Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is the substrate used for the introduction of the ubiquitous and highly dynamic PTM in which either one or multiple adenosine diphosphate ribose (ADPr) moieties are covalently attached to a nucleophilic side chain of an specific amino acid in the target protein…

Thomas Bakkum en Tom van der Wel, two PhD candidates from the Leiden Institute of Chemistry, have both won poster prizes at the EMBL Chemical Biology Conference 2018 in Heidelberg.

The work done by SUMO proteins in the cells of our body is of vital importance. Molecular cell biologist Alfred Vertegaal has been studying these proteins for nine years, first with a Veni subsidy and then with a prestigious Vidi subsidy.

Vera van Noort has been appointed Professor in the field of Computational Biology within the Faculty of Science at the Institute of Biology from the 1st of February 2017. Van Noort’s expertise is in bioinformatics and her research focuses on the computational analysis of large-scale biological data…

I will give a general introduction to the field of molecular electronics, its history, methods and challenges. I will also introduce the subject of my investigation and provide a brief outlook to the remainder of our thesis.

The aim of the research described in this thesis was to use structure-based design to optimise multiple properties of aryl sulfoxide monoacylglycerol lipase inhibitors as anti-inflammatory analgesics.

This thesis explored the molecular pharmacological mechanisms of targeting CB2R via investigation of novel drug discovery concepts such as target binding kinetics, allosteric modulation and biased signaling.

An international group of scientists, led by Leiden physicist Sense Jan van der Molen, has developed the first switchable molecular diode. You can turn this on and off through humidity. Vice versa, it is a humidity sensor at the nanoscale. Publication on 4 December in Nature Nanotechnology.

The Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) is an internationally oriented institute for research and education in biology. We are part of the Faculty of Science at Leiden University.

Filamentous Actinobacteria, such as Streptomyces, produce a plethora of chemically diverse bioactive metabolites that have found applications across medicine, agriculture and biotechnology.

PhD at Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens - France

Promotores: Prof.dr. M.K. Richardson, Prof.dr. H.P. Spaink

The specialisation consists of 120 European Credit Transfer System (EC) points and includes courses and electives (30-60 EC) and and one or more research projects (60-90 EC).

The central aims of MicroClock project are to describe the B. subtilis circadian clock at molecular and functional levels, and discover the mechanisms of clock-regulated bidirectional signaling between B. subtilis and the model plant Arabidopsis

Promotor: J. van der Greef; Co-promotor: E. van Wijk, M. Wang

The haplolepideous mosses (Dicranidae) comprise about 4000 species distributed over a wide range of habitats, with great gametophytic and sporophytic morphological variation. Their monophyly is well supported by the results of several molecular phylogenetic studies, which shed light on their relationships…

What are the genes and molecular mechanisms involved in bacteria-mediated plant drought tolerance?

The two-year Bioinformatics programme (120 EC) includes mandatory core courses and electives, as well as a Master's Thesis Research Project. PLEASE NOTE: The specialisation Bioinformatics will no longer accept new students after February 2026. If you're starting date is September 2026 or later, we…

The goal of target discovery is to identify and validate proteins and biological pathways that are involved in the disease process. Modulating these target proteins and pathways with small molecules, therapeutic proteins or other biomolecules (e.g. mRNA) could deliver an effective and safe drug or v…

This thesis describes the antimicrobial discovery strategy developed in our group, the den Hertog Group at the Hubrecht Institute. It includes a cultivation-based screening approach for novel antimicrobial agents from the source of fungi, and a bacterial time-lapse imaging approach for antimicrobial…

Roel Wouters (24), a biology student at Leiden University, is a finalist in the election for UN youth delegate for Biodiversity and Food. The digital polls open for a week on Friday 22 October. Under-30s can vote for Roel at www.stemroel.nl.

