The ‘Amorphophallus titanum’ at the Hortus botanicus Leiden is blooming. This Titan Arum, also known as the ‘giant penis plant’, last flowered in 2009.

Master’s students in Industrial Ecology and Governance of Sustainability have helped answer organisations’ questions about sustainability

Aqueous solutions of proteins and carbohydrates separate into two parts with an extremely ‘soft’ boundary surface. The surface tension between these two parts can be manipulated, for example by adjusting the pH balance. This can be used to develop emulsions of a water-based solution in another aqueous…

Data scientist Lindsey Burggraaff has won the second edition of the Krijn Rietveld Memorial Innovation Award. She receives the prize for her research into bioactive substances in food. ‘Burggraaff's work is situated at a unique intersection of data science, biochemistry and the fields of food and nutrition,’…

Strengthening nature and at the same time investing in future-proof agriculture. That is the task of the Minister for Nature and Nitrogen, Christianne van der Wal. It is also the lifework of Leiden professor Jan Willem Erisman. He has been researching nitrogen for his entire career and has shown that…

From 9 September onwards, Leiden scientists, citizens and farmers will jointly investigate how to sustainably manage peat meadowland. In ten years' time, they hope to have learned how to promote biodiversity and simultaneously reduce nitrogen and CO2 emissions, among other things. The research will…

Leiden biologists have found a mutation in flour beetles that allows them to speed up their development. The study has been published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

The Rutte-III coalition agreement has been presented and the commentary is flooding in. Public administration experts Arco Timmermans and Gerard Breeman examined the new agreement – as they have done for every coalition agreement since 1963 - and made a systematic analysis of it: it is very much about…

The book ‘The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: Futures from the Frontiers of Climate Science’ by Paul Behrens has been launched in the US, a year after its original release in Europe. In his book, Behrens describes both hopeful and pessimistic scenarios for our planet.

On Tuesday, the 16th of May, the Faculty of Archaeology put a festive end to the 25th year celebrations. The programme included a dedication of our largest meeting room, the sealing and burying of a time capsule, and a BBQ.

They are often little more than a square metre of plants, yet pavement gardens are a source of life. PhD candidate Joeri Morpurgo conducted research in the centre of Amsterdam and The Hague and discovered how important small green spaces are, especially for cities.

Four researchers from Leiden University have been awarded NWO Open Competition grants in the Science domain. This is for research into subjects such as immune cells in tumours, antibiotic resistance and magnetic semiconductors.

In 2011, Dr. Amanda Henry published her findings from dental plaque picked from the teeth of Neanderthals who were buried in Iran and Belgium between 46,000 and 40,000 years ago. Plant microfossils trapped and preserved in the hardened plaque showed that they were cooking and eating starchy foods including…

On Friday evening 8 June, Thijs Bosker, Associate Professor at Leiden University College (LUC), was on television in NOS Jeugdjournaal about plastic pollution and microplastics

We at LUGO have partnered up with HOP to bring some delicious vegan food through our cooking Livestream on Instagram on Wednesday, 25th August starting at 18:30.

KOG, PDLC and Lipsius will soon be welcoming vegetarian cafés

Early cave paintings of hunting scenes may give the impression our Stone Age ancestors lived mainly on chunks of meat, but plants were just as key to their survival. Plants rich in starch helped early humans to thrive even at the height of the last Ice Age, Leiden archaeologist Amanda Henry tells Horizon…

The ‘Stans Prize 2017' (for the best thesis, report or article produced by a CML student) has been awarded to Davide De Mauro. Other CML prizes were awarded to Jeroen Guinee, Reinout Heijungs, Martina Vijver, Willie Peijnenburg en Kevin Groen

PhD candidates Vincent Walstra and Leen Felix in dialogue

On Tuesday 3 October we will celebrate the Relief of Leiden, so all Leiden University premises will be closed that day. The University premises at our campus in The Hague will remain open (with the exception of Anna van Buerenplein/Leiden University College).

On Wednesday 3 October we will celebrate the Relief of Leiden, so all Leiden University premises will be closed that day. The University premises at our campus in The Hague will remain open (with the exception of Anna van Buerenplein/Leiden University College).

In his guest lecture on 22 January André Kuipers took school pupils and students on trip through space. His mission was to interest his young listeners in science and technology.

A study of the International Union for Conservation of Nature has identified tree species native to Indonesia’s Kutai National Park that are resilient to climate change. The species support threatened East Bornean orang-utan populations; therefore, the study recommends their use in reforestation efforts.…

At science festival 'Over de kop', surprising brain facts alternate with confronting stories from the operating room. Researchers explain why our brains love beans and why you should never ride a racing bike without a helmet.

