At the entrance of the Van Steenis building you may now visit an exhibition on material culture. Unexpectedly, it does not display pottery or tools, but building materials. And recent ones at that! Check out the exhibition on Legos lost at sea, conceived and assembled by PhD candidate Maia Casna. ‘These…

With a Kick Off Meeting on 10 December 2021, we are proud to present the partnership of Leiden University’s Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) in the LIFE SECURDOMINO project!

To look for atmospheres around planets outside our solar system is to look for extraterrestrial life. Astronomist Sebastian Zieba used data from the James Webb Space Telescope to study small rocky exoplanets but found no aliens yet. However, his findings are still very interesting for future observations.…

When internist Christian Blank made his very first discovery, his field of immunotherapy was the underdog of cancer research. Now, over 20 years later, Blank has been appointed Professor By Special Appointment of Internal Medicine for his clinical research into immunotherapy and will give his inaugural…

A child who receives fewer nutrients in the womb than their identical twin brother or sister is more likely to have developmental problems later in life. This is what researchers from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) write in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. This study shows that unfavourable…

As of 1 September, Marco van Eijk has been appointed Director of Education of the bachelor's programme Life Science & Technology. He succeeds Marcellus Ubbink, who moved to the position of Scientific Director of the Leiden Institute for Chemical Research (LIC). Van Eijk has been appointed for a period…

Leiden academics Remco Breuker and Auke-Florian Hiemstra stand to win the title of Person of the Year.

Due to the increasing resistance to certain antibiotics, the life-threatening condition sepsis is becoming harder to treat. For her PhD project, Leiden pharmacologist Feiyan Liu used mathematical modeling to find out how antibiotics can be used more effectively to cure sepsis.

Movement behaviours, such as physical activity, sleep, and the amount of time we sit each day, impact our health. Recently, more researchers are looking at the influence of these behaviours combined, but this is a challenging task. For example, it is difficult to monitor in what way movement behaviours…

How adolescents perceive parenting is related to their mood. Differences between the perspectives of parents and adolescents are also of importance for adolescents’ mood. That is what research by Loes Janssen and her Leiden University colleagues in Clinical Psychology shows. Open Access publication…

‘A challenging rollercoaster, but also a very bonding and insightful experience,’ that’s how the team of iGEM Leiden 2022 wraps up their participation in the iGEM contest. The contest for synthetic biology climaxed during the Grand Jamboree in Paris. The team ended up in the top 10 of over 360 teams…

Most of us know that Venice, Genoa, and Florence were major Mediterranean powers during the Renaissance. But did you know that in terms of trade and sea power, Barcelona was probably more powerful than two of these three?

NWO-funded audiovisual research into the experiences of migrants during major life events has culminated in new insights that can further our understanding of complex migration dynamics. The completion of this five-year project was marked with a roundtable event including international guests.

Together with physiotherapist and lifestyle therapist Jaap Wonders of SMC Rijnland, Helen Pluut conducted research during the first COVID-19 wave on the experiences of working people. The reason for the research was the compulsory situation of working from home many people found themselves in. One of…

James Webb life’s building blocks

The former outreach team of the Social Resilience and Security programme 'Jonge Wetenschappers' developed a podcastseries (in Dutch) about the online life of today’s youth and the related social challenges that adolescents face.

What’s really happening in the space between the cells in your body? With the Collagen Canvas project, students from Leiden University invite you to explore this question by blending science with art. This interactive artwork immerses you in the dynamics of the extracellular matrix—the invisible structure…

Geriatrics needs to radically change. This is what Simon Mooijaart will say in his inaugural lecture.

The underwater world around present-day Indonesia has changed greatly in recent centuries as a result of human activity. University lecturer Johannes Müller has been awarded an NWO XS grant to map the history of the Indonesian ecosystems.

It is not always easy for students to apply their academic knowledge in practice and get acquainted with the work environment of professional public organisations. Public organisations may struggle in turn to successfully address leadership challenges in their current way of working.

