Biologist Nataliia Machushynets felt like she was ‘looking for a needle in a haystack’, trying to find new antibiotics to help solve the problem of resistance. During her PhD research, she did find what she was looking for, in the soil beneath our feet.

As from April 2023 all students at Leiden University, Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam will start using the eduXchange portal to register for a minor.

Can you prove whether a large quantum system truly behaves according to the weird and wonderful rules of quantum mechanics — or if it just looks like it does? In a groundbreaking study, physicists from Leiden, Beijing en Hangzhou found the answer to this question.

For many students, a summer school abroad is a fun and useful way to spend the summer. This year, because of the travel restrictions, many summer schools were held online. There was no less interest from students though. What is it like to study in a different country, but digitally? Or to travel abroad…

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…

Career Workshop

Lecture, Discussion

There are many tributaries to Rosalin Kuiper’s story and they all lead to the sea. The 28-year-old sailor was one of the five-person Team Malizia in the world’s most prestigious sailing competition: the Ocean Race.

Alessandra Silvestri has been appointed professor in Theoretical Physics in the area of Cosmology. For her this promotion in Leiden is the icing on the cake. ‘But there are many more boxes I would like to tick.’

Lecture

When Sjoerd van Trigt, a student of International Studies, is not in the lecture hall, you can find him at Rowing Club Asopos de Vliet. He trains there seven times a week. Soon, he will be leaving for a six-month stay in Japan.

Gianne Derks is the MI’s new scientific director from 1 May. She has worked abroad longer than in the Netherlands and, after more than 27 years in Surrey, she dreams in English. Who is this new director and who or what managed to entice her to make the move to Leiden?

In the near future, students of the LDE Bachelor Honours Programme Sustainability will take on real-life sustainability challenges. But first, the course ‘Fundamentals of Sustainability’ provides them with an environmental mode of thinking: “It allows you to focus on what is useful in practice.”

Studying how single DNA molecules behave helps us to better understand genetic disorders and design better drugs. Until now however, examining DNA molecules one-by-one was a slow process. Biophysicists from Delft University of Technology and Leiden University developed a technique that speeds up screening…

Researchers from Leiden University analysed almost 30 years of communication on astrobiology. News articles proved most speculative, especially via quotes from scientists. Especially exoplanet research is often accompanied by high expectations about extraterrestrial life, they write in PLOS One.

De Regenboog primary school in The Hague has a high percentage of children whose first language is not Dutch. In the ‘Children of the City’ project, Education and Child Studies students help primary school children practise their Dutch.

International researchers have, for the first time, pinpointed the moment when planets began to form around a star beyond the Sun. Using the ALMA telescope, in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, and the James Webb Space Telescope, they have observed the creation of the first…

Guest Lecture | SSEALS

Student organisations can request financial support from Leiden University to reward their board members.

Education, Organisation

The university elections are approaching. Are you going to represent student and staff interests this coming year? University Council chair Pauline Vincenten gives a peek behind the scenes at student and staff participation at Leiden University. ‘I get so much energy from collaborating with the students…

Physicist Remko Fermin from Leiden University was awarded a Rubicon grant from NWO. He will use it to study superconducting diodes that could contribute to reducing the CO2 emission of data centres.

Sky-high energy prices and a climate that keeps getting warmer: it’s clear that we have to turn down the heat. Sustainability Day on 10 October will mark the start of our five-month Energy Campaign and we’ll be making the switch. Sustainability Coordinators Aranka Virágh (Real Estate) and Marlies Nijemeisland…

Ionica Smeets is planning to give the prize money that she won with the Iris Medal, a prize for excellent science communication, to student projects.

A research team from the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) has received over 3 million euros in funding from the Knowledge Centre Surveillance and Protection, a partnership between the Dutch National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security, the Public Prosecution Office, the police,…

Arts and culture

Lecture, Research Seminar Medieval and Early Modern History

Lecture, Studium Generale

Study information

Workshop brings multidisciplinary experts together to produce interdisciplinary outcomes on the EU’s Proposal for a Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.

Are you the first in your family to go to university? Or is the Dutch education system unfamiliar because you (or your parents) didn’t grow up in the Netherlands? Going to Leiden University is a great achievement, but it might feel overwhelming too. These tips will help you settle into student life.

‘We could share our knowledge more with others and apply it more widely,’ said Annetje Ottow, President of the Executive Board, while presenting the new Strategic Plan on the University’s 447th Dies Natalis. The new Strategic Plan therefore focuses on innovating and connecting, among disciplines and…

From a ship that has been designed to tell you what maintenance it needs and when, to an intelligent journey planner for global goods transport. The three universities in Zuid-Holland are abuzz with AI research in the field of ports and maritime. Three researchers explain. Part two in a series of five…

Lecture

Arts and culture

Lecture

Legal protection. What do those involved in youth care and child protection understand by this concept? And what needs to change to improve legal protection? This question was explored by researchers from Leiden University’s Department of Child Law. Their research fits with the government’s ambition…

One and a half hectares of polder, a large volume of water, and a group of curious researchers from various universities and scientific backgrounds led by ecologist Maarten Schrama. These are the ingredients needed to answer the question: how do water retention areas affect nature, animals, and our…

Jonathan Powell came to Leiden from England to conduct research into the role of women in early modern court cases. In addition to all kinds of exciting documents, he also discovered the biscuits from the Water & Bloem bakery and the wild flowers at the Groenesteeg cemetery.

Conference

Lecture, Event

Students who also want to develop their artistic talents can take a year-long art class – Practicum Artium – at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. ‘I can express my creativity and am learning to approach subjects in a visual way.’

It is sufficiently plausible that the professor from the Faculty of Archaeology exhibited the ‘inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour’ detailed in the advice of the investigating committee. That is is unless the professor provides counter-evidence. This is the conclusion of the Subdistrict Court…

Herman Spaink knows of many substances that may help combat tuberculosis. Lab space to study them safely is very limited in Leiden. A brand-new lab at Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia will soon provide a solution. About time, says Spaink, ‘The disease is on the rise and is becoming less sensitive…

Crucial information about research, funding or how university rankings are created is often not freely accessible. The Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information calls for such information to be made open. Professor Ludo Waltman is one of its initiators. What needs to change?

From assistance in the event of natural disasters to peace-keeping missions. As a communication adviser, Leonoor van Poelgeest goes to all those destinations where the Royal Navy are active. Why did she choose this work and how has her Public Administration study helped her?

Lecture, Tuesday Talks: Science Insights

Study information

Debate, Career Talk

Rosalien van der Poel has worked in every nook and cranny of the University over the past 30 years. Now, as institute manager, she is the lynchpin of the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA), the only institute in the Netherlands where artists can obtain a PhD from a university. 'This is where…