226 search results for “planet” in the Staff website
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Astronomers find missing link for origin of water in solar systems
An international team of astronomers, including astronomers from Leiden University, has found the missing link in the path taken by water through star-forming clouds and young stars to comets and planets. They did so with the help of the ALMA observatory in Chile. The researchers published their findings…
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Visit the LUGO Sustainability Day on May 9th, 2023
Research, Social
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Widespread cultural diffusion of knowledge started 400,000 years ago
Different groups of hominins probably learned from one another much earlier than was previously thought, and that knowledge was also distributed much further. A study by archaeologists at Leiden University on the use of fire shows that 400,000 years ago knowledge and skills must already have been exchanged…
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Smart data for sustainable agriculture: less hassle, more green
In supermarkets, consumers are drowning in a sea of sustainability labels. Confusing for them, but also farmers can't see the forest for the trees. Obtaining these labels demands an enormous amount of time and effort. Berent Baris is investigating ways to simplify this process, benefiting both farmers…
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Students become ‘change agents’ in Sustainability Challenge
Leiden students working to solve a sustainability problem at the request of an external party: that is the Sustainability Challenge. During a recent symposium, 28 groups of four to five students unveiled their solutions. The commisioners expressed great enthusiasm.
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Buurtlab 070 launched – sustainability research in, by and for the community
Buurtlab 070 is a new Leiden University project in which residents, researchers and students from The Hague work together on climate, sustainability and biodiversity solutions. What do they expect of the lab?
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ERC Advanced Grant for six Leiden researchers
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded an Advanced Grant to six Leiden researchers. It awards these significant grants to established principal investigators for ground-breaking, high-risk research.
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In Memoriam: Katharine MacDonald (1976-2022)
Our dear colleague and friend Kathy MacDonald passed away unexpectedly on August 9th, 2022, a few days after her 46th birthday. Her sudden passing came as a tremendous shock to her colleagues and friends at the Faculty of Archaeology and to colleagues and former students both in The Netherlands and…
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Sustainability prize for research into the effects of a plant-based diet
Paul Behrens and his team have won the Frontiers Planet Prize of half a million euros for their research into the effects of switching to a plant-based diet.
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What do complex molecules tell us about star formation?
How do you progress from an immense gas cloud somewhere in the universe to a star with planets? Research by Astronomy PhD student Martijn van Gelder sheds more light on the earliest phases of this process. He will receive his doctorate on November 24th.
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#ShowYourStripes flag flies over Van Steenis
Organisation
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Ties to the fossil fuel industry
Debate
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Report: Tracking down green spaces in The Hague in places you don't always want to be
Although there is considerable evidence that nature in the city is beneficial to both people and animals, we still do not have an overall picture of those benefits. To rectify that, a Leiden PhD candidate and a student – armed with a cargo bike – are using The Hague as a life-size laboratory.
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Keynote Sustainable Environment by Marja Spierenburg @ESOF
Conference
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Ewine van Dishoeck receives the Niels Bohr medal
Leiden professor of molecular astrophysics and astrochemistry Ewine van Dishoeck was presented with the Niels Bohr International Gold Medal on Friday 7 October. The medal, instigated by the Danish Society of Engineers IDA, was awarded by Queen Margrethe of Denmark at a ceremony at the Carlsberg Academy…
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Nitrogen experts suggest switching from deposition to emission policy
In an essay Professors Jan Willem Erisman (Leiden University), Chris Backes (Utrecht University) and Wim de Vries (Wageningen University) suggest amending nitrogen policy in the Netherlands. They call for a shift from a deposition to an emissions policy, with sectors responsible for reducing their own…
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LUGO Sustainability Day
Conference, Symposium
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Marja Spierenburg in openingspanel ESOF
Conference, Panel
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Seeing Stars: Jupiter steals the show in cloudy night skies
After months of preparation, the moment of truth had arrived: would the skies above Leiden clear for the promised glitzy planet-and-star show? The people of Leiden turned out in their hundreds to go star-hunting on 25 September. They became more aware than ever of the effects of light pollution.
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Ewine van Dishoeck after pontifical appointment: ‘Science and religion can coexist’
Pope Francis has appointed astronomer Ewine van Dishoeck to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. She joins an illustrious list of Nobel Prize winners, such as Ernest Rutherford, Max Planck, Niels Bohr and Erwin Schrödinger. What is her view on this? An interview with our professor of Molecular astrop…
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ERC Consolidator Grants for six Leiden researchers
From the effects of hormone fluctuations in women via the interior structure of giant planets to the prehistory of the languages: six Leiden researchers have been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council.
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Opening of Academic Year on sustainability: optimism and criticism go hand in hand
The theme of the Opening of the Academy Year on 4 September was sustainability and how the university could take the lead as a change agent. How is it going about this and what else can it do? There was also room for a critical note.
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Climate and elections: these were your top stories from 2023
The year 2023 saw the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the Wagner Group rebellion and wildfires and floods as all the weather records were smashed. Our most-read stories were about the climate crisis and the elections: here’s the list.
