All research at Leiden University is organised into institutes. To do justice to the wide spectrum of research (and consequently teaching) that comes from these, you will find descriptions of all the Leiden institutes on these pages.

Antibiotics are a class of medicine most people take for granted. But pathogenic bacteria are becoming more and more resistant to our antibiotics, and this poses a great challenge for future treatments. There is thus a great societal need to identify new molecules that can address new targets and be…

Promotor: A.P. IJzerman

This thesis presents the systematics, epidermal defense, and bioprospecting of wild orchids.

Dr. at Max Planck Institute for chemical Ecology, Jena - Germany

Artificial photosynthesis has recognised potential to produce green and sustainable fuels from earth-abundant resources such as water, carbon dioxide (CO2), and sunlight.

Circumstellar discs are the reservoirs of gas and dust that surround young stars and have the potential to become planetary systems.

Source: Eur J Med Chem (2015)

The rapid expansion of research on human gut microbiome in recent decades has highlighted its role in human metabolism, immune regulation, and behavior.

In this thesis, we used genetically engineered mouse models to identify genes and pathways that are involved in ILC formation and in the development of resistance to FGFR-targeted therapy.

Despite recent advances in medicine, many devastating disorders like cancer and cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and infectious diseases still lack effective treatments. In order to address this challenge, we, as scientists from Leiden University, joined hands in the LED3 network. LED3, for Leiden…

With the powerful electron microscopes at NeCEN we study abnormalities in cells of blood vessels in cardiovascular disease, the interaction between pathogens and hosts in infectious diseases, molecular processes that cause cancer and the interaction between drugs and target proteins. Drug development…

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Cyanobacteria are promising microorganisms to advance sustainable biotechnology, since they can be genetically engineered to convert carbon dioxide and light energy into valuable product molecules.

Recently, NWO has decided to grant two interdisciplinary research proposals for national and international consortia submitted by researchers from the Institute of Biology Leiden. One of the proposals is led by Prof. dr. Ariane Briegel, the other one by dr. Remko Offringa.

Fourteen bachelor’s and master’s students are representing Leiden University in this year’s International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM). Their plan: to create a kit that can be used to quickly identify infectious diseases in case of an outbreak.

Leiden University is partner of the Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH). This initiative brings together leading academic research institutes in the Netherlands in an open innovation network that responds to the theme: One Health. NCOH interviewed Doris van Bergeijk: PhD student of the project…

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.

An international team from the Netherlands, France, Norway and Austria demonstrate how new sequencing technologies can be used to efficiently generate the genome, DNA, sequence of an endangered animal, the European Eel.

Your tuition fee depends on a number of factors, such as your nationality and your previous Dutch higher-education qualifications.

Is it a coincidence that three chemists from the same department have each independently received a ZonMw grant? 'No,' the researchers agree in unison. 'The role of chemistry in medical biology is becoming increasingly important, and we’ve worked hard to make this happen.'

Freezing bacteria super fast to gain a true-to-nature image of the internal and external structure. Ariane Briegel Professor of Ultrastructural Biology came to Leiden specially to carry out this research. Leiden University is one of the few institutes in the world to have the necessary equipment. Inaugural…

In his inaugural lecture Dennis Claessen will explain how he wants to ensure that lecturers have less admin to do.

Gilles van Wezel has been reappointed as Scientific Director at the Leiden Institute of Biology (IBL). Van Wezel has been director of this institute since September 2018 and will remain so until 1 September 2026.

Farmers on the outskirts of Nairobi National Park protect their livestock using flashing lights on top of the animal enclosures. This system keeps lions away at night. Leiden research has shown that the method is both simple and effective. Publication in PLOS ONE.

Maurijn van der Zee, evolutionary biologist at the IBL, received the National Zoology Award for his research on the evolutionary success of the insects. The award was handed out last Saturday, the 17th of December, by Professor Jan Kammenga, chairman of the Royal Dutch Zoological society.

An overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2020, as well as special appointments at Leiden University and other institutions.

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.

From pipetting in the lab to shining in front of the camera at a global student event. With 8.000 viewers watching the livestream, Marjolein Crooijmans presented the iGEM Giant Jamboree in Paris.

As of 1 May 2018, Nicole de Voogd has been appointed as Professor by special appointment Global change and marine ecosystems at the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML). She is currently senior researcher at Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the field of tropical marine ecosystems.

Leiden's iGEM team has won high honours at the Grand Jamboree in Paris. The biology students came second in the Overgraduate category with their project PHAse Out. They also took home awards for Best Biomanufacturing Project, Best Wiki and Best Entrepreneurship as well as a Gold Medal. To top it all…

Each year, poppies disperse seeds that grow into a new generation of flowers. Sometimes, some of the seeds postpone their germination for a few years, for example when they’re covered by a layer of sand. Only when the sand disappears, do they start to sprout. Margriet Oomen did mathematical research…

To what extent do nanoparticles accumulate in plants and animals, and what properties of the particles play a part in this? Willie Peijnenburg, professor of Environmental toxicology and biodiversity was awarded a Marie Curie grant to conduct research on the environmental effects of nanoparticles.

In breast cancer, metastasis rather than the primary tumour is the cause of death. A lack of oxygen in the tumour cells promotes this metastasis, accompanied by a reprogramming of the cell's metabolism. PhD candidate Qiuyu Liu investigated these alterations to get more knowledge about the actionable…

The world is becoming clogged with plastic, with tiny plastic particles found everywhere, from the oceans’ depths to the mountain tops, soil, plants, animals and even inside us. The question is: what harm, if any, are they causing? In a new article on The Conversation, environmental scientists Meiru…

'We have to look for products that can replace ordinary disposable plastics, for example of organic material. Within 20 years, the average plastic use of a household will be largely reduced.' According to Thijs Bosker, Associate Professor at Leiden University College, in Edition NL of Tuesday, October…

Amorphophallus decus-silvae, or the ‘penis plant’ as it is known, has just flowered at the Hortus botanicus. It flowered for two days, and then the pollen, which the male flowers produced was collected. As far as the plant experts at the Hortus can tell, this was just the third time that this species…

The Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), the Danstem Institute from the University of Copenhagen and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne have received 300m euros from the Novo Nordisk foundation. The aim of this new international consortium is to bring stem-cell based therapies…

At high doses, drug candidate BIA 10-2474 binds not only to the protein that it targets, but to other proteins as well. It thus deactivates proteins that are involved in the metabolism of nerve cells. This is what an international group of researchers from Leiden University and Erasmus MC, among others,…

Central in coordination and organometallic chemistry is the synthesis of new chelating ligands, the synthesis and characterization of metal complexes with these ligands, and the study of their properties. An important goal in my research is to create understanding of the relation between the structures…

Improving healthcare with our scientific discoveries: that is the goal of pharmaceutical research at Leiden University. And there’s a lot involved in that. Our research starts with the discovery of the effect achieved by a particular substance, and sometimes continues all the way through to the development…

The goal of pre-clinical development is to bridge the transition from lead compounds to clinical candidates by comprehensively characterizing safety, efficacy, and pharmacological properties. Once a lead compound demonstrates promising activity in disease models, it enters pre-clinical development where…

Nathaniel Martin has been appointed professor in the field of Bioorganic Chemistry within the Faculty of Science at the Institute of Biology Leiden, starting from 1 March 2018. His research focuses on using new (bio)chemical approaches to combat infectious disease, as well as on developing new molecular…