural Compounds, Institute of Biology, Leiden University - the Netherlands

Do you have questions about the Biology master’s programme? Please contact us.

The specialisation consists of 120 European Credit Transfer System (EC) points and includes courses and electives (30-60 EC) and and one or more research projects (60-90 EC).

Four scientists from the Faculty of Science will receive a grant of up to 50,000 euros in the Open Competition Domain Science - XS from science financier NWO. This category emphatically strives to encourage curiosity-driven and bold research involving a relatively quick analysis of a promising idea.…

PhD defence

The new book of Professor of Character evolution and biodiversity Menno Schilthuizen gained a lot of media attention. ‘Darwin comes to town – how the urban jungles drives evolution’ was published in English in February and will be available in Dutch soon.

Salt crystals, a nano-sized golf stick and molten glass. The LION Image Award competition of 2023 yielded a lot of beautiful images once again. But in the end, only one can be the winner.

Professor Fons Verbeek of the computer science and biology institutes at Leiden University has the fascination to visualize everything we can not see immediately. At SleutelstadFM he tells us that by converting 2 dimensional (2D) images to 3 dimensional (3D) structures, research is carried out into…

Lecturer at Leiden University, Mathematical Institute and Institute of Biology, Leiden - the Netherlands

Collaborators and advisors of the Plant BioDynamics Laboratory

On this page you can find information about previous CCLS events.

Can Zebra finches learn to distinguish two very similar Dutch words? Research by behavioral biologist Verena Ohms proved that they can identify 'wit' and 'wet'. Ohms published her findings in

Leiden Biology student Bregje Brinkmann received the annual award for being the best BSc-student in 2014 from the “Stichting Professor Dr. K. Bakker-fonds”.

Many of the challenges of our time are too complex to be resolved within the confines of a single discipline. Leiden University is a broad-based university where an incredible number of research fields converge. That makes us the ideal breeding ground for, and practitioners of, interdisciplinary research…

Leiden scientists are the main applicants for five projects that have been awarded a Science Groot grant of up to 3 million euros in the Science Domain. In addition, several Leiden scientists are involved in other projects that have been awarded funding.

Producing offspring of a crop without sowing and that is even bigger than the parent plant. According to Leiden researchers this can be achieved by overstimulating a single gene that rejuvenates cells, including bringing them back to the embryonic phase.

Find out how to apply for Evolutionary Biology at Leiden University by following our step-by-step guide.

Find out how to apply for Biology at Leiden University by following our step-by-step guide.

The Advisory Board of the IBL consists of five eminent scientists with specialist expertise in complementary disciplines. They all have prominent positions for the field of Biology in the Netherlands outside our own institute.

Find out how to apply for Biology and Education at Leiden University by following our step-by-step guide.

PhD defence

Treatment and care for cancer patients is becoming increasingly advanced. For example, surgeons can now perform operations with much greater precision, and therapeutic vaccines are being developed to prompt the patient’s immune system to fight cancer. Work is also being done on better early diagnostics,…

On 27 May 2021 (15.15-18.00), the Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies will host its annual colloquium via Zoom. This colloquium will consist of a general lecture by Mauro Bonazzi and paper presentations by Bart van Hees, Nike Stam, and Irene O'Daly.

Annemarie Meijer is appointed full Professor of Immunobiology. Meijer’s research focuses on immunobiology and infectious disease. She uses the zebrafish as a model for understanding mechanisms of host immune defense against intracellular bacterial pathogens.

A consortium of researchers from the Leiden Institute of Physics (LION), the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), and the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) received a FOM program grant to develop a novel way of studying individual proteins inside a cell using gold nanorods.