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Blog: Freedom is important, commitment too
Professor Jan Willem Erisman is happy with the freedom at our University. But frameworks are needed, he believes. That is why he makes a proposal for such a framework from the perspective of his own profession. In fact, he makes a proposal for a wonderful ambition for Leiden University.
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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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Meet Dr. Kathyrn Brackney, LJSA Member
Dr. Brackney is a modern European intellectual and cultural historian with a Ph.D. from Yale University. Before coming to Leiden, she held postdoctoral teaching posts in the History & Literature program at Harvard University and the Pozen Center for Human Rights at the University of Chicago.
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Discover plant-based food at the university during Meat- and Dairy-Free Week
Facility
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Honorary doctorate for Canadian-American astrophysicist Sara Seager
Leiden University will confer an honorary doctorate on astrophysicist Sara Seager for her work on exoplanets.
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Opinion piece in Nature: Tobias Müller on people of faith being allies to stall climate change
Tobias Müller, post-doctoral researcher in the field of Terrorism and Political Violence at ISGA, writes how together, religious groups and scientists can be a powerful force for a liveable planet.
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Help increase your faculty’s NSE response rate
Education
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Leiden University fifth in SustainaBul sustainability ranking
Leiden University has secured fifth place in SustainaBul, the sustainability ranking for universities and universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands.
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Navigating the Energy Transition: A Call to Consider the Citizen Perspective
A wind turbine near your home? The energy transition is not seen as just by all parties concerned. It’s essential to involve local residents, argues Emma ter Mors, social psychologist. As a researcher, she focuses on identifying factors that influence public acceptance of energy technologies. Isn't…
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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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First scientific images Euclid telescope exceed all expectations
Space telescope Euclid is capable of unravelling the secrets of the universe. That is what the images published by ESA today show, according to astronomers working with the telescope's data. The images exceed all expectations. Scientists within the Euclid consortium, including astronomers Henk Hoekstra…
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Calling all researchers: Seize interdisciplinary opportunities on Wednesday 17 May
Research
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Creating a sustainable university: ‘You need breathing space for activist work’
More papers, more grants, more students: constant growth is still the gold standard at universities. Neuroscientists Anne Urai and Claire Kelly argue that this mentality obstructs us in resolving such complex societal problems as the climate crisis. Their alternative? The university as a doughnut.
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How to improve interdisciplinary cooperation within Leiden University?
Conference
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'Climate issues and sustainability should be part of every study programme'
Having lectures on sustainability when you're a first-year student of Law, or a course on climate change when you're studying Public Administration may sound odd, but that is just what Associate Professor in Environmental Sciences Thijs Bosker wants to see happening. Together with his colleague Paul…
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Elephants in the Room
Lecture
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Astronomy through a pinhole
You can make some astounding images using just a box with a hole. Inspired by the celebration of Leiden as the European City of Science, Professor Matthew Kenworthy left several pinhole cameras across the Observatory over the course of 2021. This is how the simplest devices may uncover the greatest…
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Workshop series Ocean Governance – Call for contributions
The University of St Andrews and Leiden University, with the support of a network grant from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, will be hosting a workshop series in 2022 about Ocean Governance. Academics, policy makers, and practitioners are invited to contribute via working papers. Deadline abstract:…
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Measuring water with your smartphone
You might take photos and selfies with your phone's camera, or scan a QR code. But there is much more you can do with it. Astronomer Olivier Burggraaff developed a phone attachment that allows you to take measurements of surface water with your smartphone. He will receive his PhD on 13 December.
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‘Transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborations lead to better scholarship and solutions’
How can you persuade researchers who are used to conducting research within clearly defined disciplines to adopt an interdisciplinary approach? Newly appointed distinguished professor Arnold Tukker explained.
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Is there oxygen on exoplanets? New telescope finds out
To what extent does exoplanet Proxima b resemble our Earth? And is there some form of life present? Astronomers hope to find answers to these questions with the new European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). An NWO research grant of €18 million will allow a Dutch consortium to continue building instruments…
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Life cycle of comets near other star resembles that of our solar system
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,…
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Ecologist Emilia Hannula receives Gold Medal in Teylers Museum
Soil ecologists Emilia Hannula (Leiden) and Elly Morriën (UvA) received the Golden Medal of Teylers Tweede Genootschap on 5 November. They received the prize for their submission to a competition on sustainable soil management.
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Final Kiem symposium on interdisciplinarity and decompartmentalisation
How do you set up successful interdisciplinary collaborations? That is the central question of a triptych of Leiden symposia in 2024. The final part, on 6 June, looks at cooperation and decompartmentalisation between public institutions. In addition, there will be information on the new round of Kiem…
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Design METIS instrument for the Extremely Large Telescope finalised
The design for the METIS instrument for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is final. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has given the green light for production of all parts of the instrument. It is the first ELT instrument, designed and to be built under Dutch leadership, to formally pass the…
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SAILS Lunch Time Seminar Sustainability
Lecture
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Flash interview with alumna Liz Kool about her choice for a career with social impact
Kool made a conscious choice to work for a non profit organisation. Recently, inspired by the pandemic, she also made a career switch.