How does climate change affect the migration routes of birds? Mainly negatively, according to a new study from Yali Si from the CML. ‘It changes the timing of natural events differently in each region,’ she explains. ‘This can lead to a growing mismatch between the availability of food and the supposed…

Recently, in the midst of coronavirus situation, Professor Corinne Hofman and her team became part of the NWO project Island(er)s at the Helm. Both the application process as well as the start of the project were challenged by the limitations set by Covid-19. ‘As a preparation we travelled through the…

Should we ban snack bars from neighbourhoods where residents are overweight or have diabetes? At the Common Sense about Health knowledge festival, scientists, civil servants and other professionals discussed how South Holland can become healthier. The Healthy Society Map makes it clear where there are…

The Horizon programme 'Eurasian Empires: integration processes and identity formations' started September 1st 2014. The six PhD students and two Postdocs introduce themselves.

Primary Objective: The primary aim of the proposed RCT is to evaluate whether LF-TLP in blended form as an indicated prevention for anxiety complaints is more (cost-) effective than TAU according to the NHG guideline Anxiety. We hypothesize that in comparison to TAU, LF-TLP will result in a significantly…

The Leiden Leadership Centre is an interdisciplinary network organisation branching out from its place within the Institute of Public Administration, Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (Leiden University in The Hague). The LLC functions as a platform by connecting students, practitioners, and…

In 2021 many of our students and staff won fantastic prizes and were awarded important research grants. This is our traditional review of these successes as the end of one year marks the beginning of another.

Understanding Late Neolithic Ceramic Containers from Upper Mesopotamia

Carina van den Hoven defended her thesis on 16 February 2017.

Join-in courses zijn MA-cursussen over middeleeuwse onderwerpen gegeven binnen vastgestelde MA-programma's van de zes deelnemende universiteiten van de Onderzoekschool. Op aanvraag zijn deze vakken toegankelijk voor studenten van andere (Nederlandse) universiteiten. De cursusbelasting en het aantal…

A plan for the future from green farmers.

Scientists are regularly confronted with issues of integrity. You can learn all about the subject in a free online course.

Salma Balazadeh, Víctor Carrión, and Jos Raaijmakers, biologists at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), have successfully applied for an NWO grant and got awarded 730.000 euros. The board of NWO Domain Applied and Engineering Sciences awarded funding for their project within the Open Technology Programme…

Team ReCNTR gives feedback on the Food Citizens? I-doc

Many children eat too many high-calorie foods and too few vegetables from an early age. PhD candidate Merel van Vliet researched the role of parents in this. ‘Don’t force children to clean their plates.’ PhD defence on 15 June.

Lions limit their prey, such as zebra and gnu, in their options for adapting to global warming. This is what Leiden researcher Michiel Veldhuis, from the Institute of Environmental Sciences, and a group of international colleagues have discovered. The research was published today in Nature Ecology &…

In the programme NWO Open Competition Domain Science - GROOT, twenty new consortia will start a large research project. This boost of more than 47 million euros will make new research possible in the science domain. Among the winners is the Nanoscale Regulators of Photosynthesis consortium in which…

Research to experiment with bacteria that grow like plants has been granted the NWO XS grant. These bacteria use light and carbon dioxide to grow, and will be designed especially for use in the biotechnological field. Tijn Delzenne and his supervisor Dennis Claessen can spend 50.000 euros on the exp…

Marianne Maeckelbergh has received a Consolidator grant from the European Research Council for a project on the impact of property regimes on experiences of citizenship. The project will be carried out in five democratic countries: Greece, The Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United St…

During the HOP week, new students in The Hague get to know the city, their study programme and - most important of all - one another. In 2018, The HOP week looked like this!

Today, 13 students at Leiden University have started a crowdfunding campaign to collect money for research into the possibilities of growing crops on Mars. Their research will contribute to the knowledge of our galaxy. The project is in the context of the iGEM competition.

Karel Mahy-Rousseau, from Canada, came to the Netherlands in August 2015 and is in the second year of the International Studies programme in The Hague: ‘My favourite place in The Hague would have to be the Plein.’

In their third year, students of International Studies get their teeth into difficult issues put forward by government and businesses such as Unilever and the World Food Programme. Students who take part gain valuable experience.

An international team of astronomers has witnessed a cosmic weather event that has never been seen before.

Did you know that each year 18 billion animals die without making it to someone’s plate? Governance of Sustainability alumna Juliane Klaura has won the second prize for her thesis about the environmental impact of global food production. She won the prize at the university-wide master thesis award event,…

This research hopes to contribute to social awareness of the consequences of colonialism for Indigenous Peoples, to the deconstruction of still existing colonial and discriminatory notions and to a better appreciation of Indigenous art and thought.