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This is a call for papers for the upcoming tenth issue of the Journal of the Lucas Graduate Conference (JLGC), intended to be published by the end of this year.

Three Dutch-Belgian telescopes have started operating at the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile. This so-called BlackGEM array will scan the southern sky to hunt for cosmic events that produce gravitational waves, such as mergers of neutron stars and black holes. Leiden astronomer Rudolf le Poole is…

The Leiden Leadership Programme is going to innovate. After 12 years, the honours track for master’s students will get a new set-up. We asked two of those involved about the ins and outs of the new LLP. ‘You learn what leadership style suits you and how to make an impact.’

‘A Muslim and a Jew in the house of God.’ This is how historian Nadia Bouras introduced her recent conversation with colleague Sara Polak in Leiden’s Hooglandse Kerk. They discussed the rising tensions since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. ‘Dare to ask each other questions.’

Nano-plastics cause malformations. Meiru Wang, researcher at the Institute of Biology Leiden, looked at the extreme effects polystyrene nano-particles could have, using chicken embryos as a model. Her results were quite alarming. Especially as nano-particles are everywhere. In the air, floating through…

We are proud to share that Hadassah Drukarch, a graduate of our Advanced LL.M. in Law and Digital Technologies (class of 2022-2023), has been honored with the prestigious 2023 Brinkhof Internet Thesis Award for her thesis research that explores the intricate interplay between data protection regulation…

An international team of astronomers, led by Will Rocha of Leiden Observatory, using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered that the key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds are present in early-stage protostars, where planets have not yet formed.

The Phase 3 clinical trial results of the promising Covid-19 vaccine of Johnson & Johnson are expected this month. The Dutch electron microscopy facility NeCEN helped develop the company’s vaccine, and they have now published their scientific findings in Nature Communications.

Free cinema tickets or a step tracker paid for by your health insurance. Some insurers offer rewards to promote healthy behaviour. But does the threat of losing something like a deposit work better? And what do patients think? This is what PhD candidate David de Buisonjé researched.

The annual LION Image award goes to the 30 micrometer long 3D printed microboat image that went viral earlier in October 2020, submitted by Rachel Doherty of the Daniela Kraft lab.

On March 17, our dear colleague Jan Schmidt passed away after a fruitful and valuable life.

After the May elections a new University Council has now taken seat. The university democracy is the result of the long-lived national student protests in 1969. Students from Leiden joined the protests for greater representation, although their actions were less revolutionary than at other universities.…

Winners of Children's Rights Moot Court 2023

Five projects with a lead applicant from Leiden will receive an Open Science Fund grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

With his clever measuring methods Ignas Snellen – together with his team – was the first to detect carbon monoxide in the atmosphere of exoplanets. For his pioneering work the Leiden astrophysicist has been awarded the Spinoza Prize, the highest academic honour in the Netherlands. The prize of 2.5 million…

An international team of astronomers including Leiden professor Ewine van Dishoeck has observed the benzene molecule (C6H6) in a planet-forming disk around a young star for the first time. The observations tell us more about the forming of planets in this disc, like our own Earth. The scientists publish…

On 15 January, the winner of the famed LION Image Award will be announced. Submissions ranged from the famous 3d printed microboat to an eerily abstract graph depicting a Majorana fermion.

‘If we all possessed just an ounce of Cleveringa, then all would be well in the world,’ said Professor Leo Lucassen. In the Cleveringa debate on the line between free speech and threatening speech he called for ‘more guts’. He is not the only one who thinks this is badly needed if the debate at the…

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.

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.

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…

An international team of astronomers, including Leiden PhD student Elia Pizzati, has observed several ancient quasars that, surprisingly, appear to be floating alone in the early universe (less than a billion years after the Big Bang). Until now, astronomers, based on models, assumed that quasars are…

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An international team of astronomers has revealed the first 'chemical profile' of an exoplanet's atmosphere. The team, including Leiden astronomer Yamila Miguel and provenda Amy Louca, made the profile using so-called Early Release Science data from the James Webb Space Telescope. The results have been…

The theme of the opening of this year’s academic year was peace and justice. With the climate crisis and the war in Ukraine, these are turbulent times. During the ceremony those present reflected on what the academic community and universities can mean in times of crisis and conflict.

With great sadness we share the news that Prof. Harold Linnartz passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday 31 December 2023. We are all in shock, and our thoughts are with his wife and children, other family, and friends. Harold was at the heart of our institute, as a researcher, as a supervisor,…

Big celebration upcoming weekend: MIRD's 20th anniversary is on the cards. Four alumni from different periods tell what this unique two-year master's in International Relations and Diplomacy has brought them.

Israel was ordered to take steps to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. Giulia Pinzauti, an expert on state conflicts and humanitarian law, explains the significance of the case, the specific details of the ruling and what we can expect to happen next.

‘The climate crisis is the greatest threat we face,’ says Leiden University environmental scientist Paul Behrens. ‘And yet, there is hope. In the near future, I think we will wonder why we didn’t make these changes earlier.’

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