The life cycle of comets near the star Beta Pictoris is similar to that of comets in our own solar system. This is the conclusion of a team of astronomers from the Netherlands, France and Brazil. It seems that, just like in our own solar system, there are fewer comets as the star gets older. The researchers,…

At the Faculty of Science, forty per cent of the employees are of a non-Dutch nationality. Amongst PhDs that is even sixty per cent. How are they doing in a time of working at home in a different culture, when travelling is not possible? Clinical pharmacologist Lu Chen is the third in this series to…

Monica den Boer, who has decades of experience within police and defence and was also active as a Member of Parliament (D66), has been appointed extraordinary professor of Police Studies.

How do we deal with large sources of greenhouse gases? Do schools provide a socially-inclusive environment for all children? And how can we protect Earth’s nature? These questions have two things in common: they are complex global challenges, and data can help answer them. Mitra Baratchi is computer…

It is the final stretch for the students of FGGA. Summer is approaching and they are working hard to complete everything before the summer holidays. We asked some of them how they look back at the academic year. ‘Being a mentor during HOP week is something I can recommend to everyone’

Defending your PhD research in front of nearly 300 elementary school students: that was the challenge faced by PhD candidates Jo-Anne Verschoor and Marinka de Willigen during the VUURVLIEGEN competition organised by the Centrum JongerenCommunicatie Chemie (C3). After an exciting competition, the children…

Luis is a third-year bachelor’s student Security Studies. During his elective space, he did an internship at the German Ministery of Labour and Social Affairs.

Dr Alex Geurds was elected as a Fellow for the Society of Antiquaries, a prestigious and old educational charity based in London. Established in 1707, the society aims at the encouragement and advancement of the study and knowledge of the antiquities.

From films, video games and historical novels to Nordic folk bands, Old English from the early Middle Ages is experiencing a revival in the 21st century. Together with international colleagues, university lecturer Thijs Porck (LUCAS) made a book about the 'resurrection' of this dead language.

Five students who graduated from the Bachelor Security Studies share their experiences. Where did they end up after graduation? Are they still using the skills they gained during their studies?

An international research team is to search for invisible life in the Galápagos Islands. The diversity of bacteria and other microscopic organisms may not be evident to the naked eye, but it is essential to nature. To the islands' giant daisies, for instance: unique endemic plants that are currently…

Lecture, Research Seminar

Getting young people excited about history is quite possible without books. Researchers from Leiden travelled to Morocco to work with schoolchildren on reconstructing cultural heritage in the popular video game Minecraft. The result: one virtual 14th-century city gate – and 20 teens with a greater appreciation…

We know we should do it, and we often want to, but… Why is it so hard to live a healthier life? Professor of Behavioural Interventions in Population Health Marieke Adriaanse explains.

In medical and psychological sciences, little research has been specifically conducted on women. Hormonal fluctuations were considered too intricate. Yes, research into sex and gender differences is complex, acknowledge neuroscientists Ellen de Bruijn and Lara Wierenga, but that’s precisely why it's…

One of our RISE members, Prof. Laura Heitman, has been nominated for the TOPX Females to Follow “Guiding Star” award. TOPX empowers promising and ambitious women, and aims to honour inspirational females with remarkable careers in Life Sciences. TOPX selected her (and 7 other female professionals) because…

In a new article in the journal Scientific Reports, Leiden archaeologist Wei Chu and colleagues report on recent excavations in Western Romania at the site of Româneşti, one of the most important sites in southeastern Europe associated with the earliest Homo sapiens. The site gives an important glimpse…

Grootschalige productie van batterijen voor elektrische auto’s zwakt de emissiereductie die door elektrisch rijden wordt behaald af.

Alumnus Wandile Madalane tells us how his time in Leiden has made it easier for him to engage with renowned figures and how he does NOT miss the rain.

Translating texts, rehearsing scenes or practising music. Over the last few weeks, students of the BA Classics programme have been focused on just one thing: their production of the Greek tragedy Hecuba. Almost a third of them are involved in it. Iris de Smalen, who plays Hecuba, and Christoph Pieper,…

A team of Leiden researchers has won the Ammodo Science Award for innovative humanities research on perceptions of cultural heritage.