Endocannabinoids are lipid messengers that modulate various physiological functions by activating the cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors. While the metabolism of endocannabinoids and their action at the CB receptors is fairly well studied, the molecular mechanisms governing their release and transport…

Using EcoFab 2.0 devices and omics services at JGI, we will examine a plant growth promoting microbial community during interaction with different plant species.

This thesis focuses on two processes involved in fighting infections: metabolism and immune cell motility and navigation.

Human cells are protecting their proteins from unfolding and aggregating. That's what biophysicist Alireza Mashaghi and his team discovered after seven years of in-depth research into the folding mechanisms of proteins. With an unprecedented approach, the team was able to study the folding of a single…

In this thesis, I study 1) metabolic alterations in tuberculosis related to wasting syndrome in human patients as well as in rodent and fish animal models. 2) effects of the mutation of the leptin gene on cachexia and diabetes in rodent and zebrafish animal models.

Cancer represents a formidable current and future global health challenge. The LUMC medical research profile Cancer Pathogenesis and Therapy charges this challenge by developing and implementing innovative patient-tailored, multimodal diagnostic methods and treatment modalities.

Promotores: Prof.dr. F.P. Israel, Prof.dr. P.P. van der Werf

Paul Brakefield, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the Institute of Biology in Leiden (IBL) has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant for his research. He will receive 2.5 million euro to develop his research programme over a period of five years.

Students of the Biology minor course Molecular Design have successfully boosted their skills in collaboration, research and writing with the recently developed E-learning Skills Platform. The biology students and their teachers greatly value the initiative. ‘Sometimes I couldn’t believe what progress…

Actinobacteria are Gram-positive bacteria that have a complex multicellular life cycle and are well known for their ability to produce a wide range of bioactive natural products (NPs).

New research published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that these changes to the behavior of the immune system are persistent and can continue even after diet is improvedAlmost everyone knows that improving your eating habits will most likely improve your health. What most people may not…

High-throughput holistic preclinical screens are increasingly used in drug discovery, to assess both drug efficacy and drug safety.

The cannabinoid CB2 receptor (CB2R) represents a promising therapeutic target for various forms of tissue injury and inflammatory diseases. Although numerous compounds have been developed and widely used to target CB2R, their selectivity, molecular mode of action and pharmacokinetic properties have…

Promotor: H.S. Overkleeft, Co-promotor: M. van der Stelt

From 1 October, two new Directors of Education will start at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL). Dennis Claessen as the new director for the master's programme of Biology and Marcel Schaaf as director for the Biology bachelor's programme. Claessen and Schaaf have been appointed for a period of four…

The central question of this Vici proposal is to investigate if, and how actinobacteria exploit life without a cell wall.

Fundamental understanding of molecular reactions on metal surfaces is important for improving heterogeneous catalysis.

The Netherlands X-omics Initiative is a new facility as part of the National Roadmap for Large-Scale Research Infrastructures. It is partly funded by NWO with a total budget of 40 million euro. The project started on September 2018 and will last for ten years.

The master's specialisation Bioinformatics at Leiden University focuses on research, development and application of computational tools and approaches for expanding the use of biological, medical, behavioral and health data.

N-acylethanolamines (NAEs), including N-arachidonoylethanolamine (anandamide, AEA), N-palmitoylethanolamine (PEA) and N-oleoylethanolamine (OEA), are signaling lipids that play an important role in different physiological process.

We perform multidisciplinary research at molecular, cellular, and organismal levels of animal biology to increase fundamental understanding of health and disease.

Imagine scanning lion dung or a mouse dropping and instantly knowing exactly what and how much the animal has eaten. Thanks to new DNA techniques, this is becoming increasingly feasible. PhD student Kevin Groen tested how effective these techniques are at unraveling the diets of wild animals.

This thesis describes the use of an activity-based proteomics method to study the endocannabinoid system.

This thesis is an experimental study of the UV irradiation of the interstellar ice analogues, relevant for the different stages of the star and planet formation sequence.